Recently, press such as The Japan Times got to visit the theme park early to give fans a preview of what to expect in this hyped attraction.
When Is Ghibli Park Japan’s Opening Date?
Announced back in 2017, Ghibli Park is a theme park that will feature attractions based on iconic anime works from Studio Ghibli, including Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, and more. Located in Nagakute in Aichi Prefecture, Japan (located less than an hour by train from downtown Nagoya), Ghibli Park will feature a range of themed areas such as the World Emporium based on Whisper of the Heart and Mononoke Village from Princess Mononoke, among others. This isn’t the first Studio Ghibli attraction in Japan as there’s also the Ghibli Museum located in Tokyo. However, the park is much bigger in scale, though there will still be a limit to the number of tickets that will be sold. Given the popularity of Studio Ghibli, demand is expected to be high when Ghibli Park opens on November 1, 2022. Because of this, tickets will be limited to only around 5,000 per day.
How Can Tickets Be Bought?
Similar to the Ghibli Museum, tickets won’t be sold onsite (via Time Out Tokyo). To buy tickets, those interested will need to join a lottery-based booking system online. While this means there’s no guarantee to get in even for those based in Japan, this should help make the experience better as the park won’t be too crowded.
Can Foreign Tourists Visit Ghibli Park Japan?
Starting October 11, Japan has been open to foreign tourists, with no need for a packaged tour and the daily entry cap removed. Because of this, there’s likely a lot of interest from foreign tourists in visiting the park. Sadly, it seems that tourists from outside Japan won’t be able to visit the park even if they try to reserve online. Currently, the park booking system only allows those with a Japanese address and a Japanese credit card to enter the ticket lottery. While the museum also had this requirement before, some agencies such as JTB offered tickets to foreign tourists, but this was stopped during the pandemic. Currently, there’s no agency yet that offers tickets or registration for both Ghibli Park and Ghibli Museum. Because of this, fans from outside Japan will have to wait a bit longer if they want to visit.
