

Ghibli scenery movie#
Keep your eye out while on the train! Princess Mononoke movie locations ⓒStudio Ghibli Yakushima (Kagoshima) Between Tokorozawa and Akitsu station, you can spot Totoro. Tip: you can also see Totoro from the train if you take the Seibu Ikebukuro line. You can get some cute Totoro souvenirs there too! Also you can learn the culture which was developed in rural area in Japan from the interior of the house. You can see a big Totoro sitting in the house and get the similar nostalgic vibes as the movie. A must-visit place is Kurosuke’s House which is Japanese traditional house which was built over 100 years ago. This area is called Totoro Forest and protected by Totoro no Furusato Foundation. It’s located in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture which is 1 or 1.5 hours away from Tokyo station. My Neighbor Totoro movie locations ⓒStudio Ghibli Sayama Kyuryo (Saitama) Negishi natsukashi koen and Yamate seiyo-kan (Kanagawa).The Secret World of Arrietty movie locations.A sublime place to stay on the island are the luxury villas at Sankara Hotel & Spa which also features two restaurants serving food created mainly from local and organic produce. Make sure you are clothed in waterproof gear as persistent rainfall makes Yakushima one of the wettest places in Japan. To discover what’s been dubbed Princess Mononoke’s Forest, hike through Shiratani Unsuikyō Gorge past draping greenery, splashing waterfalls and moss-covered rocks. Some of the towering yakusugi cedar trees here have been growing for over 2000 years and are honoured with individual names. The scenic inspiration for this tale is the Unesco World Heritage-listed island of Yakushima, 60km south of the southernmost tip of Kyushu island. Shiratani Unsui-kyo Gorge, Yajushima Shiratani Unsui-kyo Gorge, YakushimaĪ parable about the perils of disrespecting nature, Princess Mononoke saw Hayao Miyazaki digging deep into Japan’s past for a tale of tribes of humans pitted against ancient spirits of the forest. Just 20 minutes by fast train from Tokyo, Yokohama can easily be visited as a day trip but should you decide to stay, the Hotel New Grand is an elegant throwback to earlier in the 20th century. However, the view of the seafront from Harbour View Park has significantly changed since the 1960s, the skyline now dotted with skyscrapers including the 296m high Landmark Tower in revamped Minato Mirai 21 district built on the former docks. Several other locations, such as the sloping shopping street of Daikanzaka, crop up in the movie and are recognisable. The Old House of the Yanagishita Family in Negishi Natsukashi Park is the model for Coquelicot Manor, the boarding house that is home to the movie’s 16-year-old heroine Umi Matsuzaki.

It’s a nostalgic 1963 version of the city that features in From Up on Poppy Hill directed in 2011 by Miyazaki’s son Gorō. The port of Yokohama was one of the first places in Japan to open up to the outside world in the 19th century.

As well as thatched farmhouses, an entire shopping street of houses from pre WWII Tokyo and a grand mansion relocated here from Kyoto, you can also enter an ornate public bathhouse with a lakeside view of Fuji painted on the tiled wall inside. This retirement home for historic Japanese buildings of great cultural value was one of the inspirations for the abandoned theme park that Chihiro and her family stumble into in Spirited Away.

Ghibli scenery how to#
In order to keep the museum free of crowds, a limited number of admission tickets are issued daily see the website for details of how to purchase them.įurther west of the Ghibli Museum, but still within day-trip reach of Tokyo, is the wonderful Edo-Tokyo Architectural Museum. A child-sized movie theatre screens original short animated features made exclusively for the museum by Miyazaki and other Studio Ghibli talents. On its grassy roof is a 5m-tall replica of the Robot Soldier from Castle in the Skywhile inside small kids will adore bouncing around in the plush cat bus from My Neighbour Totoro. This whimsical and inventively designed complex, covered in creeping ivy, looks like it could easily have featured in a Ghibli movie. Located in the south west corner of leafy Inokashira Park in the Western Tokyo suburb of Mitaka is the captivating Ghibli Museum Mitaka.
