Here's our first close-up look at the adorably surreal attraction.
Japan's Ghibli Park attraction has developed from a surreal dream into reality, and it looks even more adorable than we could have hoped for. Studio Ghibli first announced its concept for a theme park based on the worlds of its animated films back in 2018, and its finally opening on 1 November.
After several delays, most obviously due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Studio Ghibli theme park has announced ticket sales, and it's given us our first glimpse of the park's central attraction, Ghibli's Big Warehouse, which features scenes and characters from fan favourites such as My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and The Wind Rises (if you're inspired to create your own characters, see our guide to character design).
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The Ghibli Park Big Warehouse features shops, exhibits and cafes(Image credit: Studio Ghibli)
There are scenes from popular Studio Ghibli films(Image credit: Studio Ghibli)
The park is located in Aichi prefecture(Image credit: Studio Ghibli)
There's also a cinema showing Studio Ghibli films(Image credit: Studio Ghibli)
Until now we'd seen concept illustrations for the project that Studio Ghibli released early last year. Now we've got a glimpse of the real thing, with photos from Ghibli Park, which is located in the city of Nagoya in Aichi prefecture. The Ghibli's Big Warehouse section features shops, exhibits and cafes themed around some of the Studio Ghibli's most famous films. Visitors will be able to enter scenes with the masked spirit Kaonashi and witch and bathhouse proprietor Yubaba from Spirited Away.
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Ghibli Park features models of characters such as Yubaba from Spirited Away(Image credit: Studio Ghibli)
Visitors will be able to sit beside faceless Kaonashi (Image credit: Studio Ghibli)
There are large scale replicas from the films(Image credit: Studio Ghibli)
And even Totoro sleeping(Image credit: Studio Ghibli)
And a Cat Bus(Image credit: Studio Ghibli)
Ghibli's Big Warehouse will also include Cinema Orion, a 170-seat cine that will show 10 animated short films previously only shown at the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo, and there will be an exhibit of Studio Ghibli film posters from around the world. Two other areas of the park will open in November: Youth Hill and Dondoko Forest. Valley of Witches and Mononoke Village are due to be added at a later date.
A map of Ghibli Park (Image credit: Studio Ghibli)
Each part of Ghibli Park will have its own admission tickets, which will go on sale on the 10th of every month via a lottery system that's currently only open to residents of Japan. Adult tickets cost 2,000 yen ($14 / £12) for weekdays.
Studio Ghibli has had a huge influence on animation and beyond the world over. We've even seen one creative design reimagine famous logos as Studio Ghibli characters. The Ghibli Park looks set to be a treat for fans of the studio big and small, and from the initial images at least, it looks like they've given it the attention to detail that it deserves.
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Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
