Overview of Ghibli Park
There are no roller coasters at Ghibli Park. No character parades, no flashing lights. What there is, instead, is something far more unusual: the chance to walk through the actual worlds of Studio Ghibli’s films — to peer into the cupboards of Satsuki and Mei’s house from My Neighbor Totoro, to stand beneath the towering silhouette of Howl’s Moving Castle, to browse the shelves of Kiki’s family bakery as if you’ve just stepped off a broomstick.
Opened on November 1, 2022, Ghibli Park sits within the sprawling Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park (also known as Moricoro Park) in Nagakute city, about an hour east of central Nagoya. First announced in 2017, it was designed by Goro Miyazaki — son of Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki — and constructed with a deliberate commitment to nature: not a single tree was cut down during the building process. The result is a park that feels less like a conventional theme park and more like a living film set embedded in a forest.
The park is divided into five themed areas spread across the expansive grounds. Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse is the largest and most weather-proof, housing scene recreations, an interactive exhibition room, a children’s play area with the Cat Bus, and Cinema Orion, a screening room showing exclusive Ghibli short films. The Hill of Youth centers on the steampunk Elevator Tower seen in Castle in the Sky and Howl’s Moving Castle, while Dondoko Forest transports visitors into the woodland world of My Neighbor Totoro, complete with the life-sized Satsuki and Mei’s house. Mononoke Village — inspired by Princess Mononoke — opened in November 2023, and the Valley of Witches, drawing from Kiki’s Delivery Service and Howl’s Moving Castle, completed the park’s full five-area layout in March 2024.
Because daily visitor numbers are deliberately kept low, the atmosphere is unhurried and the grounds never feel crowded. However, it also means tickets sell out fast.
Best Times To Visit Ghibli Park
Ghibli Park is open year-round and is closed every Tuesday. The park operates from 10:00 on weekdays, with an earlier 9:00 opening on weekends and public holidays. Because most of the areas are outdoors, spring and autumn offer the most pleasant visiting conditions — comfortable temperatures, seasonal foliage, and clear skies. Summer can be hot and humid in Aichi, though Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse provides fully indoor relief. Tickets must be booked in advance and go on sale on the 10th of each month at 14:00 JST, two months ahead of the visit date. Demand is high and popular time slots sell out within minutes. International visitors can purchase tickets via the official Ghibli Park international site or through Klook and Lawson Ticket. For a full step-by-step guide to securing tickets, Tokyo Weekender has a dedicated guide on how to buy Ghibli Park tickets.