If you are even a little interested in Japan and in its culture, which is possible as you are consulting this website, some names as My neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997), The Grave of the Fireflies (1988), or more recently, Ponyo on the Cliff (2008) and The Borrower Arrietty (August 2011 in the US, TBD 2011 in the UK), should ring a bell... Produced by Studio Ghibli* and released by the famous movie directors H. Miyazaki and I. Takahata (each of them focusing themselves on different projects), these Japanese anime feature films have fired the imagination of many Japanese people since 1985, date of the creation of this Studio, and since more recently, of the entire world... with a progressive expansion since 1996, when The Walt Disney Company has obtained the rights for international production. To complete this evolution of influence, Ghibli Museum, which presents the different movies produced by the Studio and shows each year a new short movie of it, has been opened since 2001.
Located in the suburb of the South-East of Tokyo, in Mitaka, which explains its whole name, the Ghibli Museum of the Mikata's forest, 三鷹の森ジブリ美術館 (Mitaka no mori Ghibli Bijuutsukan), it is not easy to access it. Not only it is ot possible to buy the tickets in the museum itself, but it is also impossible to park your car or to stay in during more than two hours... these measures being settled to limit waiting at the entrance of the museum: it is true that once the ticket is obtained, you can access easily, or almost, the magical world of Studio Ghibli.
First, to obain the ticket, it is necessary to buy them in advance in a terminal that you can find in the chain of combinis Lawson. In these terminals, it is possible to buy many different entry tickets to access many events (as concerts...), amusement parks (as Disneyland...) or even plane seats... but you also have to consult them to purchase the tickets to enter Ghibli Museum as no ticket is sold inside. If the kanjis (these chinese characters used in Japanese) are a mystery to you, you can ask some help to the cashier who should assist you with pleasure... if he gets your requests. About the prices, now, it is 1000¥ for those who are more than 19, 700¥ between 13 and 18, 400¥ between 7 and 12 and only 100¥ between 4 and 6. It is also important to notice that you have to reserve in advance (sometimes more than one week before, notably if you want to go there on the weekend...) and that you wan only chose time slots of two hours between 10 and 12 a.m., 12 and 2 p.m., 2 and 4 p.m. and 4 and 6 p.m.... Indead, you only have two hours to visit the museum: this is enough, but do not stay too long in the souvenir shop.
To get to the Museum, the task is also quite complicated as it is located outside of Tokyo... the easiest way to get there is to take the Chuo line from Shibuya and to get off either in Kichijōji station or Mikata. From the latest, there are some community buses to the museum which left each 10 minutes (one-way is 200¥, and the round trip 300¥). If you decide to walk, which is interesting as the city is quite beautiful and the museum surrounded by a park, both stops are around 1 kilometer from the museum.
A funny building, a waiving Totoro... There you are. Finally. A man will just check your tickets and you will be able to enter the museum where the cashier will give you a special ticket which allows you to access the movie theatre of the museum. There, you will enjoy the sight of a short movie specifically made for the museum... the lattest, presented from the end of Novembre 2010, being パン種とタマゴ姫, Bread paste and the Egg Princess. In addition to this chef-d'oeuvre that you should be able to understand without any difficulty as it is entirely silent, you will also be able to admire all the artworks that are presented to you. It is beautiful. But you will have to enjoy them only with your eyes as once the door of the museum is passed, you cannot take pictures. However, you will be able to get over this frustration on the roof where you can take some pictures... or in the souvenir shop where you can buy (in exchange to a little amount of money though...) some postcards, souvenirs, CDs and DVDs, or even many classical books for children.
So yes, it is quite difficult to obtain the right to access this sanctuary of Japanese animation (which is not only for children by the way... do not show the Princess Mononoke or The Grave of the Fireflies to a child... he would be choqued !), it is really worth it as this place is magical and imagination omnipresent.
Marièke POULAT
*****
* You have to pronounce it ''Jibli'' instead of ''Guibli'' as we are used to as this name is from Italia.
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