Ghibli Park

• 1. Introduction

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  Ghibli Park opened on the 1st of November 2022 in Nagakute, Aichi, Japan. There is no private parking lot. Visitors reach it exclusively through Aichikyūhaku-kinen-kōen Station, a railway stop built into the park's entrance. The park sits within the grounds of the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park and will cover 7.1 hectares once all construction is complete. Five themed zones draw from the films of Studio Ghibli, and they did not all open at once. Three zones were ready on the first day. The remaining two arrived later, with the last one completing the park well over a year after it debuted. Plans were first announced in 2017, beginning with just one Studio Ghibli film in mind. The person who made that announcement was a producer who had spent years working with the studio. The site he chose already had a Ghibli history of its own.

• 2. Before the Gates Opened

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  Toshio Suzuki, a producer of several Studio Ghibli films, was the person who first described what the park would become. The site he pointed to was Moricoro Park, another name for the Expo 2005 grounds in Aichi. That location had hosted two Ghibli exhibitions before the park was ever proposed: one in 2008 and one in 2015. A replica of Satsuki and Mei Kusakabe's house from My Neighbor Totoro had been standing on the property since 2005. It was built for the World Expo that year.

  The original plan had called for a park centered entirely on My Neighbor Totoro. By 2019, the scope had grown to include four additional areas based on other Ghibli films. New details also revealed a formal partnership between the studio, the Aichi Prefecture, and the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper. The revised opening target was late 2022. Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli, was said to be participating in the planning. His son, Goro Miyazaki, was appointed director and lead designer. In February 2022, the opening date for the first three zones was formally confirmed. That spring also brought news of a delay. The Valley of Witches, planned as part of a late-2023 second phase alongside Mononoke Village, would not open on that schedule.

  The three zones ready on opening day were Ghibli's Grand Warehouse, the Hill of Youth, and Dondoko Forest.

• 3. Inside the Grand Warehouse

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  Ghibli's Grand Warehouse stands where a heated swimming pool once operated. That pool had closed in 2018. Inside the warehouse, the Air Destroyer Goliath from Castle in the Sky holds a prominent place: a model measuring six meters in length. Ruined gardens from the same film are recreated nearby. The rest of the interior is organized around walkthrough exhibitions. These are scene recreations drawn from across the studio's catalog, designed for visitors to photograph themselves within.

  At the heart of the warehouse sits Cinema Orion. The short films it screens cannot be seen anywhere else in the world. The single exception is the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo, which shows the same films to its own visitors.

• 4. Between Howl and Totoro

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  The Hill of Youth centers on Howl's Moving Castle. An observation tower there is styled to the era depicted in that film. The zone also holds two other recreations from the Ghibli catalog. One is the World Emporium, the antique shop from Whisper of the Heart. The other is the Cat Bureau from The Cat Returns, rebuilt here as a cat-sized building.

  Dondoko Forest takes its name from the "Dondoko Odori," a dance that Satsuki, Mei, and Totoro perform together in My Neighbor Totoro. The central structure of the area is the house belonging to Satsuki and Mei. It had closed for renovation in November 2021 and reopened with the rest of the park. A wooden playground occupies the hill behind the house. The park's website puts it this way: "Dondoko-do awaits you at the top of the forest hill that sits behind Satsuki and Mei's House." Across the grounds, two more zones were planned for completion in phases: one for Princess Mononoke and one for Kiki's Delivery Service.

• 5. Irontown and the Valley

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  Mononoke Village is organized around two settings from Princess Mononoke: Irontown and the Emishi Village. The zone includes a village settlement, a charcoal burner's hut, and models of the film's mystical creatures. A dedicated section lets visitors operate iron forge bellows. Adjacent to the zone is a free-access playground themed to The Cat Returns, open to anyone at no charge.

  The Valley of Witches draws its character from two films: Kiki's Delivery Service and the wastelands depicted in Howl's Moving Castle. The area holds restaurants and two children's rides. One is a Zamperla Magic Bikes ride themed to Castle in the Sky. The other is a carousel featuring elements from three films plus Princess Mononoke. Neither ride was designed as a large attraction; both reflect the park's principle of no big rides or attractions anywhere in its grounds. A replica of Kiki's home and her parents' home stands in the area. The bakery Gütiokipänjä from Kiki's Delivery Service has its own replica there as well. At the center of the valley is a life-sized replica of Howl's Moving Castle, four to five stories high. The valley opened on the 16th of March 2024. Its carousel alone draws from four films: Kiki's Delivery Service, Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Sky, and Princess Mononoke. That cross-film design reflects a park where five different stories share the same set of grounds.