The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Japan

Pop Quiz! Can you name all of the Ghibli Studio Films? If you were able to, congratulations. If you couldn’t do it, don’t feel bad, because I can’t do it either. I had a little online help with this one, but there are actually eighteen Ghibli films (excluding short films and Ghibli Museum movies):

1. 風の谷のナウシカ, かぜのたにのナウシカ,
Kaze no tani no Nausica：Nausica of the Valley of Wind (1984)

2. 天空の城ラピュタ, てんくうのしろらぴゅた,
Tenkuu no shiro Laputa： Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)

3. 火垂るの墓, ほたるのはか,
Hotaru no Haka：Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

4. となりのトトロ,
Tonari no Totoro：My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

5. 魔女の宅急便,
まじょうのたっきゅびん,
Majou no Takkyubin：Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)

6. おもひでぽろぽろ,
Omohide Porporo：Only Yesterday (1991)

7. 紅の豚, くれないのぶた,
Kurenai no Buta：Porco Rosso (1992)

8. 海がきこえる, うみがきこえる,
Umi ga Kikoeru：Ocean Waves (1993)

9. 平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ, いせいたぬきがっせんぽんぽこ,
Isei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko：Pom Poko (1994)

10. 耳をすませば, みみをすませば,
Mimi wo Sumaseba： of the Heart (1995)

11. もののけ姫, もののけひめ,
Mononoke Hime： Mononoke (1997)

12. ホーホケキョとなりのやまだくん, ホーホケキョとなりの山田くん,
Houho Kyo Tonari no Yamada：My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)

13. 千と千尋の神隠し, せんんとちひろのかみかくし,
Sento Chihiro no Kamikakushi, Spirited Away (2001)

14. 猫の恩返し, ねこのおんがえし,
Neko no Ongaeshi, The Cat Returns (2002)

15. ハウルの動く城, ハウルのうごくしろ,
Howl no Ugokushiro：Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

16. ゲド戦記, ゲドせんき,
Gedo Senki：Tales From Earthsea (2006)

17. 崖の上のポニョ, がけのうえのポニョ,
Gake No Ue No Ponyo：Ponyo on a Cliff (2008)

18. 借りぐらしのアリエッテイ,　かりぐらしのアリエッテイ,
Karigurashi no Arietty：Arriety (2010)

I think that’s all of theme, if you’re a big Ghibli fan and I missed any…please let me know in the comments section.

This post has been a long time coming, but I wanted to show some pictures from the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Japan back in August of 2009 during my Obon vacation. I went to the Ghibli Museum with my co-workers Marisa and Yumi. It all started off with the cool-looking bus to Mitaka adorned with all kinds of cool art work. When we got there, there was this green sign that let you know you were at the museum. Unfortunately I coudn’t take pictures inside of the museum, but I did capture some things outside (Please look at the pictures at the end of this post).

As far as the inside goes, there were all kinds of cool displays. The most notable ones I can remember (it has been quite a while) were the thousands of Miyazaki sketches, the Neko Bus (Cat Bus) that the kids could play on, the spiraling staircase that led to the top of the museum, the short film that can only be seen at Ghibli about the lost puppy, the film strip souvenir you can get afterwards, the Ponyo bubble, the gigantic Laputa Robot Soldier on the roof… For some reason, the display I remember most was this special carousel animation display. In this glass case there were hundreds of figurines of characters from Tonari no Totoro, all in a carousel formation. When you press this button, the carousel darkens, spins at high speed, and is lit by strobe; you see the characters come to life before your very eyes, I was completely entranced by this thing. There were historical facts about Ghibli, short videos, just lots of things to see and do. I also thought the Ghibli Cafe was pretty cool. It was relaxing and had good strawberry shortcake. If you want to take a date to a cool place, I think the the Ghibli Museum is perfect. I can only explain with my words, and since it’s been so long, I can’t do it justice. Needless to say, I REALLY enjoyed it. I will definitely go again, sometime in 2011, and I will make another post about it, so you can get a better idea of just how marvelous it was…

Have you seen any of the Ghibli films? The first one I remember watching was Spirited Away, and I thought it was SO weird, but so fascinating at the same time. Since moving to Japan I have seen Nausica, Totoro, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Howl’s Moving Castle, Tales from Earthsea, and Ponyo. All of these films were really well done, but I don’t know why, but Howl’s Moving Castle was my favorite so far. Actually, in my post Confessions of an Anime Addict, there’s a post from Josh Kramer saying that Princess Mononoke was really good, so I plan on watching it pretty soon.

Until next time,

Donald Ash