Ghibli Park announces opening date and releases never-before-seen pictures

The opening date of the world’s first Ghibli Park near Nagoya has finally been announced. The park’s Ghibli-themed areas Hill of Youth, Ghibli’s Large Warehouse and the Dondoko Forest will open on November 1 this year. To go along with the exciting news, Studio Ghibli has also revealed some brand new images of the park, showing ongoing construction and never-before-seen attractions.

For starters, we just can’t take our eyes off this aerial view of Ghibli Park. Up until now, we were only able to get a view of the park through concept art illustrations, but thanks to this photo on Studio Ghibli’s Twitter account, we can finally get an idea of how large the park will be. You can even spot Satsuki and Mei’s house from ‘My Neighbor Totoro’ in the centre.

In addition to the line-up of previously announced attractions, Ghibli Park revealed a brand new structure that’s going to be set inside the Dondoko Forest area, based on ‘My Neighbor Totoro’. This wooden Totoro-shaped statue, called ‘Dondoko-do’, will be placed behind Satsuki and Mei’s house. According to Chunichi Shimbun, the structure will be 5.2m tall and can fit up to five children at a time.

In the photo above, you can see the construction of the observation tower in the Hill of Youth area. The structure is going to resemble 19th-century architectural designs seen in the Ghibli movies ‘Laputa: Castle in the Sky’ (1986) and ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ (2004).

This nearly completed staircase sits inside Ghibli’s Large Warehouse.

That red-and-yellow building in the previous picture has an interesting centrepiece in the shape of an eye. Ghibli’s Large Warehouse will be three times bigger than the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo’s Mitaka neighbourhood.

This new trailer released by the Aichi Tourism Bureau is named ‘Play along with the Wind’ and was produced by Studio Ghibli, making it a rare live-action Ghibli film. The video introduces the best sightseeing spots in Aichi prefecture, including a short sequence of Satsuki and Mei’s house from ‘My Neighbor Totoro’. The lettering inside the clip was done by Ghibli producer and calligraphy enthusiast Toshio Suzuki.

Fans will want to watch the video carefully. Studio Ghibli says that each item seen inside the suitcase at the beginning of the movie has a hidden story. The woodblock print of a feather is named ‘air’ and was made by artist Keisuke Miyazaki, the youngest son of Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki. After the girl in the movie looks at the picture, a flurry of wind rushes through the scene and accompanies her throughout her journey in Aichi prefecture.

For more information and reveals, check Ghibli Park's brand new official website or keep an eye on the Studio Ghibli Twitter account.

Or see our guide to everything we know so far about Ghibli Park.

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