Visiting Ghibli Museum. How to get tickets and what to expect.

To celebrate Alex’s birthday we’ve recently visited the Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. So far, we have been to the Museum two times and we’re sure to visit again in the near future. If you have enjoyed Ghibli Studio’s movies like “My Neighbor Totoro”, “Spirited Away”, “Princess Mononoke” or are into animation in general (Japanese anime in particular), I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. We and our kid had a blast!

To make your visit in Ghibli Museum possible, you need the tickets first. The Ghibli Museum operates on an advance reservation basis and no tickets are sold at the Museum.

Buying tickets for the Ghibli Museum

You can buy tickets online or in a convenience store if you’re already in Japan. You have to plan your visit ahead however. On the 10th of each month the sale opens up and you can get a ticket for the next month. Check out all the options on the official Museum website.

Make sure to do it quickly though, as the best times (10am) and first days of the month disappear really fast. Also, many people try to buy tickets as soon as they are released, so the website gets unresponsive quite often.

The museum is open from 10:00am to 6:00pm, but there are only 4 time slots available in which admission is possible. They let people in at 10:00 – 10:30am, 12:00 – 12:30pm, 2:00 – 2:30pm and 4:00 – 4:30pm. Once you enter the Museum, you can stay as long as you like or until the museum gets closed at 6:00pm. Last time we stayed for about 2 hours, as all three of us got pretty tired from all the magic.

After you manage to successfully buy the ticket you get a confirmation email with a link to print the ticket out. In the email, they ask you to print the ticket, as it contains the QR code, which they would scan at the entrance to confirm your booking number. I had trouble printing out the tickets once, but managed to just present the confirmation email, and it worked too.

Make sure to take your passport with you to confirm your identity at the entrance. I think, any Japan issued identification document would work as well, as I’ve used my foreign resident card before.

Getting to the Ghibli Museum

Getting to Ghibli Museum is quite easy, even if you’re in Tokyo for the first time. The best way to get there is to take a train to Mitaka (JR Chuo line or JR Chuo-sobu line). Take the south exit at Mitaka station and turn left following the sign to Ghibli Museum.

After a short walk down you should be able to locate the bus stop with a special bus that will take you straight to the museum. Alternatively, the museum is just few bus stops away from the station, so you might want to take a walk, it shouldn’t take longer than 15 minutes I think.

If you gonna take the bus, you can save some money buying a two-way ticket at the ticket machine beside the bus stop. It will be a bit cheaper than using your Suica or Pasmo card there and back.

Inside the Ghibli Museum

There is lots to see in the Museum for every Ghibli Studio and Japanese animation fan. The Museum building itself looks like taken out directly from one of the Ghibli Studio’s movies.

Wooden elements, spiral staircases, stained glass windows and other meticulously prepared details that make you feel you are inside a fairytale. Indeed a truly magical place.

It’s really a fun place for both adults and kids. Beside enjoying the exhibitions, the young ones (up to 12 years old) can have a massive fun climbing up and down a big plush Catbus from the “My Neighbor Totoro” movie.

Make sure to go on the roof of the Museum as well, to see a full-size robot from the “Laputa Castle in the Sky” movie. On a clear day you can also see the Mount Fuji from there.

Most exhibitions in the Museum are permanent, so you can definitely look up more detailed information online. However, I think it’s better to just go there and be ready for a surprise.

Beside permanent exhibitions, there is a special one that changes from time to time. The Catbus for adults and the food exhibition are no longer there, as both were part of a temporary exhibition. We really miss the Catbus, as the experience was very special. Currently there is the “Painting the Colors of Our Films” exhibition, until November 2019.

The Saturn Theater

Believe it or not, but inside the Museum there is a small movie theater (around 80 sits) where you can enjoy short animated feature films by Studio Ghibli. These films can only be seen in this theater making the experience even more exclusive.

You get the tickets to the theater at the entrance, and can choose your screening time (every 20 minutes).

Each month a different film is screened and there are around ten of those short films. To see all of them you need to come to the Museum at least ten times 🙂

The ones we have seen,  “Boro the Caterpillar” and  “House Hunting”, were really something! Every sound effect in those filmes was done by a person. Human voice effects and stunning animation managed to build up to a very powerful experience. It was great, but I think some smaller kids, like ours, might find that to be too much and too scary.

Straw Hat Cafe

If you get hungry, there is a cafe in the Museum. It’s called the Straw Hat Cafe and has lunch menu and a nice selection of deserts. You can check their menu on the Japanese version of the Ghibli Museum website.

We have never eaten there, but the cafe has pretty good reviews. However, it is usually quite packed. So if you have time and want to experience the food there, I think it’s worth the wait. If you rather prefer not to wait, you can order some take out items, or bring your own food, which you can enjoy at cafe’s outside deck.

Mamma Aiuto gift shop

Make sure not to miss the Museum’s souvenir shop Mamma Aiuto, named after the sky pirates from the “Porco Rosso” movie. In the shop, you can find your favourite Studio Ghibli character goods along with original museum souvenir items. The items range from plushies and stationary to clothes, pins and elaborate plane models. There are also other shops in Tokyo, like Donguri Republic, which specialise in Studio Ghibli goods. However, each of them tends to have some unique items, for example I’ve only seen a decent selection of jewellery in the Mamma Aiuto shop.

Side note: The Museum’s staff have a blog where they describe various moments from Museum’s daily life. You can easily find the day when you visited and see what happened.

Have you ever been in Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, if so, how did you find it? If not, would you like to? If you’re into anime like us and visiting Tokyo, I think you should consider giving it a go. In my opinion it’s really worth it, especially that the ticket price is just ¥1000 JPY (around $10 USD).