logo
Ghibli glass mini plates let you admire the studio's anime food while eating real food【Photos】

Ghibli glass mini plates let you admire the studio's anime food while eating real food【Photos】

SoraNews24a day ago

More than a dozen designs highlight some of anime's most memorable meals.
The depictions of meals, snacks, and desserts in the animated films of Studio Ghibli are so lovingly, and mouthwateringly, detailed that 'Ghibli food' has pretty much become its own subgenre of anime art. So it's only natural that fans would want to add some of that style to their own tableware, and if the tableware itself happens to contains scenes of Ghibli food, all the better, right?
That brings us to the Yummy Glass Mini Plate collection that's being restocked at Ghibli specialty store Donguri Kyowakoku. While they might look like ceramics at first glance, they're actually made of reinforced glass, with a special low-temperature process used for the color transfer that creates their uniquely vivid hues. The Ben Day dots used in the designs give them a sort of '50s/'60s American comic vibe, as do the text fonts.
A total of 11 Ghibli anime, plus one Ghibli-adjacent anime, are represented on the 11-centimeter (4.3-inch) plates, starting with My Neighbor Totoro in a design showing sisters Mei and Satsuki sharing some candy drops while riding to their new countryside home.
There's some bumpy translation work as Castle in the Sky's Pazu and the sky pirates ask for 'second,' but it's still clear that Sheeta's stew is so good that a single bowl just isn't enough for anyone.
Some of the plates have sound effects or onomatopoeia instead, like the soothing 'sippp' of this Kiki's Delivery Service teatime scene…
…or the enticing 'pouuuur' of wine for Porco Rosso, who, in the Italian style, drinks his vino from a stemless glass.
Representing the variety of emotions that food can portray in storytelling, there's a stark contrast between the cozy meal of nabeyaki udon noodles Whisper of the Heart's Shizuku and Shiro share in front of the fire…
…and the way Princess Mononoke's San fiercely tears off a mouthful of dried meat.
The two Spirited Away plates show the moment Haku gives Chihiro a rice ball from their respective perspectives…
…and the dishes for Ponyo and From Up on Poppy Hill also show how even a simple meal like ramen with a slice of ham or a freshly made croquette can be visual shorthand for 'I care about you.'
Not that you necessarily need to be dining with someone else to enjoy good food, though, as Howl's Moving Castle's Markl demonstrates as he grubs with gusto.
There's one more Spirited Away dish, this one showing mouse-form Boh and the transformed Yu-Bird learning to work together.
The final Ghibli-anime plate takes its inspiration from The Cat Returns…
…and the last plate in the collection, the Ghibli-adjacent one, features the characters of Panda! Go Panda!, the 1972 anime short movie written by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Isao Takahata before the pair would go on to be two of the co-founders of Studio Ghibli.
Each of the plates is 1,100 yen (US$7.60), a merciful price point considering that a lot of Ghibli fans would have trouble narrowing it down to just one design. They'll be available for order from June 7 through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store here. Note that the plates are not microwave or dishwasher safe, but that just means you'll get to admire the artwork one more time while handwashing them.
Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Ponyo-catching game comes to Ghibli Park anime theme park this summer
Ponyo-catching game comes to Ghibli Park anime theme park this summer

SoraNews24

time9 hours ago

  • SoraNews24

Ponyo-catching game comes to Ghibli Park anime theme park this summer

Ghibli Park gives you a chance to experience a traditional Japanese summer festival and to take home multiple Ponyos if you've got the right skills. Japan's summer festivals are somewhat like county fairs in the U.S. At both types of events there are fireworks, street food stalls, and carnival games. Of course, once you get down to the finer details, there are plenty of differences, too. You won't find fireworks shaped like anime character Doraemon or stands selling takoyaki (octopus dumplings) in America, for example, and also unique to Japanese festival are kingyo sukui (goldfish catching) booths. Kingyo sukui is a game in which you purchase a paper net and use it to scoop goldfish into a bowl. Any fish you scoop in are yours to take home as new pets, but the paper is thin and tears easily, so it takes a deft, delicate touch to catch any. This summer, though, Ghibli Park, the theme park in Aichi Prefecture dedicated to the anime films of Studio Ghibli, is putting its own spin on kingyo sukui by inviting you to catch not goldfish, but fish girl Ponyo, star of the Ghibli anime of the same name. Technically, this is what's called super ball sukui, a kingyo sukui variant where instead of scooping up live fish, players use their net to capture little high-bounce rubber balls. The rules are the same: you keep scooping until your net breaks, and take home whatever you can get into your bowl. Some people ever prefer super ball sukui to kingyo sukui, since the latter means you've got living creatures you'll now need to take care of, and also puts pressure on you to get home quickly and find a proper aquarium for your new pets, since goldfish are given to winners in a plastic bag filled with water. So instead of those worries and responsibilities, Ghibli Park's Ponyo super balls have either a little figure of the character inside the ball, or a piece of artwork from the movie. Either way it's a fun way to experience a fun bit of traditional Japanese culture first-hand, and it's especially nice if you're visiting Japan from overseas, since you wouldn't be able to take any kingyo sukui-won fish back with you across internatipnal borders on your flight home. Ponyo doesn't have her own dedicated section of Ghibli Park, so instead the Ponyo-catching game (which costs 500 yen [US$3.45] per play) will be set up in Dondoko Forest, the same part of the park as sisters Mei and Satsuki's house. The game booth will be open from July 19 to August 31, but you might want to consider timing your visit for August, because for that month Ghibli Park's screening room will be showing the Hayao Miyazaki-directed anime short The Whale Hunt. ▼ Don't worry, The Whale Hunt is a cuter, happier movie than the title might have you imagining. An August visit to Ghibli Park will also still allow you to take part in another summer activity at the park, making kinako, a roasted soybean powder used in many Japanese sweets, the old-fashioned way, and, if you go on one of three special dates, you'll also get a rare opportunity to experience Ghibli Park after sundown. Source: PR Times Top image: Studio Ghibli Insert images: Pakutaso, PR Times ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Ghibli glass mini plates let you admire the studio's anime food while eating real food【Photos】
Ghibli glass mini plates let you admire the studio's anime food while eating real food【Photos】

SoraNews24

timea day ago

  • SoraNews24

Ghibli glass mini plates let you admire the studio's anime food while eating real food【Photos】

More than a dozen designs highlight some of anime's most memorable meals. The depictions of meals, snacks, and desserts in the animated films of Studio Ghibli are so lovingly, and mouthwateringly, detailed that 'Ghibli food' has pretty much become its own subgenre of anime art. So it's only natural that fans would want to add some of that style to their own tableware, and if the tableware itself happens to contains scenes of Ghibli food, all the better, right? That brings us to the Yummy Glass Mini Plate collection that's being restocked at Ghibli specialty store Donguri Kyowakoku. While they might look like ceramics at first glance, they're actually made of reinforced glass, with a special low-temperature process used for the color transfer that creates their uniquely vivid hues. The Ben Day dots used in the designs give them a sort of '50s/'60s American comic vibe, as do the text fonts. A total of 11 Ghibli anime, plus one Ghibli-adjacent anime, are represented on the 11-centimeter (4.3-inch) plates, starting with My Neighbor Totoro in a design showing sisters Mei and Satsuki sharing some candy drops while riding to their new countryside home. There's some bumpy translation work as Castle in the Sky's Pazu and the sky pirates ask for 'second,' but it's still clear that Sheeta's stew is so good that a single bowl just isn't enough for anyone. Some of the plates have sound effects or onomatopoeia instead, like the soothing 'sippp' of this Kiki's Delivery Service teatime scene… …or the enticing 'pouuuur' of wine for Porco Rosso, who, in the Italian style, drinks his vino from a stemless glass. Representing the variety of emotions that food can portray in storytelling, there's a stark contrast between the cozy meal of nabeyaki udon noodles Whisper of the Heart's Shizuku and Shiro share in front of the fire… …and the way Princess Mononoke's San fiercely tears off a mouthful of dried meat. The two Spirited Away plates show the moment Haku gives Chihiro a rice ball from their respective perspectives… …and the dishes for Ponyo and From Up on Poppy Hill also show how even a simple meal like ramen with a slice of ham or a freshly made croquette can be visual shorthand for 'I care about you.' Not that you necessarily need to be dining with someone else to enjoy good food, though, as Howl's Moving Castle's Markl demonstrates as he grubs with gusto. There's one more Spirited Away dish, this one showing mouse-form Boh and the transformed Yu-Bird learning to work together. The final Ghibli-anime plate takes its inspiration from The Cat Returns… …and the last plate in the collection, the Ghibli-adjacent one, features the characters of Panda! Go Panda!, the 1972 anime short movie written by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Isao Takahata before the pair would go on to be two of the co-founders of Studio Ghibli. Each of the plates is 1,100 yen (US$7.60), a merciful price point considering that a lot of Ghibli fans would have trouble narrowing it down to just one design. They'll be available for order from June 7 through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store here. Note that the plates are not microwave or dishwasher safe, but that just means you'll get to admire the artwork one more time while handwashing them. Source: Donguri Kyowakoku Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14) ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Studio Ghibli marks 40 years, but future looks uncertain
Studio Ghibli marks 40 years, but future looks uncertain

Japan Today

time2 days ago

  • Japan Today

Studio Ghibli marks 40 years, but future looks uncertain

Studio Ghibli, the name behind the Oscar-winning 'Spirited Away', has become a cultural phenomenon By Natsuko FUKUE Japan's Studio Ghibli turns 40 this month with two Oscars and legions of fans young and old won over by its complex plots and fantastical hand-drawn animation. But the future is uncertain, with latest hit "The Boy and the Heron" likely -- but not certainly -- the final feature from celebrated co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, now 84. The studio behind the Oscar-winning "Spirited Away" has become a cultural phenomenon since Miyazaki and the late Isao Takahata established it in 1985. Its popularity has been fuelled of late by a second Academy Award in 2024 for "The Boy and the Heron", starring Robert Pattinson, and by Netflix streaming Ghibli movies around the world. In March, the internet was flooded with pictures in its distinctively nostalgic style after the release of OpenAI's newest image generator -- raising questions over copyright. The newly opened Ghibli Park has also become a major tourist draw for Aichi Prefecture. Julia Santilli, a 26-year-old from Britain living in northern Japan, "fell in love with Ghibli" after watching the 2001 classic "Spirited Away" as a child. "I started collecting all the DVDs," she told AFP. Ghibli stories are "very engaging and the artwork is stunning", said another fan, Margot Divall, 26. "I probably watch 'Spirited Away' about 10 times a year still." Before Ghibli, most cartoons in Japan -- known as anime -- were made for children. But Miyazaki and Takahata, both from "the generation that knew war", included darker elements that appeal to adults, Miyazaki's son Goro told AFP. "It's not all sweet -- there's also a bitterness and things like that which are beautifully intertwined in the work," he said, describing a "whiff of death" in the films. For younger people who grew up in peacetime, "it is impossible to create something with the same sense, approach and attitude", Goro said. Even "My Neighbor Totoro", with its cuddly forest creatures, is in some ways a "scary" movie that explores the fear of losing a sick mother, he explained. Susan Napier, a professor at Tufts University in the United States and author of "Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art", agrees. "In Ghibli, you have ambiguity, complexity and also a willingness to see that the darkness and light often go together" unlike good-versus-evil U.S. cartoons, she said. The post-apocalyptic "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" -- considered the first Ghibli film despite its release in 1984 -- has no obvious villain, for example. The movie featuring an independent princess curious about giant insects and a poisonous forest felt "so fresh" and a change from "a passive woman... having to be rescued", Napier said. Natural world Studio Ghibli films also depict a universe where humans connect deeply with nature and the spirit world. A case in point was 1997's "Princess Mononoke", distributed internationally by Disney. The tale of a girl raised by a wolf goddess in a forest threatened by humans is "a masterpiece -- but a hard movie", Napier said. It's a "serious, dark and violent" film appreciated more by adults, which "was not what U.S. audiences had anticipated with a movie about a princess". Ghibli films "have an environmentalist and animistic side, which I think is very appropriate for the contemporary world with climate change", she added. Miyuki Yonemura, a professor at Japan's Senshu University who studies cultural theories on animation, said watching Ghibli movies is like reading literature. "That's why some children watch Totoro 40 times," she said, adding that audiences "discover something new every time". Miyazaki and Takahata -- who died in 2018 -- could create imaginative worlds because of their openness to other cultures, Yonemura said. Foreign influences included writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery and animator Paul Grimault, both French, and Canadian artist Frederic Back, who won an Oscar for his animation "The Man Who Planted Trees". Takahata studying French literature at university "was a big factor", Yonemura said. "Both Miyazaki and Takahata read a lot," she said. "That's a big reason why they excel at writing scripts and creating stories." Miyazaki has said he was inspired by several books for "Nausicaa", including the 12th-century Japanese tale "The Lady who Loved Insects", and Greek mythology. Studio Ghibli will not be the same after Miyazaki stops creating animation, "unless similar talent emerges", Yonemura said. Miyazaki is "a fantastic artist with such a visual imagination" while both he and Takahata were "politically progressive", Napier said. "The more I study, the more I realize this was a unique cultural moment." "It's so widely loved that I think it will carry on," said Ghibli fan Divall. "As long as it doesn't lose its beauty, as long as it carries on the amount of effort, care and love." © 2025 AFP

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store