Studio Ghibli, the animation house responsible for anime classics My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke, announced plans for Ghibli Park in 2017. As well as the aforementioned films, Japan’s new theme park features attractions based on Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away, and Castle in the Sky.
Located in the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park, the theme park is estimated to have an annual economic impact of $324 million. It is expected to welcome approximately 1.8 million now that all five themed areas are open.
Keep reading for everything you need to know about the new Studio Ghibli theme park, including attractions, inspiration, location and cost.
When did the anime theme park open?
The Studio Ghibli theme park opened in November 2022. Guests could visit three of the five themed lands – Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, Dondoko Forest and Hill of Youth. Aichi’s governor Hideaki Ōmura and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki’s son Goro Miyazaki welcomed the venue’s first visitors.
Mononoke Village opened in November 2023 and was followed by Valley of Witches in March 2024.
At a press event before the launch, Ōmura said Ghibli Park had taken “five years and five months” to complete (via Lifestyle Asia). Miyazaki said the destination was designed before his father’s retirement. “We didn’t want people to forget Ghibli’s works,” he said. “But we were betrayed again. He’s making a feature film now!”
Ghibli Park was initially set to open in 2020. It was revealed in July 2020 that the attraction had resumed construction following a temporary suspension. “We are still on track and are planning to open the park in fall 2022,” Ōmura confirmed at the time.
Building work on Ghibli Park started in early 2020. Then, it paused temporarily in response to the pandemic. Work soon resumed and started on Hill of Youth, Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse and Dondoko Forest.
Studio Ghibli held a groundbreaking ceremony in the summer of 2020. Its chairman, Kiyofumi Nakajima, was in attendance. At the event, Ōmura said: “The 2005 Expo’s theme of ‘love’ has also been portrayed in Studio Ghibli’s films consistently, so we can inherit that philosophy. We aim to make the facility a world-class park and hope many people will visit here.”
Where is the Studio Ghibli theme park located?
The Studio Ghibli theme park can be found on 7.1 hectares of land within the former site of the 2005 World Expo. It is located in Nagakute, close to Nagoya, the capital of Japan’s Aichi Prefecture.
The land already featured a replica of Satsuki and Mei’s house from the Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro, created for the World Expo. Developers maintained the house for the new park.
What anime attractions feature at Ghibli Park?
Unlike theme parks like Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea and Universal Studios Japan, Ghibli Park has no thrill rides or coasters. Ahead of the park’s debut, Studio Ghibli launched an official website. “Ghibli Park is a park that represents the world of Studio Ghibli,” it said. “There are no big attractions or rides in Ghibli Park. Take a stroll, feel the wind, and discover the wonders.”
As mentioned above, the Studio Ghibli theme park is divided into five themed lands, which are: Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, Dondoko Forest, Mononoke Village, Hill of Youth, and Valley of Witches.
Themed lands
Hill of Youth is based on Howl’s Moving Castle, complete with a giant elevator offering views from above. It is located at the park’s entrance. Here, visitors can shop at the gift shop from Whisper of the Heart, and see elements from The Cat Returns.
Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse is “a large warehouse full of Ghibli secrets”, home to a small cinema, playgrounds, shops, cafés and immersive exhibits.
At Dondoko Forest, visitors can “enter the world of My Neighbor Totoro at Satsuki and Mei’s house”. The surrounding area serves as the rural landscape from the film.
Mononoke Village is a Princess Mononoke-style area in Ghibli Park. It is inspired by the film’s setting of Irontown (Tatara), protected by a lake and high walls. It houses a sculpture of a Tatarigami spirit monster, the boar god Lord Okkoto and more mystical creatures. The land transports visitors back to the Muromachi period (1336 – 1573) when the film is set.
Valley of Witches takes inspiration from the wastelands in Kiki’s Delivery Service and Howl’s Moving Castle. The area contains a life-size Howl’s Moving Castle, the witch’s house from Earwig and the Witch, and Ghibli Park’s first amusement park-style rides, like a merry-go-round and an aerial carousel ride.
Additionally, Valley of Witches includes the bakery home of Kiki and her black cat Jiji from Kiki’s Delivery Service, the Soratobu Oven restaurant, a hot dog stand called the Hot Tin Roof, and a shop named 13 Witches.
Life-size Howl’s Moving Castle
As above, Valley of Witches includes a life-size Howl’s Moving Castle. The new attraction at Ghibli Park doesn’t actually move, and it is slightly smaller than the version seen in the 2004 film.
My Neighbor Totoro-themed playground
Concept art and information about the My Neighbor Totoro-themed playground at Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse were released in the summer of 2021. The playground includes a replica of Satsuki and Mei’s house, a giant camphor tree, and a redesigned Catbus.
Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse is an indoor area of the park with a small cinema, shops, cafés and immersive exhibits. Cinema Orion screens 10 short animation films produced by Studio Ghibli. Until now, these have only been shown at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka.
Highlights at Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse also include the train from Spirited Away, where guests can sit next to No-Face. Additionally, this land boasts an expanded version of the Ghibli Museum’s ‘Drawing Eating’ exhibition.
Castle in the Sky-style entrance
Ghibli Park also has a Castle in the Sky-style elevator tower entrance, which launched to the public before the theme park. Studio Ghibli said it is “based on the fantasy science world at the end of the 19th century, which became the model of the world of Castle in the Sky.”
Getting around Ghibli Park
Guests can now travel around the Studio Ghibli theme park using Catbus electric vehicles. In March 2024, Ghibli Park debuted a fleet of eco-friendly vehicles inspired by the Catbus in My Neighbor Totoro. Officially called APM Catbus, the vehicles look and feel like the Catbus from the film, with a rounded appearance and furry seats.
The low-speed electric vehicles developed by Toyota, originally for the Tokyo Olympics, are based on the manufacturer’s APM (Accessible People Mover). Operated by software company Monet Technologies, six Catbus vehicles can carry six passengers at a time across the park. The APM Catbus offers 10-minute trips between the Mononoke Village and Dondoko Forest areas through an inaccessible forest.
The new buses are 3.9 metres long, 1.6 metres wide, and 2 metres high. They can travel at a top speed of 19 km/h and can seat six people, including the driver. The front row contains the driver’s seat, and there are three seats in the second row and two in the third.
Catbuses run from 9.30 am until 5.30 pm on weekdays and from 8.30 am until 5.30 pm on weekends and public holidays. Guests can buy tickets for a ride on a Catbus at special vending machines. Only one-way tickets are available, as opposed to round-trip tickets. These cost 1,000 yen ($6) for adults and 500 yen ($3) for children.
Museum exhibit with items from Ghibli Park
Before Studio Ghibli’s theme park opened, the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art showcased items from the attraction. The themed exhibit was a final preview of some of the park’s contents before they made their way to Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse. It also explored Studio Ghibli’s 35-year history and displayed previously unreleased material.
In addition, the exhibit brought back content shown in earlier Studio Ghibli exhibits. The first of these ran in 2015 at Moricoro Park before touring Japan and Seoul. The previous exhibits displayed memorabilia such as artwork, memos, and film posters.
Ghibli Park’s colourful ‘Cattrain’ trailer
Before the opening, the new Studio Ghibli theme park released a colourful trailer directed and animated by Hayao Miyazaki. The trailer features a My Neighbor Totoro-style ‘Cattrain’, similar to the film’s Catbus.
The video, which you can see above, features several characters from Studio Ghibli’s films. These include Totoro and Mei from My Neighbor Totoro and the Radish Spirit and No-Face in Spirited Away.
The trailer is an adaptation of an animated video by Miyazaki for the launch of the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Japan, in 2001. It offers music by Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi and narration by Toshio Suzuki, co-founder and former president of the animation company.
Howl’s Moving Castle-style promo video
Ghibli Park released an animated video inspired by Howl’s Moving Castle before the launch of the Valley of Witches area.
Miyazaki created the storyboards for the short video, while Howl’s Moving Castle animation director Akihiko Yamashita provided direction and original drawings. Noboru Yoshida, the art director of Howl’s Moving Castle, created the new video.
Immersing visitors in nature
Ghibli Park is an eco-friendly place. Studio Ghibli will not cut down any trees to make room for future attractions. During construction, the team enhanced and preserved any natural areas.
Studio Ghibli’s theme park celebrates the natural beauty that inspired the company’s lush animation. Nature trails feature statues of spiders, boars, and other Ghibli characters, and there are plenty of natural spaces, like the settings of many Ghibli films.
Instead of thrill rides and coasters, Ghibli Park focuses on immersing visitors in the worlds of Studio Ghibli. The park even limits daily attendance within each of its themed lands to improve the guest experience and protect the park and its environment.
Tickets to the Studio Ghibli theme park
Now that all five themed lands at Ghibli Park are open, the ticketing system is as follows:
Overseas guests
Ghibli Park O-Sanpo day pass (premium)
Adults: 7,300 yen ($50) / 7,800 yen ($53) (weekdays/weekends)
Children: 3,650 yen ($25) / 3,900 yen ($27)
This all-access ticket provides admission to each land in Ghibli Park, including all buildings, dining outlets, shops and rides.
Ghibli Park O-Sanpo day pass (standard)
Adults: 3,300 yen ($22) / 3,800 yen ($26) (weekdays/weekends)
Children: 1,650 yen ($11) / 1,900 yen ($13)
This ticket gets visitors into Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, Mononoke Village and Valley of Witches, with access to dining outlets, shops and rides. However, it does not allow entry to the park’s other indoor experiences: Kiki’s home, Howl’s Moving Castle, and the witch’s house from Earwig and the Witch.
Entry to Kiki’s home costs 400 yen ($2) for adults and 200 yen ($1) for children.
Entry to Howl’s Moving Castle is 1,000 yen ($7) for adults and 500 yen ($3) for children.
Entry to the house from Earwig and the Witch costs 400 yen ($2) for adults and 200 yen ($1) for children.
Domestic guests
Tickets for residents of Japan are slightly different from those for overseas guests. Premium day passes are priced the same as above, and also provide admission to all sections of Ghibli Park, including all buildings, dining outlets, shops and rides.
The same goes for standard passes, which allow entry to Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, Mononoke Village and Valley of Witches, with access to dining outlets, shops and rides.
Tickets to Kiki’s home, Howl’s Moving Castle, and the witch’s house from Earwig and the Witch also cost the same as above.
However, domestic guests can buy the following tickets:
Entry Mononoke Village and Valley of Witches is 2,000 yen ($13) for adults and 1,000 yen ($7) for children. This ticket does not include access to Kiki’s home, Howl’s Moving Castle, and the witch’s house. These experiences cost the same as they do for overseas visitors.
Entry to Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse is 2,000 yen ($13) for adults and 1,000 yen ($7) for children.
Entry to Hill of Youth is 1,000 yen ($7) for adults and 500 yen ($3) for children.
Entry to Dondoko Forest is 1,000 yen ($7) for adults and 500 yen ($3) for children.
In comparison, tickets to Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan cost up to $80 per person. However, Ghibli Park is a smaller venue without big attractions and rides.
Images courtesy of Studio Ghibli
