If you haven't heard about this "peculiar" museum then you aren't an avid Japanese cartoons or animation fan. I don't blame you because I have never encountered "Ghibli" works during my younger years too. Our kids suggested to include this place in our itinerary.
If you are living outside Japan it would be near to impossible to purchase admission tickets online because of limited numbers aside from being available in advance reservation only. Even when you're in Japan, you can purchase the tickets only at Lawson convenience stores. Aside from that, newly released tickets can easily run out in a matter of few hours. So, if you intend to visit this place you have to plan ahead since you cannot purchase admission tickets at the gate.
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| Willer staff at Kichijoji train station |
Fortunately, the wife was able to purchase our tickets online through "Willer." As expected the cost is quite staggering compared to the actual price of the ticket which is 1,000 Yen only; we paid 19,500 Yen for 5 persons. However, our tickets are still cheaper compared to other third party/agents tickets. To sweeten the deal, "Willer" has included a "walking tour" at Inokashira Park which is right beside the museum. Their staff wearing pink vest waited for us at the train station. We were 43 in the walking tour group with different nationalities. Five didn't arrived on time so one of the staffs was left behind to wait for them. It took us around 45 minutes to walk from the train station up to the museum passing through the park; be aware that the distance you'll cover from the station to the museum is almost one kilometer so wear comfy shoes and bring water.
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| Preparing to enter the museum and waiting for our tickets |
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| Museum |
We left the train station at 10AM and arrived at the museum 10 minutes before it opens; admission tickets were distributed outside the museum.
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| Laputan Robot Soldier |
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| At the rooftop - you need to take the spiral staircase |
Once inside, you are not allowed to take photos or selfies except at the rooftop where you'll find a giant "Laputan robot soldier." This robot is from the first Ghibli Studio film entitled "Laputa: Castle in the Sky."
Inside the museum are sketches and drawings, 3D animation, memorabilia and other Studio Ghibli's produce; there is also a souvenir shop at the third floor. We bought "Totoro" souvenirs since it is the only character that looked familiar to us, LOL. Beside the museum is a small cafe.
We watched a free but very entertaining cartoon done by Ghibli Studio.
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| Visitors queue |
Though the museum is perfect for kids and kids-at-heart but if you are not aware about Ghibli Studio then I suggest not to bother visiting this place because there are other places worth visiting in Tokyo. In addition, the place is quite far. From Shibuya Station you need to transfer to Keio Inokashira Line and disembark at the last station, Kichijoji Station. Be aware that since this is a local train it would stop at many stations so it would take around an hour to reach Kichijoji from Shibuya. However, there is a "Rapid Train" stopping at Eifukucho station; if you are running out of time like what happened to us we disembarked at Eifukucho and immediately transferred seamlessly to the "Rapid Train" to Kichijoji where the Willer staffs were waiting.
Since we arrived early we were able to enjoy the place due to less crowds; we stayed for a couple of hours only. Going back to Kichijoji station, we opted to take the bus since the ladies were tired. You may ask the museum staff regarding the location of the bus stop; there are two bus stops, don't wait at the bus stop near the museum entrance, you can wait for the bus going back to Kichijoji at the farther bus stop. There are plenty of local restaurants outside Kichijoji train station so we took our lunch here; the meal price here is quite cheap compared to other touristy places.
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