One of the most eagerly awaited new visitor attractions in Japan, Ghibli Park opened to an excited public in November 2022 – the world’s first theme park dedicated to all things Studio Ghibli. Parts of the amusement park (Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse) are now open to overseas visitors and we were lucky enough to be one of the first foreign visitors.
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Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse is packed full of Ghibli secrets – a mysterious town promising epic exhibits, theme playrooms, a vintage cinema, gift shops galore plus a ride on the Cat Bus, but does Ghibli Grand Warehouse deliver?
Read our Ghibli Park Review of Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, including how to get Ghibli Park tickets in advance from overseas:
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Ghibli Park Location
Ghibli Park and the Grand Ghibli Warehouse is situated in Nagakute, Aichi – approximately a 45 minute journey from Nagoya city centre using public transport.
Ghibli Park is located on the site of the former Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park, with the Grand Ghibli Warehouse located in one of the former expo pavilions. To get a sense of scale, Ghibli Park is three times the size of Ghibli Museum in Tokyo!
We visited in March 2023 when only the Grand Warehouse was available to international visitors. As of November 2023 four parts of the park are open to international visitors – the Ghibli Grand Warehouse, Hill of Youth, Dondoko Forest and Mononoke Village.
The fifth part of the park Valley of Witches will open in March 2024.
Buying Ghibli Park Tickets
At the time of writing, the only part of Ghibli Park that overseas visitors can buy tickets to is the Grand Ghibli Warehouse. Update – All open areas of Ghibli Park appear to be available for international visitors as of November 2023.
How to get your Ghibli Park tickets in 2024
International / overseas visitors can only book Ghibli Park tickets in advance online.
Tickets go on sale 3 months in advance on the 10th of every month. The next batch of tickets are for July 2024 and will go sale on 10th April 2024 at 2pm (Japan standard time). Tickets usually sell out VERY quickly.
Note that there are strict entry times on the Ghibli Park tickets / Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse – you must enter within an hour of your allocated time slot or you may be denied entry from Ghibli Park.
For international reservations please follow this link, which has more details and a link to the Lawson’s booking site >
Make sure you have your passport number to hand as they will ask for that on the booking page. You will also be asked to create a 4 digit pin number which will be used to access you booking after payment completion.
If you are a Japanese resident, you can book your domestic tickets here >
Alternatively you can book a package deal on Klook for a 2 Day / 1 Night visit to Ghibli Park Grand Warehouse from Tokyo or a Ghibli Park One Day Round Trip from Nagoya
Getting to Ghibli Park in Aichi (near Nagoya)
There are several ways and different modes of transport to get to Ghibli Park in Aichi. The best ways to get to Ghibli Park include:
Take the Cat Bus
Just kidding!!!! That was just our little Ghibli Park gag… but it should be a real thing. There should be a Studio Ghibli Cat Bus shuttle – a missed opportunity we reckon!
Getting to Ghibli Park from Nagoya
You can get from Nagoya to Ghibli Park in around 45 minutes to 1 hour.
To get to Ghibli Park from Nagoya city centre:
- Take the Metro / Subway to Fujigaoka station
- Transfer to the Linimo line for a train (like a monorail) to Ai Chikyuhaku-Kinen-Koen station for Ghlibli Park
It costs 360 Yen for a one way ticket to from Fujigaoka station to Ai Chikyuhaku-Kinen-Koen station.
At Fujigaoka station, you’ll see a few Studio Ghibli characters on the train station steps and pillars (including Totoro) helping show you the direction of where you need to get the Linimo train to Ghibli Park.
The Linimo train to Ghibli Park also has some cute Studio Ghibli stickers and illustrations on the train carriages, which we thought was a nice touch.
Getting to Ghibli Park from Tokyo
You can take a Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo station to Nagoya station in around two hours (then take a 45 minute subway and Linimo line journey to Ghibli Park). Note this will be quite costly unless you already have a JR Pass.
Driving to Ghibli Park
There are are no car parks directly at Ghibli Park itself as it is surrounded by forestry and green parks. If you are driving to Ghibli Park, there are several park and ride car parks dotted around where you park.
Arriving at Ghibli Park
We took the Limino train to Ghibli Park – upon first impressions when we got off the train and arrived at the main Ghibli Park entrance gate, we were a little taken aback at how little branding or fun stuff there was.
It was literally just a spruced up version of the old Aichi EXPO gate with no cool characters or graphics await – so far, so very average and underwhelming. Our first thoughts were surely Ghibli Park will improve once inside…?
Note the walk from the Ai Chikyuhaku-Kinen-Koen station to the main Ghibli Park entrance / Ghibli Grand Grand Warehouse is around a 10 minute walk down a hill.
There is also a lift / elevator if you are unable to tackle the hill or have a stroller / pushchair / wheel chair etc.
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Entering the Grand Warehouse
At the time of writing, only Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse tickets were available to overseas travellers.
Upon arrival with our Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse tickets, we joined a queue to line up to enter.
A reminder that you must enter within the hour of your allocated time-slot or you may be denied permission. The person who booked must also show their overseas passport (so remember to bring your passport with your printed tickets).
Queue times to Ghibli Park will obviously depend on time of day and year but based on our own experiences, the initial queue to get in only took 10 minutes (note the queues for the Ghibli Warehouse attractions once inside can be a LOT longer – more on this later).
To gain entry, you must show a copy of your printed ticket which is then scanned by a member of staff to allow admission.
Bags weren’t searched but you aren’t meant to bring your own food and drinks into Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse. There is also a stroller / push-chair park by the main entrance as strollers are not allowed inside.
We weren’t given a Ghibli Park / Grand Warehouse map when we entered but when we asked the staff at the information desk just inside the main entrance, they gave us a Ghibli Grand Warehouse Map.
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Inside Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse at Ghibli Park
Ghibli Park Grand Warehouse is billed as a secret place packed full of Studio Ghibli secrets and incredible Ghibli characters. The mysterious town inside the huge building is ‘overflowing’ (their words) with Ghibli gallery exhibits, kid’s playrooms, a cinema, cafe, gift shops and much more.
The first thing you notice is the sheer amount of queues for most things at Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse. In particular, for the Ghibli Central Exhibit Room and to a lesser extent, the Ghibli Garden in the Sky, the House Below and Little People’s Garden plus the cinema and temporary exhibition.
The biggest queue was for the Ghibli central exhibition room but as this is the star of the show at Ghibli Grand Warehouse, it is worth queuing for.
That said, once inside, expect more queues to get around the exhibit. Allow at least half a day to explore Grand Ghibli Warehouse itself given all the queues.
We also thought the initial look and feel of Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse lacked any real magic – the Studio Ghibli’s movies are so incredible to watch and enjoy and yet the setting here is quite sterile.
The main problem is that the Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse hasn’t been designed or built from scratch and instead they’ve retrofitted the old Aichi Expo halls slotting in Ghibli attractions wherever they can. It just doesn’t quite work.
Another thing we thought that was lacking was there were no real rides or entertainment.
Other than a life size cat bus for children to play in, the whole park is essentially a series of selfie moments, expensive gift shops and a cafe with no theming. So far, so very average (and we are talking here as big Studio Ghibli fans).
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The 15 Ghibli Grand Warehouse Attractions (with photos)
Once inside, there are 15 Ghibli Grand Warehouse Attractions to explore:
1. Ghibli Grand Warehouse Central Exhibit
This was the best part of the Ghibli Grand Warehouse by far – a huge two storey themed exhibition where you can pose with life size characters from all the Ghibli movies.
Life sized models and recreations of in the Ghibli Grand Warehouse exhibition include:
Spirited Away (2001) – sitting on the train with Kaonashi
From Up on Poppy Hill (2011) – sitting in office chair with Shun Kazama
Pom Poko (1994) – reading the map with the Japanese Racoon Dogs
Ponyo (2008) – riding on a wave with Ponyo and other fishes
Porco Rosso – getting into a fist fight with the Crimson Pig Porco Rosso
The Wind Rises (2013) – recreating the scene of the aeroplane flying away
Memories of Marnie (2014) – stand in the ocean with Marnie
Princess Mononoke (1997) – get up close with the Forest Spirit (well, it’s head anyway)
Overall, we really liked this part of Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse although it can get tiring queuing up constantly to queue up to take a picture with a model – we found the queues much quicker on the second floor.
2. Ghibli Park Director’s Room
A small kiosk on the upper floor that brings to life Yubaba’s office from Spirited Away. This is a sealed off kiosk where you peer through the window after a lengthy queue.
Alas, this isn’t very interactive; Yubaba doesn’t move or do anything really – plus it is hard to get a good shot due to the reflections from the window.
3. Studio Ghibli Cinema Room / Orion Cinema
This is a Ghibli cinema that shows short movies from Ghibli’s collection – the cinema itself is beautiful with vintage interiors and feels like stepping back in time.
There are short movie screenings every 20 to 30 minutes. We got to watch The Whale Hunt, a 16 minute Ghibli short that has previously been screened at the Ghibli Museum Mitaka.
To note there were no English subtitles but it was fairly easy to follow.
10 original Studio Ghibli animated short films previously shown at Ghibli Museum Mitaka, will be screened one at a time, each one showing for two months at a time.
If you are short on time, we’d recommend skipping the cinema given most of the short films are in Japanese only and have already been on display at the Ghibli Museum – it would have been nice to have brand new films.
4. Special Exhibit Room
The special exhibit room at Ghibli Park / Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse is a walk-through collection of animated cells and sketches of various movies plus some set recreations and gallery of Ghibli film posters.
The best bit by far for us was the My Neighbour Totoro rooms – here you can sit in a Totoro and Cat Bus reclining chair before sitting at a bar where you can pose on a chair with a huge Totoro!
Better still, in the next room there is a huge Cat Bus you can actually go inside and pose for pictures in – definitely one of the best parts of Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse.
Note there are many parts of the Special Exhibit Room at Ghibli Park where photography is not permitted including the sketches and set recreations.
Staff will tell you off if you attempt to take any sneaky pics (many tried!). But the good news is you can take photographs in the My Neighbour Totoro section.
5. Ghibli gift shop – Adventurous Flying Squadron
The Studio Ghibli gift shop in the Ghibli Grand Warehouse is likely to be the highlight for many Ghibli fans and aficionados as there is some exclusive merchandise and it is so well stocked.
That said, some of the prices at the Ghibli Park gift shop are outrageous e.g. over 3,000 Yen (£20) for a ceramic fridge magnet seems very expensive. And the queue to purchase goods in the gift shop was huge, snaking halfway around the store.
Note photography is not permitted in the Ghibli gift shop (but we got a couple of sneaky snaps).
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6. Milk Stand Siberi❆An
The milk stand counter near the Ghibli gift shop offers local fresh milk in a glass bottle with a cute Ghibli illustration. You can also eat sweet bean dessert cake like the “Siberia” from The Wind Rises.
The queue was quite big at the Ghibli Milk Stand Siberi❆An so we gave it a miss – it looked pretty though.
7. Ghibli Open Warehouse
The Ghibli Open Warehouse contains a few models and stage props from previous Ghibli productions both in the UK and overseas.
You walk along a central aisle with props either side (many of which were still in packing crates and boxes). This was one of the few Ghibli exhibits with no queues.
8. Central Stairs
The first and second storeys of the Ghibli Grand Warehouse are connected by a magical mosaic tile staircase with Ghibli characters included in the tiles. Look up to see the giant flying ship with moving parts.
9. Minami-machi
A recreation of an old Japanese street with several stores. Neppu Bookstore for books, Open Sky Models for scale model kits, and Penny Candy Shop Cat Princess. This reminded us of the old street set-up at the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum.
10. Philosophy Club Room
A small scale recreation of the Philosophy Club Room from a corner of the Latin Quarter in From Up on Poppy Hill. A kiosk you can look in but not enter – this had no queue and people didn’t seem that interested in it.
11. Transcontinental Flight Cafe
The one sit down restaurant onsite at Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse. The food on offer at the Transcontinental Flight Cafe was basic pizza and burger / sandwich fare – zero theming or special meals here.
Given there are so many places you can get themed Ghibli food like the cute Totoro cream puffs you can get in Shimokitazawa Tokyo, we just don’t understand the logic of doing a very basic cafe at Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse. Everything about the Transcontinental Flight Cafe just feels very underwhelming.
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12. Garden in the Sky
Another photo opp with a big queue – pose with the giant (and mossy!) robot soldiers from ‘Castle in the Sky’. Kinda cool and one of the better selfie / photo spots at Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse.
13. The House Below and the Little People’s Garden
This was a really cute part of Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse – giant flowers and tiny rooms as seen by the tiny people from Arriety. It also reminded us of The Borrowers.
14. Cat Bus Room
A children’s play area with a giant Cat Bus and tall trees from the forest. Aimed at small children, no photography is obviously allowed in the charming Cat Bus Room.
15. Children’s Town
The final attraction at the Ghibli Grand Warehouse at Ghibli Park is Children’s Town. This is a small scale replica and reproduction of the Higashi-Koganei Station area in Tokyo where the original Studio Ghibli is based. Vintage street scenes and retro transport await.
How to pronounce ‘Ghibli’
If you are visiting Ghibli Park and Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse and are likely to ask for directions, it is best to know how to pronounce ‘Ghibli’.
You pronounce the Japanese word ‘Ghibli’ in English as = jib-li (jib-lee) – ジブリ
That said, it is quite easy to find the Ghibli Park from the Limino / Ai Chikyuhaku-Kinen-Koen station train station as the initial signposts by the entrance gates are also in Japanese and English. However, once in the Ghibli Park, there are no English translations and all the interpretation is in Japanese.
So ensure you have a Japanese SIM card to use Google translate if you really want to understand all the various panels within Ghibli Park.
Ghibli Park Review – Opening Hours and Admission Prices
Ghibli Park opening hours are:
Weekdays: 10am to 5pm
Weekends and Holidays: 9am to 5pm
Ghibli Park is closed on Tuesdays (When Tuesday is a national holiday, the park will be open and will be closed the following weekday).
Admission Prices
At the time of writing; non Japanese visitors/ overseas tourists can only buy tickets to Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse. (November 2023 Update – all areas appear to be available for international visitors now).
Ghibli Park Grand Warehouse admission prices and tickets are as follows (the Grand Warehouse ticket is a package deal with Mononoke Village).
Grand Warehouse / Mononoke Village:
Weekdays: 2,500 Yen per adult and 1,250 Yen per child.
Weekends and public holidays: 3,000 Yen per adult and 1,500 per child.
Entry time slots: 12pm and 2pm
Dondoko Forest admission prices and tickets are as follows:
Dondoko Forest:
All days: 1,000 Yen per adult and 500 Yen per child.
Entry time slots: 11am and 3pm.
Hill of Youth admission prices and tickets are as follows:
Hill of Youth:
All days: 1,000 Yen per adult and 500 Yen per child.
Entry time slots: 11am and 3pm.
For Japanese residents, admission prices and tickets seem to be the same as international tickets, but they have many more admission entry time slots to choose from.
The new Ghibli Park Stroll Tickets (for October 2024 onwards)
We’ve recently read online that Ghibli Park will be introducing a new ticket system with ‘stroll tickets’ available for October 2024 onwards (on sale 10th August 2024).
The ‘basic stroll’ ticket will allow you to gain access to the outdoor area only sections of 4 parts of the park (not including the Grand Warehouse). This means you cannot access the indoor experiences, inside of buildings, restaurants or shops.
Weekdays: 1,000 Yen per adult and 750 Yen per child.
Weekends and public holidays: 2,000 Yen per adult and 1,000 Yen per child.
The new Ghibli Park Big Stroll Ticket
The ‘Big Stroll’ ticket will get you access to all five sections of Ghibli Park (but not inside any of the buildings in Valley of Witches, Hill of Youth or the Dondoko Forest).
Weekdays: 3,500 Yen per adult and 1,750 Yen per child.
Weekends and public holidays: 4,000 Yen per adult and 2,000 Yen per child.
The new Ghibli Park Premium Stroll Ticket
The ‘Premium Stroll’ ticket will get you access to all areas and all experiences (for all 5 sections of Ghibli Park and all of their buildings).
Weekdays: 7,300 Yen per adult and 3,650 Yen per child.
Weekends and public holidays: 7,800 Yen per adult and 3,900 per child.
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Food and Drink at Ghibli Park
Inside the Ghibli Park area, you may only eat food bought inside Ghibli Park. That said, we never had our bags checked and we did take our own water in.
As food prices inside Ghibli Park can be a bit expensive, we’d also mention there is a Lawson’s convenience store / kombini by the Ghibli Park entrance gates (just inside on the right) after you get off the train.
Although we didn’t eat at Ghibli Park, we visited the Transcontinental Flight cafe section outside and were disappointed by what was on offer (mainly pizza). There is such a missed opportunity to do themed Studio Ghibli food and drink at Ghibli Park and we hope they rectify this when they open future sections of Ghibli Park.
We were expecting something along the lines of the themed Harry Potter cafe in Tokyo where there are special menus and themed dining rooms – but none of this is in place at Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse which to us is extremely disappointing.
The only vague Ghibli Park food and drink theming at Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse was the Milk Stand Siberi❆An stall near the exit, just across from the main Ghibli Park gift shop – that said, there was a substantial queue for this so we decided against it.
Ghibli Park Review / Ghibli Grand Warehouse Review – Final Thoughts
Overall, if you are a die-hard fan of the Studio Ghibli movies (and very BIG queues), then Ghibli Park Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse might be for you. If you are an occasional Ghibli viewer with limited days in Japan, then there are better ways to spend your time.
Whilst the admission price to Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse is pretty inexpensive compared to other ‘theme parks’, the sad truth is there isn’t actually that much to see or do in Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse and it just lacks that spark or imagination.
With no rides or actual interactive attractions, Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse feels like a glorified version of the giant Totoro and Cat Bus props you can already see for free in literally every Studio Ghibli store you find in most Japanese shopping centres.
Other than a few scant photo opportunities with a few larger than life Ghibli models, there isn’t much else to do in the Ghibli Grand Warehouse. We’d definitely suggest waiting until other parts of Ghibli Park open up to overseas tourists and visitors (update – four parts of the park are now available to visit).
Whilst OK at best if visiting from Nagoya, Ghibli Park definitely isn’t worth a special trip from Tokyo (over 2 hrs each way) just for the Ghibli Grand Warehouse alone.
Overall, we came away feeling disappointed by the Ghibli Grand Warehouse experience – we weren’t ‘Spirited Away’ in the slightest.
Ghibli Park Review – Practical Tips for Visiting Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse
1 – Above all, plan your trip to Ghibli Park way in advance as tickets currently are hard to come by. If you’re travelling to Japan / Nagoya later in the year and specifically want to visit Ghibli Park, set a reminder on your phone / calendar for the on sale ticket dates for the period you in Japan. We booked our March 2023 Ghibli Park tickets in January 2023 – tickets sold out within minutes!
2 – Although food and drink is available in Ghibli Park, you may want some water for the queues outside. Note that no food and drink can be taken into Ghibli Park (although you can buy cheap food and drink at the Lawson’s convenience store right next to the Ghibli Park entry gate).
3 – Even though you purchase your Ghibli Park tickets in advance online via the Lawson’s ticket website, you are still required to take a printed copy of your ticket with you to be scanned at the park. So make sure you print your ticket before you arrive in Japan (or ask your hotel reception desk instead).
4 – Remember to take your passport or the passport of the person who has booked the Ghibli Park / Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse tickets.
5 – We weren’t given an English map when we first entered Ghibli Grand Warehouse but we asked at the Ghibli Park Grand Warehouse Information Desk and they were able to provide one. We found this map very useful in navigating the Ghibli Park Grand Warehouse.
6 – None of the Ghibli Park Grand Warehouse information panels or interpretation were in English so if you want to read it in detail, ensure you have Google translate on your phone or go with a Japanese friend.
7 – Similarly, the Ghibli Park Grand Warehouse cinema showing Ghibli shorts has no translation – so we’d recommend skipping this unless you fancy a 15 minute sit down in the dark.
8 – If you are going to buy Ghibli Park souvenirs, make sure you take plenty of cash or have a sufficient debit card as the Ghibli Park gifts can be PRETTY expensive.
Have you also been to Ghibli Park and Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse? Did you agree with our Ghibli Park review? Let us know your Ghibli Park experiences in the comments below:
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Thanks for sharing your review!
How much time do you think it’s OK to allocate for a visit to the Grand Warehouse? Would 3 hours be enough, considering the queues , a lunch break in the café, and of course some souvenir shopping?
Hi Elena, glad you found our review helpful! We would personally suggest a minimum of 3 hours to explore the warehouse, plus eat and shop. I think we spent 2.5-3 hours there without eating or doing much shopping. Have a fantastic time in Japan!
Thanks a lot for your advice ! 🙂