Ghibli Museum Attracts 10 Million Visitors

Museum in Tokyo opened in October 2001.

The Ghibli Museum in Tokyo held a ceremony on Saturday to celebrate hitting the milestone of having 10 million visitors. The museum originally opened in October 2001, and sees about 650,000 visitors a year.

The museum’s director, Kiyofumi Nakajima, said during the ceremony that Hayao Miyazaki said he was “delighted” by the news. Nakajima also said that he doesn’t know when Miyazaki’s planned CG-animated short “Kemushi no Boro” (Boro the Caterpillar) will be finished, but said the museum plans to screen the short sometime this year.

The Ghibli Museum, located in Mitaka in west Tokyo, is dedicated to bringing the works of Studio Ghibli to life through interactive exhibits and replicas of iconic Ghibli creations like the Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro and the robot from Castle in the Sky. The museum also offers a rotating screening of different Ghibli-animated shorts. Additionally, exhibits on works that have influenced Miyazaki are also common. Tickets to the museum must be purchased in advance, and the museum only makes a select number of tickets available for each day.

The museum was closed last year from May 9 through July 15 for maintenance. When the museum reopened, staff members began asking visitors for identification before entry. Visitors whose name does not match the name used to purchase the ticket will be turned away. The move is intended to discourage scalpers who purchase tickets and resell them at a higher price.

Source: Eiga.com
Featured image: Ghibli Museum

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