Ghibli Museum, Mitaka

Even if you've not heard of Studio Ghibli, you might have in fact seen some of their anime. These include the 2002 Oscar winning animation, Spirited Away, or more recently, Ponyo by the cliff over the sea.

Since the 1980s, they have been producing classics like My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle, Laputa:Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, Nausicaa and Graveyard of the Fireflies.

If you have not, then you might want to watch this short compilation for a quick overview of the genius of Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli films.

Please Click on the picture if the top Youtube clip didn't appear.

On my recent trip to Tokyo, I just had to make a trip to the Ghibli Museum. It was almost like a pilgrimage to see the holy of holies where Miyazaki dispenses out his blessings on the world in the form of Totoro, Kiki, Ponyo and the likes.

Ghibli Museum is located in the city of Mitaka, about 15 mins out of Tokyo by rapid express train. To gain entrance to the Museum, an advance ticket purchase is required. Strangely, the tickets can only be ordered through the Lawson convenience stores using their Loppi ticket machines! For those who can't read japanese, it can be quite intimidating I tell you, but luckily, the Lawson store clerks were only too happy to help out bewildered gaijins like me!

Inside the Museum. Photography not allowed! hee hee.

Entrance to the Museum

The gardener Robot from Laputa:Castle in the sky.
It looks after the garden on the Museum rooftop.