Ghibli Park debuts first winter illumination display with Howl’s Moving Castle theme

And you don’t even need a Ghibli Park ticket to see it.

Ghibli Park is one of Japan’s youngest theme parks, having only welcomed its first guests in 2022 and just opening its final area, Valley of Witches, earlier this year. That means there are still a lot of firsts for Ghibli Park, and as of this month it’s having its first-ever winter illumination display.

The exterior of Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, Ghibli Park’s largest structure, will serve as the canvas for an array of lights with a Howl’s Moving Castle motif, featuring the titular wizard in his bird form streaking through a sky filled with shooting stars. Ghibli Park says that the illumination isn’t stationary, but instead that it moves frame by frame, like an animation sequence.

By their very nature, winter illuminations have to take place after dusk, which might seem like a problem since Ghibli Park closes at 5 p.m. However, Ghibli Park has a unique layout in that it’s a series of non-connected zones spread out across Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park, which is open past 5 o’clock, and so they’ve chosen to place the Howl’s Moving Castle illumination in a place where it can be seen by regular visitors to Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park, not just Ghibli Park ticket holders. Specifically, you can see it from Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park’s grassy Daishibafu Hiroba, or “Large Lawn Plaza.”

For those who are venturing into Ghibli Park, there’s also some extra festive décor to be seen inside the Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, Hill of Youth, and Valley of Witches areas, which have put up Christmas-y “winter” decorations.

▼ Wreath and ribbons at the entrance of Sophie’s Hatter’s Millinery

Ghibli Park’s winter illumination started on November 6 and runs through February 3, meaning that you can see it and the My Neighbor Totoro sequel short anime that’ll be screening inside Ghibli’s Gand Warehouse on the same day.

Source: PR Times
Top image: Studio Ghibli
Insert images: PR Times, Ghibli Park
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