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Japan Today
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Today
The Ghibli Golden Route: Japan's most accessible destinations for fans and first-time visitors
By Laura Payne Since the 1980s, Studio Ghibli has produced globally acclaimed films. These movies have captivated both children and adults because while the studio's animated worlds are full of whimsy and adventure, they are also not afraid to feature universal themes and realities such as romance, grief, war and coming of age. In June 2025, the studio will commemorate its 40th anniversary. Fans traveling in Japan will find no shortage of ways to mark this occasion as the country is full of Ghibli-related destinations. Among these, some of the most famous are situated along the Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka 'Golden Route' — an itinerary recommended for first-time visitors in Japan due to features such as convenient access. The Ghibli Golden Route — like Ghibli movies themselves — invites visitors to find beauty in everyday items, explore fantasy worlds and reflect on real-life tragedies. From museums to movie settings, here are some key highlights of the Ghibli Golden Route. Tokyo: Ghibli Museum and real-life inspirations Besides its gorgeous main building, the Ghibli Museum is known for its themed cafe, special exhibitions and screenings of original Ghibli short films. Image: MARODG/Pixta With international flights arriving at Haneda and Narita airports daily, Tokyo is where many Golden Route travelers begin their journey. After arriving, local trains and buses can bring travelers to the first Ghibli Golden Route destination: the Ghibli Museum. Rather than passively consuming curated displays, this museum designed by director Hayao Miyazaki encourages visitors to create their own unique experience by freely exploring a building that looks like a Ghibli setting. Many exhibits at the Edo Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum feel like something from a Ghibli movie because they come from the same time period as certain films' settings. Image: Ryozo/Pixta The Edo Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum is another Ghibli-related site that lies about 50 minutes away from the Ghibli Museum via public transportation. The architectural museum is home to more than two dozen historic buildings — used by Ghibli animators as references when creating movies such as 'Spirited Away' (2001) Studio Ghibli's connection to the architectural museum is also clearly seen in the institution's caterpillar mascot, Edomaru, who was created by Hayao Miyazaki. Visitors who become fans of this little-known Ghibli character should stop by the museum gift shop as it carries souvenirs featuring Edomaru. Besides the museum and other memorials, Yokoamicho Park features a children's play area. Image: mandegan/Pixta While the Ghibli Museum and the architectural museum evoke wonder, other sites in Tokyo are powerful reminders of harsher incidents depicted in Ghibli movies. Yokoamicho Park, for example, is home to the Great Kanto Earthquake Memorial Museum. In 1923, this earthquake and subsequent fires became one of Japan's deadliest disasters, claiming thousands of lives. Studio Ghibli portrayed this earthquake in the 2013 film 'The Wind Rises.' Inside the memorial museum, visitors can view photos and artifacts from the disaster's aftermath. The surrounding Yokoamicho Park is home to even more memorial structures for victims of the earthquake and the Great Tokyo Air Raid of 1945. Air raids have been depicted in multiple Ghibli films such as 'The Boy and the Heron' (2023), 'Grave of the Fireflies' (1988) and even the fantasy film 'Howl's Moving Castle' (2004). Scenes like these are just one way Ghibli has sparked reflection on conflict's consequences. Nagoya: Explore Ghibli Park and Showa-era attractions The Toromon Gate stands between Ghibli's Grand Warehouse and Dondoko Forest — two of five areas inside Ghibli Park. Image: kunami/Pixta Although not traditionally part of the Golden Route, Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture is an easy addition since it is accessible from Tokyo via shinkansen (bullet train). Nagoya is also an essential destination for Ghibli fans as it serves as the gateway to Ghibli Park. Located inside Moricoro Park (Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park), Ghibli Park is a place that brings the studio's best-known and lesser-known films to life. In the park's five areas, visitors can enter iconic scenes and settings from their favorite movies such as the bakery from 'Kiki's Delivery Service' (1989) or the antique shop from 'Whisper of the Heart' (1995). Some small rides such as a carousel are available, but like Tokyo's Ghibli Museum, most of the fun at Ghibli Park comes from exploration and discovery. Ghibli Park is accessible in about one hour by train from Nagoya station. Spending at least one day exploring the park is recommended, though visitors who hope to enjoy every detail of all five areas may need two days. Another smaller attraction that Ghibli fans in Nagoya should consider visiting is the Showa Era Lifestyle Museum. Ghibli films such as 'My Neighbor Totoro' (1988) and 'Only Yesterday' (1991) take place during Japan's Showa Era (1926 - 1989), and this museum exhibits thousands of everyday items from this period such as cars, toys and advertising signage. Hiroshima: Ghibli inspiration and wartime reflection Hayao Miyazaki is just one famous figure who has traveled to Tomonoura in the town's long history. Other notable visitors include actor Hugh Jackman and the samurai Ryoma Sakamoto. Image: まちゃー/Pixta Take a bullet train to Fukuyama station, and from here a local bus whisks visitors to Tomonoura — one of the most historic port towns in Hiroshima Prefecture. Hayao Miyazaki is known to have stayed in Tomonoura for about two months, and it is believed that his time here inspired the setting of the movie 'Ponyo' (2008). Stop by the Tomonoura Tourist Information Center upon arriving, and you can find information about places in town with ties to the movie. Besides Ponyo-related sites, Ghibli fans should also stop by Onfunayado Iroha — a restaurant and ryokan (traditional-style inn) that was renovated using sketches by Miyazaki. Tomonoura's long history also means that there are countless other local wonders to explore that are not related to Ghibli. Even if travelers cannot stay for as long as Miyazaki did, the sights and stories of Tomonoura are sure to stir the imagination. Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park was built near the hypocenter of the atomic bombing that destroyed the city on Aug. 6, 1945. Image: denkei/Pixta The final recommended stops on the Ghibli Golden Route are in Hiroshima City — about 20 minutes away from Fukuyama station by bullet train. Although they do not have direct connections to Ghibli films, travelers should visit Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park and museum. Ghibli directors Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki were children during World War II, and both directors have explicitly portrayed the destruction caused by war in their movies. The year 2025 will be the 80th since atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As the anniversaries of these tragedies and the peace advocate Studio Ghibli coincide, perhaps now is one of the best times to remember the studio's real-world commentary. Beyond the Ghibli Golden Route Japan's most famous and accessible Ghibli-related sites are found along the Golden Route, but there are many more inspirations to explore. After traversing the Golden Route, countless other new worlds await. © Japan Today
SoraNews24
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Two Hayao Miyazaki-directed short anime are showing at Ghibli Park this summer
Studio Ghibli theme park schedules a pair of anime from the legendary director for fans to see this summer. There's a timeless appeal to Studio Ghibli, with its anime works having captured the imaginations of young and young-at-heart audiences for generations. But while Ghibli anime always makes for captivating viewing, that doesn't mean you can always watch them whenever you want to Studio Ghibli has a series of short anime films that can only be seen at two places, the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo and the Ghibli Park theme park in Aichi Prefecture. These aren't slipshod throwaway productions, either, as Ghibli's animators pack their 10 to 15-minute runtimes full of emotion and artistry. Because Ghibli Park and the Ghibli Museum each have only a single screening room, though, the short films are shown on a rotating limited-time schedule, and this summer Ghibli Park will be showing not just one, but two short anime directed by Ghibli co-founder/fabled perfectionist Hayao Miyazaki. The first of the two will be Boro the Caterpillar, which began screening on May 1 and will run until June 16. The most recently made Ghibli short and Miyazaki's second-most recent anime (coming before The Boy and the Heron ), Boro the Caterpillar is a rare case of Ghibli and Miyazaki making open use of computer graphics to complement their hand-drawn artwork, and it even has a unique sound design, as we experienced when we were lucky enough to watch it. Taking the baton from Boro will be another Miyazaki-directed short anime film, Treasure Hunting, which will screen from June 25 to July 31 (Ghibli Park will be closed for maintenance work between June 17 and 24). Both films will be shown at the Cinema Orion inside the Ghibli's Grand Warehouse section of the park, but summertime visitors will want to also head over to the Mononoke Village area, which is debuting a new activity at its Tatara-ba hands-on learning workshop. Since Mononoke Village's opening in November of 2023, guests have been able to learn how to make goheimochi, a type of traditional grilled mochi rice cake grilled on a skewer and basted with a nutty-tasting glaze. This summer, though, Tatara-ba is switching things up with a kinako-making experience, in which you'll learn how to make kinako, a roasted soybean flour with a slightly cinnamon-like flavor that's used as a seasoning for traditional Japanese sweets. And of course, you'll be doing this the old-school way, using a stone mill to grind the beans down, just like Japanese confectioners have done for hundreds of years, before sprinkling the powder onto provided jiggly warabimochi rice cakes There's a 1,000-yen (US$6.90) fee for the kinako-making activity, which runs from June 25 to September 29 (after which Tatara-ba shifts back to goheimochi). Entrance to Cinema Orion to watch the Miyazaki-directed anime shorts, meanwhile, is included with your ticket to the Ghibli's Grand Warehouse area. And if you do make the trip out to Ghibli Park, don't forget that the unofficial (but implicitly OK'd) Ghibli cafe has a new branch near the park opening soon. Related: Ghibli Park Source, images: PR Times ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
SoraNews24
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Tom Cruise visits Ghibli Museum, poses for photo with Totoro
Mission: Adorable. It's often the case that Hollywood movies arrive in Japan later than elsewhere, but Mission: Impossible–The Final Reckoning is scheduled to open in theaters here on May 23, the same day as it premiers in the U.S. As a matter of fact, advance screenings of the follow-up to 2023's Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning Part One start in Japan on May 17, and so Tom Cruise himself came out to Japan to drum up excitement for the movie…but his Japan itinerary has also included taking a moment to salute some other well-known films. ┆Ghibli Museum, Mitaka┆ 25回目の来日を満喫した #トム・クルーズ 🇯🇵#クリストファー・マッカリー 監督とともに、 三鷹の森ジブリ美術館を訪れました🌳 トトロの前で記念撮影も✧#ミッションインポッシブル#ファイナルレコニング 5/17(土)より先行上映｜5/23(金)公開@GhibliML 『ミッション:インポッシブル』公式 (@MImovie_jp) May 7, 2025 This week the official Japanese Mission Impossible Twitter account posted a photo of cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie posing for a snapshot with none other than Totoro! And no, this wasn't a case of the starstruck anime icon coming out to see the Hollywood A-lister, but vice-versa, as Cruise and McQuarrie paid a visit to the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo's Mitaka neighborhood. Cruise is on his 25th trip to Japan, but this appears to be the first time he's been to the museum dedicated to the anime works of Studio Ghibli, or at least the first photograph of it, and along with several commenters saying how boyishly ' kawaii ' he looks, online reactions have included: 'Even Totoro looks surprised to see him.' 'My Neighbor Tom Cruise.' '♪To-to-to To-m♪' 'I haven't heard him talk about Ghibli that often, so I didn't expect him to be that interested in it.' 'Please come to Nagoya too!' 'I'd like to see McQuarrie direct a short movie in which Tom hangs on the outside of the Catbus as it flies off into the sky.' As intriguing as that last idea sounds, the Ghibli Museum's Catbus is famously only for kids, with no adults allows in or on it, so if Cruise and McQuarrie want to make that happen, they'll need to wait for another Ghibli exhibition with an all-ages Catbus. Source: Twitter/@MImovie_jp via Ghibli no Sekai Top image: Studio Ghibli (edited by SoraNews24) ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Forbes
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
If AI Could Make A Ghibli Game, I Wouldn't Play It
The giant iron robot inside the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan. Plenty of human generated content, like ThroughLine Games' puzzle platformer Forgotton Anne (2018), takes direct inspiration from Ghibli. Thinking through the similarities and differences between human generated and machine generated art helps highlight the shortcomings of AI. The ongoing coverage of GPT-4o's ability to 'Ghibli-fy' almost everything, raises questions about the ethics and potential of generative AI. The images may look great, but using machines to reproduce an art style associated with loving, painstaking, human labor, has left many feeling pessimistic about the future of the arts. GPT users aren't the only ones inspired by Ghibli-esque animation. Human creators have long taken inspiration from Ghibli, including ThroughLine Games, a Danish company whose debut game, Forgotton Anne, was ubiquitously compared to studio Ghibli. Forgotton Anne is a 2.5D puzzle platformer known for its stunning anime-style graphics. The comparison between Forgotton Anne and Studio Ghibli is typically positive—rather than view the similarity as derivative, most reviewers view ThroughLine as taking inspiration from Ghibli while making it their own. The Ghibli influence is in part attributable to the fact that ThroughLine's animators studied under Ghibli animators in Japan. The game has also been praised for its story. Forgotton Anne takes place in 'The Forgotten Lands,' a place where objects go when they are forgotten. You play as Anne, one of two humans in this world, who acts as an enforcer, punishing the objects who are rebelling against your authoritarian rule in order to maintain 'order.' Over the course of the game, Anne, and the player, come to realize the unethical cruelty of her actions. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Players and reviewers have read the game as commenting on authoritarianism and fascism. In an interview with Game Pilgrim, the CEO of ThroughLine Games, Alfred Nguyen, notes that the game's dark themes are intended to offer commentary on issues including 'consumerism, surveillance, and what it means to be human.' While Forgotton Anne received positive reviews for its art and storytelling, the game also received criticism for its clunky, uninspired mechanics. The puzzles and platforming are forgettable and unoriginal. Like most pieces of art, Forgotten Anne is directly inspired by many different preexisting artworks. In addition to Ghibli, Nguyen talks about how the game was inspired by Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, and Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid. The puzzle and platforming components are similar to countless other games that came before. And, like most pieces of art, sometimes Forgotten Anne is successful in borrowing from its inspirations and sometimes it's not. When such acts are successful, we typically call them creative. When they aren't not, we call them derivative. Human creativity is often a matter of combining or recycling a wide assortment of influences. Shakespeare borrowed plots, ideas, and sometimes exact phrasing from a wide variety of sources including Plutarch's Lives, Montaigne's Essays, and the plays of his contemporaries. The fact that humans don't create art in a vacuum, makes me skeptical of recent dismissive claims that AI can't match 'genuine creativity.' It's true that AI models, like GPT-4o, are predictive--the content they produce is based on statistical probabilities in their training data. But, arguably, aspects of human creativity—including our ability to blend and pull from multiple sources of inspiration—work in much the same way. Because of this, I think it is entirely possible that generative AI models will, in several years' time, be able to make a game much like Forgotten Anne. But I wouldn't want to play it. Games make statements and arguments—sometimes these statements are artistic, political, and ethical. Forgotten Anne, for example, makes arguments against authoritarianism and totalitarianism. Its story encourages us to treat each other with kindness. What would a Ghibli-esque game about authoritarianism, kindness, and the human condition, mean coming from an AI model? When we play games, much as when we engage with any other storytelling media, we are entering a dialogue with the creators. This might result in players feeling recognized or seen. Or it might result in players vehemently disagreeing with a game's content or messaging. Either way, we are engaging with people who have put their beliefs, ideas, and talent into a piece of art. Ideally, this is something consumers will continue to support. Forgotten Anne's sequel, Forgotlings, has a free demo available on Steam. The game releases on Steam on June 12, 2025.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Yahoo
I spent 24 days traveling through Japan alone. There are 3 things I would have done differently.
After losing out on a job, Erica Hobbs booked a 24-day trip to Japan. The November vacation was planned last minute, so she ended up traveling solo. Looking back, she would have pre-booked transportation and opted to stay in more hostels to make friends. In November, after three months of interviews, I lost out on a job and decided it was time for a travel break. I set out on a three-and-a-half-week trip to Japan. The timing worked out — the favorable dollar-to-yen exchange rate, mild weather, and vibrant autumn foliage made it a great time to visit. With little time to find a travel companion, I embraced the freedom of solo travel and the ability to make plans on a whim. And since I'd traveled on my own before, I thought I could wing it. This trip to Japan proved to be more difficult than expected. My trip included exploring the "golden triangle" of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, with day trips to nearby destinations like Nikko, Mount Fuji, Nara, and Himeji. It also included visits to Hiroshima and Miyajima Island, and a week in central Japan. The trip cost about $3,400, not including the airfare, which I paid for with credit card points. As a cost-conscious backpacker, I stayed in pod hotels or hostels and mostly ate street food, convenience store fare, or noodles at ramen shops. My biggest expense was accommodation, which totaled more than $915 for 24 nights. On-the-ground transportation added up as well. While local trains were fairly inexpensive, tickets for the Shinkansen bullet train were costly. My ride from Tokyo to Toyama was the most expensive at about $100, Hiroshima to Osaka was about $70, and Osaka to Tokyo was about $90. A few indulgences included attending a kimono tea ceremony, a Kobe steak dinner, and visits to a handful of themed cafés. While I loved the trip, here are three things I would have done differently. My pre-trip research focused mainly on sites and activities, not the logistics. I didn't book anything in advance, aside from my first few days in Tokyo. This led to a chaotic and inefficient trip full of missed trains, lost opportunities, and unnecessary stress. I had read that Japan was popular in autumn, but it was busier than I expected, and difficult to find last-minute budget accommodation. Many of the popular attractions, including Tokyo's Ghibli Museum and Ninja Tokyo restaurant, had been booked in advance. Other places throughout the country, including Osaka's Nintendo Museum, and ryokans — traditional Japanese homestays — everywhere, also booked up quickly. I did get lucky with the tea ceremony — a plus of solo traveling — but I wish I'd pre-booked the ones I missed out on. I also would have booked accommodation ahead of time on sites with a free cancellation policy. This would have allowed me to secure lodging while also offering the flexibility to change plans. For transportation, I would have secured my IC card when I arrived at the airport. These cards — which include Suica, PASMO, and Icoca — are prepaid and allow easy travel among public transportation systems in big cities. After a 13-hour flight, I rushed to get to my hotel. But getting one of these cards later was harder than I expected — they were only available in the larger train stations and not consistently. Many people think solo travel is about doing things alone, but one of my favorite parts is the new people you meet along the way. Hostels are usually good for being social, and I thought I'd have the same luck in capsule hotels. Instead, I found the pod hotels — though delightfully calm and spa-like — to be much less social. There were also a lot of local travelers staying at these who didn't speak English. However, I made friends immediately at the hostels I stayed in. In Hiroshima, seven of us spent the day exploring Miyajima Island together, and I climbed a mountain I never would have visted alone. Had I started my trip in hostels, I would have made friends to travel with earlier on. About 90 miles north of Tokyo, Nikko is a popular day trip, but I wish I had dedicated two full days to exploring the town properly. It's known for both its elaborate shrines and temples and beautiful mountain scenery. When I visited in November, the sites closed at 4 p.m., and things started to get dark not long after, which meant there was a limited window to explore everything Nikko had to offer. The 126-acre Tokugawa shrine and temple complex — which became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999 — is less than 10 miles from Lake Chuzenji, where the Mount Nantai climb begins, but traveling from one to the other can take an hour. I could have happily wandered the complex — especially its famous Toshogu Shrine — for an entire day. I also wish I'd had a full day to explore the beautiful lake, waterfalls, and hiking opportunities around the mountain. My single day there felt rushed and was limited to just the highlights. I also wish I had spent more time in Osaka. Since it is primarily known for its food, I thought two days would be enough, but it was the non-foodie parts that were my favorites and what I wish I had more time for. Its Dontonbori area was full of lights and people with a palpable energy I liked being a part of. I enjoyed spending a half-day at Osaka Castle, but with more time I would have visited the Osaka Museum of Housing & Living and the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, which travelers I met along the way raved about. I also would have flown home directly from Osaka, which would have saved me a half day and a $90 bullet train fare. Read the original article on Business Insider
