Popular film director Hayao Miyazaki opened the Ghibli Museum of animation in Mitaka, western Tokyo, on Monday, greeting visitors eager to see his latest creations.
The museum, in Inokashira Park, is a joint project between his production company and the city and was named after Studio Ghibli, the 60-year-old director's production company. Miyazaki serves as the head of the museum.
Among its major attractions are a permanent collection used to explain the process of making animated films and a viewing room for original short films.
Tickets went on sale at Lawson convenience stores nationwide a week before the museum's opening and have been selling briskly, with tickets for this weekend already sold out.
Demand is so high that tickets must be purchased in advance for a specific date and time.
because the museum expects 2,400 visitors grouped into four different time slots to visit daily, they said.
Miyazaki's films include such hits as "My Neighbor Totoro," "Princess Mononoke," and his latest work, "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away)," which is already Japan's highest-grossing domestic film.