Studio Ghibli has been working on creating and building a theme park inspired by their classic anime films for years, and it’s finally going to open this year! The theme park was announced in 2017, and it will open on November 1st.
It was previously announced that the park will be filled with five themed areas based on films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, and Kiki’s Delivery Service.
The My Neighbor Totoro section will be the first to open. Two more areas, one themed around Princess Mononoke and another inspired by Kiki’s Delivery Service and Howl’s Moving Castle, will open next year. The final two sections will open by the end of March 2024.
The park is being built within the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park near Nagoya in Central Japan on a site that is 494 acres. It’s about a three-hour trip from Tokyo by train.
It’s being reported that there will be rides, but they won’t include any large-scale rollercoasters. The park will put a focus on nature trails, and Hayao Miyazaki has insisted that no trees be cut down. Miyazaki has had a big part in the creation of the theme park, and back in 2020, former Ghibli president Toshio Suzuki joked about how Miyazaki being a “meddlesome old man…not the type to look on supportively from a distance. He starts in right away with ‘do this’ and ‘don’t do that’.”
I’ve never been to Japan, but one day I will go, and when I do, I’ll be visiting the Studio Ghibli theme park. There’s no doubt it will be beautiful.
「ジブリパーク」の開園日が発表されました。 pic.twitter.com/weMpQjsyEV
— スタジオジブリ STUDIO GHIBLI (@JP_GHIBLI) January 27, 2022
Source: Variety