Ghibli Museum

Ghibli Museum, Mitaka

[ What is it ]

[ Where is it ]

[ Practicalities ]

[ Tickets ]

[ Transport ]

[ Links ]

[ Shops ]

[ Italiano ]

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Welcome to the Ghibli Museum page. This page is the result of my personal experience during trips to Japan from 2002 to 2007. The scope of this page is to give useful information to people that want to visit the Ghibli Museum. Please note that this is not the official site, which link can be found here.

Last update: 11/24/2009 page counter accesses since 08/19/2002

What is it?

This museum is related to the work of the Studio Ghibli, a japanese animation team founded by famous anime sensei Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. The museum brings you in the world of Ghibli characters and of the animation movies in general. Let's see what the museum brochure says:

Let's Lose Our Way, Together
This is the slogan for the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka. A strange building, elaborately designed exhibits, original short movies that can only be seen in the Museum. There aren't any formal routes that you must follow. You should find your own way. We welcome visitors who can enjoy this space from the heart and can lose their way.

Translation of the museum name


Mitaka	no	mori	Jiburi	bijutsukan
Mitaka's wood Ghibli arts museum

This sign, located on the external wall, says Ghibli Arts Museum, in Italian!

Where is it?

Ghibli Museum, Mitaka
1-1-83 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo 181-0013, Japan
phone 0570-055777 (Japanese only)
Official website

Practicalities

Operations
Hours of operation: Museum 10:00am ~ 6:00pm
Cafe 11:00am ~ 7:00pm (last order 6:20pm)
Closed
Every Tuesday
National Holidays (please consult the official calendar).
Admission Fees (tax included)

Adults/college Students (from 19 years old)	Yen 1,000
High School/Junior High School Students (13-18 y.o.)	Yen 700
Elementary School Students (7-12 y.o.)	Yen 400
Children from 4 to 6 years old	Yen 100
Children under 4 years old	free

The admission fee includes a screening of the short film in the Saturn Theater.

How can I get a ticket?

Tickets are not sold by the Museum. You have to buy a voucher that will be changed into a ticket (the film ticket) once you'll arrive to the Museum entrance. You have to decide in advance the day of your visit: the voucher is in fact a reservation, and it will be valid only for that day. Only 200 admissions per day are available for overseas visitors. You have two methods to buy a voucher.

1. By JTB in your home country.
It is fairly possible to purchase the voucher in your home country. The international ticketing is handled by the world offices of the JTB (Japan Travel Bureau). For USA, check out the JTBUSA. For more information see the official museum page about international ticketing.

In the past (until september 2007) it was possible to buy the voucher directly at the Mitaka JTB office, going there in the morning of the day you wanted to visit the Museum. This is no more possible.

2. By Lawson Ticket service.
Lawson Station is a chain of convenience stores (the famous combini marts!!) throughout Japan. You can find them in the main shopping streets and near many train stations. In Mitaka, there is one very close the station and one near the Ghibli Museum.
At a LAWSON you can buy the ticket using a ATM-like system called LOPPI. All operations are in japanese only, but on the Lawson internet site there is an instructions page in english (here the original japanese site), with an english translation accessible via a button on the right side. Anyway, you can ask assistance to the Lawson shop staff. Just ask for a "Ghibli Museum ticket", or better: "jiburi bijutsukan ticket".

This system may sound complicated, but I think that it is due to the fact that the Ghibli Museum is very popular among anime fans, so the staff wants to prevent the overcrowding that may compromise the museum ambience. So the system ask you to reserve the date of the visit and also an indicative time: 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00. A visit will hardly last more than 2 hours. Anyway this is not mandatory, you can stay as much as you like.

Here are the maps to reach the Lawson shops. The Mitaka station is the pink block. Below the maps I explain how to reach Mitaka from Tokyo.

Near Mitaka Station	Near Ghibli Museum
View Larger Map	View Larger Map

How can I get there?

Mitaka is on the Chuo/Sobu lines (rapid and locals trains) of the JR East network.
From the Tokyo station, using the rapid train, it takes 34 minutes (11 stops) and a 380 Yen fare. If you are using a JR Daily Ticket for the Central Tokyo area, you'll have to pay a small fare adjustement (about 160 Yen) at arriving.
Get to the Mitaka station, then take the South Exit and go down by the stairs on the left side. From here, you can walk to the Museum by foot in about 20 minutes, or take a special bus. You'll see a bus terminal covered by gazebo. There is a ticket vending machine and one or two Museum personnel to assist you. The one-way ticket costs 200 Yen, the round-trip costs 300 Yen (half priced for children under 12 years old).
SUGGESTION: take the one-way ticket, then return by foot, taking a walk in the Inokashira Park following the Tamagawa Josui canal, then follow kaze no sanpomichi street (that means something like "windy walk") to the station. It is a very nice piece of "real" Japan, away from overcrowded Tokyo, and if you take a look at the houses in the narrow streets on the sides of main street, you'll be definitely inside a manga! plus, on that road there is some stuff that a Ghibli fan should not miss...

You can also reach the Ghibli Museum using the Keio Inokashira line, starting from Shibuya. Get off at Inokashira Koen stop (25 minutes from Shibuya) and walk through the park. The regular fare is 190 Yen.

Mitaka map

Where can I buy Ghibli goods?

The Ghibli Museum's shop is very nice but does not have a wide selection of goods! What can you do?

The easiest option is to shop on the internet, of course! Try the beNippon online shop for Ghibli plushes imported from Japan and much more.

The other option is to shop while in Japan. Here below, I provide a list of shops in the Tokyo area that offer good selection of Ghibli-related goods. Even if you don't know japanese, try to surf on the linked websites, you may find detailed maps and, if you're lucky, a translated page. I've also provided japanese original address that can be shown to japanese people if you need to ask directions.
If you are simply searching the Ghibli Studio movies on DVD or soundtrack CDs, look for anime and manga shops in Akihabara or big record and video stores like HMV and Tower Records, located in Shibuya and in many other Tokyo districts.

So, while in Japan, look out for the following shop signs:

donguri kyouwakoku, "Acorn Republic"

And here's the addressess:

Address	Japanese address Click here if you do not see japanese characters.
Tōkyō Station underground passage (near metro gates) Marunouchi 1-9-1 Chiyoda-ku Tōkyō	東京都千代田区丸の内1-9-1 東京駅一番街地下1階
Sunshine City ALPA mall, floor B1F higashi-Ikebukuro 3-1 Toshima-ku Tōkyō More info...	東京都豊島区東池袋3-1 サンシャインシティアルパB1F
Urban Dock LaLaport Toyosu mall, floor 1F, North Port, SHIP1(18) Toyosu 2-4-9 Kotō-ku Tōkyō More info...	東京都江東区豊洲2-4-9 アーバンドッグららぽーと豊洲 1Fノースポート・SHIP1(18)
VenusFort Family mall Palette Town Aōmi 1-chōme (Odaiba island) Kotō-ku Tōkyō More info...	東京都江東区青海１丁目パレットタウンヴィーナスフォートファミリー内
Landmark Plaza mall, floor 4F Minato Mirai 2-2-1 Nishi-ku Yokohama Kanagawa-ken More info...	神奈川県横浜市西区みなとみらい2-2-1
LaLaport Yokohama mall, floor 2F, 24010 Tsuzuki-ku Yokohama Kanagawa-ken More info...	神奈川県横浜市都筑区池辺町4035-1 ららぽーと横浜2F 24010
THE MALL Mizuho 16, floor 2F Takane Shinden 623 Mizuho-chō Nishitama-gun Tōkyō (Actually this is quite far from central Tōkyō!) More info...	東京都西多摩郡瑞穂町大字高根新田623 THE MALL みずほ16 2F

I've found two more shops, but I do not know their exact addresses:

Asakusa (Tōkyō): the shop is in the building on the right of the Kaminarimon (facing the Nakamise and the Sensōji).
Tōkyō Dome: close to the Dome and the roller coaster. Here. (If you go there, I suggest to visit also the Koishikawa Korakuen garden, it is wonderful).

Disclaimer

Please note that prices and availability may change by the time of your visit. With your collaboration (contact me), I can keep this page updated.

Copyright

The Ghibli Museum name, logos and related images and names reproduced in this page are all copyrighted (C) by The Tokuma Memorial Cultural Foundation for Animation. Other logos are copyrighted by respective owners. All material here reproduced is aimed at informational, non-commercial purposes.

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