Ghibli Museum

The Ghibli Museum (三鷹の森ジブリ美術館) is a museum showcasing the work of the Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli. It is located in Inokashira Park in Mitaka, a western city within the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, in 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. Features include a replica of the Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro (1988), a café, bookstore, rooftop garden, and a theater for exclusive short films by Studio Ghibli.

Background

Planning for the museum began in 1998, and construction started in March 2000. The museum opened on 1 October 2001.[1] Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki designed the museum himself, using 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. The museum features internal and external spiral staircases built from iron, interior bridges, and balconies stretching throughout the building's height. The stairways lead to exhibits, dead ends, and across bridges.

Other features

Tri Hawks

Tri Hawks is a reading room and bookstore in the Ghibli Museum. Opened on 6 February 2002, it is filled with books recommended by Hayao Miyazaki. The name Tri Hawks comes from a translation of "Mitaka", the city where the museum is located, which means "three hawks".[3]

Mamma Aiuto

Mamma Aiuto, on the top of the Ghibli Museum, is a souvenir shop named after the band of sky pirates in the movie Porco Rosso.[21] The film is set in Italy, and the name Mamma Aiuto translates to "mama, help me" in Italian.[3] Among other items, it sells classic and non-Japanese animated movies under the 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 and mother of four; Miyazaki wanted the café's food to be "a kind of home cooking". It serves hot and cold food, snacks, and desserts.[3] Sold at the takeout section is an original alcoholic beverage, "Valley of the Wind" beer, which was created in a collaboration with Dairy Kingdom Oratche, a microbrewery in Tanna Basin. The beverage's label was hand-drawn by Gorō Miyazaki, Miyazaki's son, who is an animation director at Studio Ghibli.[22]

Catbus room

There is a playroom for children aged 12 and under, with a stuffed Catbus toy to play in. Its size is slightly reduced from the original scale in My Neighbor Totoro, for it to fit into the museum.[3]

Rooftop garden

On the museum's roof is a garden with a life-size, five-meter-tall statue of a robot from the final episode of Lupin III Part II and from the film Castle in the Sky.[23] The Robot Soldier was made by the artist Kunio Shachimaru. It is formed from a hammered copper plate and took two years to complete. The keystone from Castle in the Sky, bearing an inscription in Old Persian cuneiform, which can also be found in the rooftop garden, is a replica of the control room stone found in the floating castle, Laputa, in the movie.

Fresco painting

At the entrance of the building, the museum's ceiling is covered in a fresco painting that features characters from Studio Ghibli films, such as Kiki on her broomstick from Kiki's Delivery Service (1989).[3][24]

Background

Exhibits

Permanent exhibitions

Special exhibitions

Short films

Other features

Tri Hawks

Mamma Aiuto

Straw Hat Café

Catbus room

Rooftop garden

Fresco painting

Tickets

See also

Further reading

External links

References

established	1
location	1-1-83 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka Tokyo 181-0013