A theme park based around the work of legendary Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli will open on November 1st in Nagakute, Japan, the company’s official Twitter account has announced. Plans for the park, which shouldn’t be confused with the existing Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, were initially announced in 2017.
Ghibli Park will be located on the site of the 2005 World’s Fair in the city of Nagakute, around 90 miles east of Kyoto and 150 miles west of Tokyo. A recreation of Satsuki and Mei’s house from My Neighbor Totoro was already built on this site for the fair, but the new park will expand on this with new attractions based on other Ghibli films.
The Ghibli Twitter account has shared photographs of the attractions under construction. There are antique shops modeled after those in Whisper of the Heart, as well as a warehouse with exhibition areas and a theater. France24 notes that other areas will be inspired by Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, and Kiki’s Delivery Service.
The opening of Studio Ghibli’s theme park comes a little over a year after another iconic Japanese brand, Nintendo, opened a theme park of its own at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. Between the two of them, I’m having a hard time not fantasizing about taking a trip of my own when international holidays someday become a less stressful prospect.
wazup.