A Sneak Peek Of The Adorable Studio Ghibli Theme Park Is Here & BRB, Booking Flights To Japan

Totoro statue and No-Face replica at Studio Ghibli Theme Park in Japan

Five years after it was first announced, the Studio Ghibli theme park finally has an open date and our eyeballs have also been blessed with a sneak peek of the precious place. I feel like this is the delightful, wholesome news the world deserves after a history-changing global pandemic — not even Miss Rona can kill the magic that is Hayao Miyazaki‘s craftsmanship!

Ghibli Park will be opening its doors on November 1, which gives you plenty of time to book your flights to Japan. The park will consist of five areas — Ghibli’s Large Warehouse, Hill of Youth, Dondoko Forest, Mononoke’s Village and Valley of Witches, although the last two areas won’t be opening until 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Ghibli’s Large Warehouse will be the park’s central attraction, and will feature scenes and characters from My Neighbor TotoroSpirited Away and The Wind Rises. The area will also include a stack of shops, exhibits and cafés, so if you’ve been gagging to sip a cup of joe with Yubaba, the bitch bathhouse proprietor from Spirited Away, this is your chance.

yababa spirited away studio ghibli theme park
She’s serving cunt. Photo credit: Studio Ghibli.
ghibli large warehouse studio ghibli theme park
It’s simply too adorable for words. Photo credit: Studio Ghibli.
masked spirit Kaonashi studio ghibli theme park
Why hello, No-Face from Spirited Away! Photo credit: Studio Ghibli.
studio ghibli theme park
I won’t rest until I descend down that staircase. Photo credit: Studio Ghibli.
sleeping totoro studio ghibli museum
There’ll even be a playroom complete with a sleeping Totoro. My heart. Picture credit: Studio Ghibli.

There’ll also be a ‘yuge cinema at Ghibli’s Large Warehouse, which will give audiences the chance to watch 10 short animations that, until now, have only been shown at the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo. This place is pure artistry, people.

The Hill of Youth area will serve as the entrance to Ghibli Park, and pay homage to Howl’s Moving Castle, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Whisper of the Heart and The Cat Returns.

Obsessed with this. Picture credit: Studio Ghibli.
House goals. Picture credit: Studio Ghibli.

Fans of Whisper of the Heart will also be able to peruse a complete replica of the antique shop that featured in the film. Talk about bringing animation to life!

The last area that’ll be open to the public on November 1 is Dondoko Forest, which is named after the dance Satsuki, Mei and Totoro performed in My Neighbor Totoro in the hopes the seeds they planted would sprout. I’m not crying, you’re crying, et cetera.

Dondoko Forest studio ghibli museum
God, I feel tranquil just looking at this. Photo credit: Studio Ghibli.

The area will include the sisters’ home from the film and also this amazing, stupendous, awe-inspiring Totoro-shaped statue called “Dondoko-do”.

totoro statue Dondoko Forest studio ghibli museum
I’M SCREAMING. Photo credit: Studio Ghibli.

I need to be inside him.

I don’t know about you but I’ll be brushing up on my Japanese on Duolingo and saving my pretty pennies to book a flight to Japan.

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