Tourism Ghibli Park to open on 1 November

Film director Goro Miyazaki, who is overseeing the theme park's development, revealed to the press that the idea of the park came about when his father Hayao, a legendary animation director, said in 2013 that he was retiring from making feature films. Goro said the decision to build the park was motivated by a desire to "preserve Ghibli's works for future generations so that they would not be forgotten." However, he quipped that he felt somewhat shortchanged after Hayao came back from retirement, drawing laughter from those attending. Opening in November are "Ghibli's Grand Warehouse," which will be the main area; "Hill of Youth," which includes a reproduction of an antique store from the movie "Whisper of the Heart"; and "Dondoko Forest," which is inspired by the Showa period landscape depicted in movie "My Neighbor Totoro." There are also exhibits related to famous scenes from Ghibli films, such as Yubaba's office from "Spirited Away" and the garden with the towering Robot Soldier from "Castle in the Sky."

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Lothor said:

I'm not normally into theme parks, but that looks very classy! I liked the promotional video - not a single yuru-chara or a patronising voiceover anywhere!.

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Uncle Frank said:

I heard our spy base in Fukuoka/Hakata was turned into an amusement park(around 1974?). It was next to a town called Saitozaki. Can anyone find pictures of the park or confirm it was converted?

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The SAITOZAKI "Americanization" Revival Project
This project was created with the mission of recreating the historic Little America of Saitozaki. Saitozaki is an area which once housed a US military base and was visited by the famous Marilyn Monroe herself. This project includes an artistic recreation of the area's American cultural influence of years past via artwork on display in ten different locations throughout town, all filled with plenty of American flair, including depictions of the US flag, Marilyn Monroe, and more!

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Studio Ghibli showcased a prototype of the all-electric Catbus vehicle during a recent press conference at Aichi prefecture's main government office. In addition to a driver, the vehicle will seat five passengers arranged in two rows. Toyota Motor is producing the Catbus vehicle, with a mechanical design based on its low-speed Accessible People Mover. Five Catbus vehicles will be introduced at the theme park in March 2024 to ferry visitors between attractions. [...] According to Goro Miyazaki, the elder Miyazaki was pleased to hear about the real-world Catbus, who added that his father had readily taken on the job of drawing artwork to appear on the Catbus tickets.

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For example, if a family of two parents and two elementary school-aged children visit the park on a holiday with an "O-Sanpo Day Pass Premium," tickets alone would cost a total of 23,400 JPY (about USD160). In addition, if all four grilled their own Gohei-mochi snacks (1,200 JPY, or roughly USD8) and rode the Carousel (an additional 1,000 JPY for adults and 500 JPY for children) plus the "Flying Machine" (another 500 JPY), the family's total outlays would hit 33,200 JPY (approx. USD226). The same family of four visiting Tokyo Disney Resort would pay a very similar 33,000 JPY (approx. USD224) for one-day passes (10,900 JPY for adults and 5,600 JPY for elementary school children) on the most expensive date.

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Petaris said:

I would love to see this park but it really looks like it would be an expensive ordeal. Are they still requiring reservations with the need to reserve months in advance?

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nice gaijin said:

I have a friend who just left for Japan with his partner, they're going to Hokkaido for a little skiing and are going to the park on opening day! I'll ask him for a review when he returns, he said his partner is a big Ghibli fan.

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