Ghibli Museum

Ghibli Museum (三鷹の森ジブリ美è¡"館, Mitaka no Mori Jiburi Bijutsukan, Mitaka Forest Ghibli Museum) is a museum showcasing the work of the Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli. It is located in Inokashira Park in Mitaka, a western city of Tokyo, Japan. The museum combines features of a children's museum, technology museum, and a fine arts museum, and is dedicated to the art and technique of animation.

History

Planning for the museum began in 1998. Construction started in March 2000, and the museum officially opened October 1, 2001. Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki designed the museum himself, using drawn storyboards similar to the ones he creates for his films. The design was influenced by European architecture, such as the hilltop village of Calcata in Italy. Miyazaki's aim was to make the building itself part of the exhibit, and for the museum to be an uplifting and relaxing experience "that makes you feel more enriched when you leave than when you entered".

Exhibits

Permanent exhibitions

On the bottom floor is an exhibit room showing the history and science of animation, including a three-dimensional zoetrope named "Bouncing Totoro", with models of characters from My Neighbor Totoro (1988). On the first floor is a mock-up of an animation studio. Another exhibit demonstrates the process of creating an animated film, with sketches, storyboarding, keyframing, cleanup, coloring and background painting.

Special exhibitions

In addition to Ghibli-oriented exhibitions, the museum hosts an area showcasing work from other studios.

Short films

The Ghibli Museum shows several short films exclusive to the Ghibli museum. The Saturn Theater has windows where automated shades lower and open before and after each showing of its short films. This is because Hayao Miyazaki designed the theater with small children in mind, who could possibly be scared of the closed in theater. The museum shows one of the following Ghibli short-films in the Saturn Theatre:

• Koro's Big Walk (コロの大さã‚"ぽ, Koro no dai-sampo)
• Water Spider Monmon (水グモもã‚"ã‚‚ã‚", Mizugumo Monmon)
• Mei and the Kittenbus (めいとã"ねã"バス, Mei to Konekobasu)
• The Day I Harvested a Star (星ã‚'かった日, Hoshi o Katta Hi)
• The Whale Hunt (くじらとり, Kujiratori)
• Looking for a home (やどさがし, Yadosagashi)
• A Sumo Wrestler's Tail (ちゅうずもう, ChÅ«zumō)
• Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess (ãƒ'ン種とタマゴ姫, Pan dane to tamago hime)
• Treasure Hunting (たからさがし, Takara Sagashi)

Each guest to the museum is only permitted to watch the short film once during a single visit.

Other features

Tri Hawks

Tri Hawks, opened on February 6, 2002, is a reading room and bookstore.

Mamma Aiuto

Mamma Aiuto, on the top of the Ghibli Museum, is the souvenir gift shop named after the band of sky pirates in the movie Porco Rosso. Among other items, it sells classic and non-Japanese animation movies under the eponymous Ghibli Museum Library label.

Straw Hat Café

The Straw Hat Café is the Ghibli Museum's only sit-down restaurant. It was created with the help of a housewife who is a mother of four; Miyazaki wanted the café's food to be "a kind of home cooking".

Catbus Room

There is a playroom for children age 12 and below with a giant Catbus toy to play in.

Rooftop Garden

On the museum's roof is a garden with a life-size statue of a robot from the final episode of Lupin III Part II and Castle in the Sky. The Robot Soldier was made by the artist Kunio Shachimaru. The statue is made from bronze and took a year to create.

The keystone from the movie Castle in the Sky can be found here. The keystone, bearing an inscription in Old Persian cuneiform, is a replica of the control room stone found in the floating castle, Laputa, in the movie Castle in the Sky.

References

External links

• Official website
• Ghibli Museum Facebook page
• Background information with photographs
• Tutorial: How to buy a ticket for the museum
• Information about some of the short films shown at the museum
• Wikivoyage: Ghibli Museum