Anyone who is remotely interested in Anime, or even fantasy film, will know of the works of Hayao Miyazaki:
The works of Studio Ghibli are easily comparable to the early days of Disney, and Miyazaki's vision of story-telling is compelling and deeply magical.
So not visiting the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka (Tokyo) was simply not an option for us, all being fans of the various movies.
Unfortunately photos were not allowed in the museum, so I can only show you what it looked like outside. But rest assured the insides were as magical as their creations.
It started with a room that gave homage to the old-fashioned 'light-box method' of animation, which was really cool. As we moved through the space, we were presented with all the paraphernalia of the beginnings of the visions: original sketches and concept drawings were plastered along the walls, original set paintings, and what appeared to be a recreation of Miyazaki's own study, complete with shelves lined with books, that covered topics such as aviation, world geography, art and design, and European fairy-tales.
We were shown how the studio designed colour palettes for all their films, with small videos (in Japanese and English) that showed the process of colouring and shading animation cells. What I came away with was a deep appreciation of the amount of craftsmanship that went into the creation of these films.
Every fifteen minutes, there is also a original, exclusive animated short film that can only be seen at the museum. We saw one about a puppy that got lost, just to tug on the heart-strings of those who love all things kawaii (cute).
And yes, there is a souvenir section to get all your favourite Ghibli gear. And a cafe, although we didn't eat there.
You have to pre-purchase your tickets for the Museum, so don't expect to simply turn up on the day.
The museum release tickets to the general public one month in advance on the 10th of the month before, and are limited; so you have to be super-organised to work out which day you want to go. We worked out when we wanted to go and then organised the rest of our time in Tokyo around that. As I write this, all tickets for May have been sold out, for example (it's mid-April). So tickets for June will go on sale on May 10.
To purchase, head to this direct purchase website.
The website will tell you what time tickets will go on sale, and you simply have to keep trying until you get onto the ticket purchase website and choose your day/times to visit. Have your passport, and travel details handy, as they will ask for those.
The website gets bombarded with visitors when tickets go on sale, and the site cannot really handle it. But be patient! I just kept refreshing the page and logging back in, and eventually had purchased my tickets with in an hour. Don't even be surprised if the website drops you out in the middle of a transaction.
Adults (19yo+) are ¥1000, children (13-18yo) are ¥700. So very reasonable.
You can certainly purchase tickets from tour companies without the hassle, but they will be considerably more expensive.
All ticketing information is also available on the Ghibli Museum website.
This will obviously depend on where you're coming from. We caught a metro train to Kichijoji Station, then walked through the park which was beautiful with the lake, the cherry blossoms, and the old Shinto temple. But you could just as easily head for Mitaka Station, which is closer.
