A scale replica of Mei and Satsuki Kusakabe’s home from My Neighbor Totoro. It is already in EXPO park.
Photo: Studio Ghibli
Fans of Studio Ghibli and their iconic animated films can rejoice. In addition to the popular museum in Tokyo, it was recently announced that the Aichi prefecture will open a Ghibli Theme Park. Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki and Aichi governor Hideaki Oomura agreed on the park plans, which has an expected opening of sometime in 2020.
The announcement fulfills a long-held wish of Hayao Miyazaki devotees. To visit the site, they’ll head to EXPO Park in Nagakute City—a lush, sprawling land that covers over 200 hectares (494 acres). It was the site of the 2005 World EXPO (hence the name) and has a water park, swimming pool, ice skating rink, and giant ferris wheel.
For fans of Studio Ghibli, this park already has a great reason to visit; it contains a scale replica of Mei and Satsuki Kusakabe’s home from My Neighbor Totoro. The new theme park will continue this trajectory. Rather than a collection of rides from multiple Studio Ghibli films, it will expand upon the Totoro universe and focus on exhibits that integrate peacefully with nature. Although this might come as a disappointment for those who love Ghibli’s other offerings (and like roller coasters), it’ll still be a destination come 2020. Get ready to pack your bags!
Fans of Hayao Miyazaki already love the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo, but now they have another reason to celebrate. A Studio Ghibli park will open in the Aichi prefecture.
In 2015, illustrator TAKUMI drew concept plans for Studio Ghibliland.
Note: These are not actual plans for upcoming theme park.
Concept plans for Studio Ghibliland by illustrator TAKUMI.
Note: These are not actual plans for upcoming theme park.
See you in 2020 for the opening of the park!
GIF: Pizzasplash
h/t: [Spoon & Tamago, SoraNews24]
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