Ghibli Museum

This morning we went to the Studio Ghibli Museum which is located in Mitaka, about a 15 minute (13km) local train ride west of Shinjuku.

It was beautiful day, a brisk 7° in the morning but clear skies and minimal haze. It was that clear we could see Mt Fuji off to the west from the train.

Administratively, Mitaka is a separate city from Tokyo (though it forms part of the broader Tokyo Metropolis and there are no urban breaks) with a population of almost 200,000 people and an area of 16.4sqkm. It functions largely as a commuter city for Tokyo though there there is a cluster of animation studios (interestingly though Studio Ghibli is headquartered in nearby Koganei city, which also is home of another prominent anime studio, Gainax) and also the global headquarters of the high performance arm of Subaru.

The Ghibli Museum is located approximately 20 minute walk from Mitaka Station. We enjoyed a lovely walk through some quiet residential streets which were characterised by low level houses and narrow alleys.

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese film studio best known for their anime productions such as Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies. It was founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata who have coincidentally produced most of the studios films.

The Museum itself is nestled within Inokashira Park and is of a wonderful child like animation inspired design. The museum features many nooks which make it a child's paradise. Obviously the museum is very much an attraction for locals considering the popularity of the Studio in Japan however it is still fascinating to see how they bring still images to life. I also love the unique style of Japanese anime which manages to convey so much of the characters emotion.Read more