Studio Ghibli Museum

Today I went to the Studio Ghibli Museum with the N4 class! They were nice enough to let me tag along. We just barely made it in time after classes, and one of us had a ticket that wouldn't work, but in the end we all were able to enjoy the place! It was really lucky, and the workers were really nice.

Unfortunately, we couldn't take photos inside the museum, but it was amazing! There were tons of concept art, statues, and the like. The building itself is beautiful, it looks like something straight out of a Hayao Miyazaki movie. However, my favorite part was probably the roof!

The robot statue there was awesome! Travis (the guy on the far left) really wanted to climb on its shoulder, but naturally the worker stopped him. When it got dark and we were leaving, you could still see the robot clearly on top of the building. I felt like I was really seeing the robot from Castle in the Sky! It was awesome, but sadly my phone couldn't capture it very well on camera. So just believe me when I say, it was a magical sight.

We went to the gift shop, and there was tons of awesome things! But as you might expect, it was quite expensive. I think you could probably find the same sort of merchandise for a more reasonable price elsewhere. But still, the experience was well worth it.

I ended up buying a Laputa phone charm (from Castle in the Sky--something I've always wanted!) and a postcard with art from Spirited Away. It's of the building near where Chihiro's parents became pigs, but I really liked the bright colors.

The small ticket that looks like film is indeed film! It's a ticket for the theater, where you can watch a short movie. I didn't go, because I wanted to explore the other floors, but the ticket itself is awesome! It contains a few frames of a Ghibli film. I was lucky enough to get one from Howl's Moving Castle. If you can see in the second picture, there's frames from the scene where Sophie emerges from the hat shop to see her town being bombed. You have to hold it up to the light to see anything clearly.

I have a few friends that wanted to go to Ghibli Museum but couldn't, due to the short notice and the fact that they didn't know anyone in N4. I already promised that we'd go again, and I'm eager to! The museum is pretty small; I hear there is a bigger one in Nagoya. But still, I wasn't able to eat at the cafe, or view the short film. The park that it's located in is also gorgeous, so I definitely look forward to returning soon.