Studio Ghibli theme park launches official website

Aichi park dedicated to the films of Hayao Miyazaki and his studio’s anime masterpieces promises to be free of rides, full of surprises.

For a project with such intense interest from a global fanbase, there’s been a very judicious slow drip of concrete information about what will be waiting for visitors to Ghibli Park. It looks like that pace is going to be picking up at least a little bit though, as the theme park based on the anime films of Studio Ghibli has finally launched its own website.

▼ The Ghibli Park website’s top page

The move comes shortly after the release of last week’s Ghibli Park teaser video, which primarily focuses on the preexisting real-life recreation of the house from My Neighbor Totoro in Aichi Expo Memorial Park, which will serve as the location for Ghibli Park. The just-launched official website hasn’t added a lot of concrete details just yet, but it does have a new piece of illustrated concept art for Ghibli’s Giant Warehouse section of the park, as well as a statement of what sets Ghibli Park apart from other more conventional theme parks.

“Ghibli Park, which depicts the world of Studio Ghibli, is being built in consultation with the forest inside of Aichi Expo Memorial Park.

Ghibli Park does not have large-scale rides or theme park-style attractions.

It is a place where you can discover its secrets by walking along its paths and through its forests with your own two feet, feeling the wind along the way.

On November 1, three areas, Ghibli’s Giant Warehouse, Hill of Youth, and Dondoko Forest, will open.

We welcome you to our large warehouse full of Ghibli secrets, and a world of the buildings seen in our films.”

A desire to take not only human beings’ opinions, but also those of the natural environment itself, into consideration is exactly the sort of philosophy we’d expect from Studio Ghibli. The lack of traditional amusement park trappings such as roller coasters and dark rides also meshes with the sentiments of Goro Miyazaki, who’s reportedly taking point on designing the park but didn’t want it to feel like just another theme park with some inconsequential Ghibli branding.

Studio Ghibli built its legacy by doing things its own way and not worrying about trends or expectations other anime production companies concern themselves with. It’ll be interesting to see how that philosophy translates to theme park design when Ghibli Park opens this fall.

Source: Ghibli Park official website
Top image: Studio Ghibli
Insert images: Ghibli Park
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Credit: