We’ve been dying to go to the Ghibli Museum for yeeeears. It always seemed just out of reach since it requires a lot of planning to go, but we are now in a position where we could finally make the pilgrimage to the mecca of themed attractions. We thought it would be a nice break away from the city to take Roy’s mom during her visit here.
Pictures inside the building were prohibited, but we did snag quite a few photos in the outer perimeter and dining areas. Come along with me as I recap our extraordinary day.
Note the Totoro in the reception area.
Rather than taking the bus from the station to the museum, we walked for about 15 minutes. We lucked out with the weather that day and were able to enjoy strolling through the area. As we got closer to the museum, the atmosphere started to feel more magical and we were greeted by this entrance area.
I have no idea what these doors are for.
A brick embedded into a stone wall with the Ghibli crest on it.
The view of the museum from the area where you wait in line.
So majestic!
While we were excited to explore the museum, first thing’s first: we needed a snack. So we beelined it to the Straw Hat Café, where Roy got a hot dog and I got ice cream.
Straw hat café.
Roy got a hot dog and Kaze no Tani beer.
The café itself was completely full, so we got our food from a side booth. Afterwards we decided to check out the museum and work up an appetite until we felt ready to wait in line for the main café.
Above the café, I noticed these two staring out the window.
The lack of other people in this area made me wonder if they missed this little (albeit creepy) detail.
Top view!! The blue, red, and yellow tents is the area where you wait in line to get in.
Another view of the waiting area. There is no line since only a limited amount of people are allowed at set times of the day.
So lush! Roy, I hope you’re taking advantage of that forest air, because back in the city it’s all car exhaust and cigarette smoke.
The guy from the thing!!
The stone from the thing!!
After checking out the outer areas of the museum, we went into each of the different rooms inside the museum. There was so much to do! There was no way that we were able to absorb all of the intricate details set up inside the various rooms, but it was quite easy to spend the entire day exploring.
Rooms included:
- Connected rooms furnished with wall-to-wall progress works of various Ghibli movies, including step-by-step processes on how traditional animation is made.
- A special Nutcracker exhibit where we saw a staff person help children crack walnuts
- An animation room, where various types of animation were displayed (such reel and stop motion). THIS WAS BY FAR MY MOST FAVORITE ROOM and had a stunning display where you could see Ghibli figurines moving in a spinning carousel.
- A miniature theater, modeled to make you feel like you are inside a forest. They played a movie where all of the sound effects were made by humans. Like…human mouth noises? But not beat-boxing. It was super cute and was true to most Ghibli works, meaning you can expect an adventurous girl going out and having a good time with nature.
- Bathrooms were on point.
Go figure, someone broke the rules and recorded the stop motion carousel. I’m kind of glad it’s in shitty quality because I want people to be able to experience this in real life. It’s breath-taking.
After spending the entire day in the museum, it was time to get our food on. We waited in line (they have a seated area right in front of the doors) and pondered what we’d get from the menu. A while later, we got in and made our requests, starting with their beer.
Beer! It was so good you guys. Didn’t even mind the ridiculous head.
I got the vegetable stew that came with bread.
The food stood up to the quality of everything else we experienced at the museum. If I remember right, the restaurant revolved their menu around seasonal and organic foods.
Roy’s chicken cutlet sandwich. The waitress kept warning us that it was going to be a lot of food. She doesn’t know that Roy can put away a sandwich.
Close up of the cutlet. It came with coleslaw and a thimble full of mustard.
Blueberry pie. Pretty sure I saw them making this through the window earlier that day. Those big sexy sugar granules.
Look, I wasn’t not going to get this.
Close up of the parfait so you can see the layers.
Straw hat cappuccino. Elegant like me.
A gate towards the rear of the café area.
I battled the cramped gift shop to pick up a tin of cookies and a top for Roy.
Top view of the cookie tin (~$16).
Side view of the tin.
Leaflet thanking me for gracing the museum with my presence.
A diagram of the different types of cookies inside: sesame, emblem cookie, black tea cookie, chocolate cookie, and maple cookie
Lookit that juicy emblem cookie.
I got Roy this little metal top with a kurosuke on it. (~$4USD)
Tickets to the museum are an absolute steal at under $10USD. I think the total for 3 beers, 3 entrees, 3 desserts, and 2 post-dessert coffees came to about $90USD. The gift shop will put your wallet in a world of pain if you’re not careful, but they have a lot of beautiful hand towels that are unique to the museum (a lot of the stuff in the store you can find elsewhere) at reasonable prices.
How easy was it to buy tickets in Japan? How far ahead did you need to purchase them?
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