Tickets for a theme park based on the films of anime studio Studio Ghibli, renowned for titles such as the Oscar-winning “Spirited Away,” will go on sale next month, ahead of its scheduled opening on Nov. 1.
The tickets will go on sale Aug. 10 and will be sold using a lottery system via online ticket service Boo-Woo Ticket. The second phase of ticket sales will start Sept. 10 and will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. From September, tickets will also be sold at Loppi terminals at Lawson and Mini Stop convenience stores.
Tickets will not be sold to people outside of Japan.
Ghibli Park is located on the site of the 2005 Expo Memorial Park in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture, and will consist of five areas.
The opening in November will see the unveiling of the first three sections of the park, including Ghibli no Daisoko (Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse), which will resemble a garden in ruins modeled after one featured in “Castle in the Sky.” The 1986 tale follows a young boy and a girl with a magic crystal who race against pirates and government agents to try and find a legendary floating castle.
Seishun no Oka (Hill of Youth), located at the entrance, will feature an observation tower granting views of the whole park. The tower will incorporate design elements invoking “Howl’s Moving Castle” (2004) as well as scientific objects from the late 19th century. The area will also have a neighborhood with an antique shop resembling that of the 1995 movie "Whisper of the Heart," as well as a small wooden building seen in "The Cat Returns" (2002) with miniature furniture and other elements. This part of the park will be part of an exhibition space for materials related to the studio.
The third attraction, Dondoko Mori (Dondoko Forest) will function as a cafe area and include a life-size model of the house where the main characters of the 1988 classic “My Neighbor Totoro” lived. The area is intended to resemble the Japanese countryside where the tale’s lead characters — Satsuki and her younger sister, Mei — settle into an old house with their father while waiting for their mother to recover from an illness in a nearby hospital.
The remaining two areas — Mononoke Village and the Valley of Witches — are expected to open in the fiscal year beginning April 2023.
Mononoke’s Village will include a real-life recreation of the Irontown depicted in the movie "Princess Mononoke" (1997), with the scenery resembling a rural landscape from the Muromachi Period (1336-1573) in which the movie is set.
The Valley of Witches, meanwhile, will feature attractions based on "Kiki's Delivery Service" (1989) and "Howl's Moving Castle."
The Ghibli theme park, which will be the world’s first based on the work of the studio, was originally slated to debut in 2020, but the opening date was pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. The project is expected to cost about ¥34 billion ($249 million) and is covered by the Aichi Prefectural Government.
Studio Ghibli was co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki, known for directing 2001’s “Spirited Away,” which tells the story of a girl who gets lost in a mysterious world and tries to save her parents who have turned into pigs. The studio already operates the highly popular Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, western Tokyo.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.