Japan Spring 2024 - Part 8 Ghibli Park Aichi

 

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Nagoya is to visit the new Ghibli Park in Aichi, about an hour away by train from Nagoya. We are big anime fans and we’ve watched most of Ghibli movies. Naturally, when they opened this new theme park we want to check it out. The Ghibli Park in Aichi is not to be confused with the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, just outside Tokyo. If you are interested in the Ghibli Museum instead, you can see my post here. Also if you had missed the World of Ghibli Exhibition in Pacific Place Jakarta, you can read about it here.

To buy tickets to the Ghibli Park, you can just go directly to their website. Tickets are up for sale two months in advance, and you would want to buy early as they sell out quickly! There are two types of tickets: Premium and Standard. If you buy premium tickets, you will get access to the inside of the buildings like How’s Moving Castle and Mei-Satsuki House. Keep in mind that there are long lineups to enter these houses so if your time is limited, then it’s difficult to make the premium tickets worth buying. With the standard tickets, you will get access to the outside area (outdoors) as well as the Grand Warehouse (indoors). The types of tickets seem to change regularly, so please refer to the website for the most current ones. 

The park itself is divided into 5 areas: Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, Dondoko Forest, Mononoke Village, Hill of Youth, and Valley of Witches. At the time we went, our standard tickets gave us timed access to the Grand Warehouse, Dondoko Forest, Mononoke Village, and the Valley of Witches. This seems to have changed so please check the website carefully before buying your tickets!

To get to Ghibli Park, you can take the train to Fujigaoka Station and change to the Linimo line. Even at this station you can already see the Ghibli theme. It was a nice warm-up to the excitement later.

Pillar at Fujigaoka Station

When we arrived at the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park where the Ghibli Park is located in, we stopped at the Lawson to get lunch and check out the souvenir. There are many Ghibli souvenirs available at this Lawson. We had our lunch on the bench just outside Lawson. A little further ahead, there was a cafe and shop where they sold soft served ice cream in Coffee flavor and also the popular Amaou Strawberry flavor. Of course we had to try!

Amaou Strawberry Soft Served

Coffee Soft Served

The first section we went to was the Valley of Witches where you will find Kiki’s Bakery and House from Kiki’s Delivery Service, Howl’s Moving Castle from the movie with the same name, a merry go round that plays the famous Merry Go Round song, and a few other things. This turned out to be the top two things we liked at the Ghibli Park. At the souvenir shop by the exit of this area I got myself a pair of Howl’s earrings. So excited about it!

Valley of Witches

Up the Elevator

Rooftop Garden

Bakery from Kiki’s Delivery Service

Howl’s Moving Castle and Turnip

Riding Kiki’s Broom :D

It was finally time for us to enter the Grand Warehouse, this is the only area with timed entry for my tickets. The whole area is indoor and air-conditioned, making it a nice respite from the heat. In the Grand Warehouse, there is a cinema where you can watch a short animated film, and then several areas where you can immerse yourself in your favorite movie scenes. There was a space from Arriety, No Face from Spirited Away, the robots from Castle in The Sky, and even a scene from their latest award-winning movie, The Boy and The Heron. They all involve a long queue, so if you want to catch them all you will need to spare several hours for the Grand Warehouse. Unlike the Valley of Witches, there are no rides here.

Cinema ticket to watch a short movie

After the Grand Warehouse, we were running out of time so we quickly went to the Mononoke Village. That didn’t take long as it was pretty disappointing. The space was bare and was lacking things to see. We quickly made our way out for the last area, the Dondoko Forest. This last area was a bit far out so we decided to line up for the shuttle bus. It was free, but very busy.

The Dondoko Forest is home to the Satsuki’s and Mai’s house, from the beloved My Neighbour Totoro. However, you can only go inside the house if you have a premium ticket. And of course, there is a lineup to enter. The rest of the space was just a forest, you can trek up or take a little train. At the very top was a structure in the shape of Totoro and a few others.

Mononoke Village

Totoro at the top of Dondoko Forest

Satsuki’s and Mai’s House

Finally it was late afternoon and we had to move on to Tokyo. We took the train back to Nagoya Station and bought Shinkansen tickets to Tokyo. But that would be for the next post. Overall if you ask me if Ghibli Park is worth it, I would say unless you’re a hardcore Ghibli fan you’re probably better off using your short time in Japan for something else. :)