Ghibli Park is the only official Studio Ghibli theme park in the world, not to be mistaken with the Studio Ghibli Museum in Tokyo. However, as opposed to other amusement parks, you should not expect rides and rollercoasters, but life-size reproductions of buildings from the Studio Ghibli animation movies with stunning detail and Ghibli-like landscapes that will make you feel as if you were in one of their films.

General information

Ghibli Park, located in Aichi, near the city of Nagoya (a perfect in-between stop if you are traveling between Tokyo and either Kyoto or Osaka), opened its doors in November 2022. The park was built within the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park (also known as Moricoro Park) and has 5 separate thematic areas, each inspired by one or several Ghibli movies.

The Hill of Youth, based in movies like Whisper of the Heart and The Cat Returns; Dondoko Forest, mainly a tribute to My Neighbor Totoro; The Valley of Witches, home to reproductions of Kiki Delivery Service and Howl’s Moving Castle; Mononoke Village, that takes its name directly from Princess Mononoke’s film; and Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, a compendium of exhibits from several Ghibli movies like Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky or Arrietty, among others.

The park is open to stroll to the general public (opening hours are from 10am to 5pm on weekdays and from 9am to 5pm on weekends and holidays; last admission is at 4:30pm), although to access the aforementioned sections, you need a Sampo Day Pass or a Premium Pass, which gets you access to five specific buildings within the areas. The prices for each pass are as follows: Weekdays, ¥3,500 for the Sampo Day Pass or ¥7,300 for the Premium Pass; Weekend and Holidays, ¥4,000 and ¥7,800 respectively. Half-price tickets are available for children between 4 and 12 years old and for people with disabilities (and a maximum of one companion) holding a disability certificate. Children aged 0 to 3 enter for free. Tickets sell out very fast and can only be purchased online. Sales for up to two months in advance open the 10th of each month.

While it is true that there are no rollercoasters in the park, there are some attractions aimed at children like carroussels or slides at the Valley of the Witches or a Totoro-like wooden structure at Dondoko Forest, a chance to grill your own gohei-mochi at Mononoke Village and plenty of opportunities to shop merchandise from the films and to take pictures with reproductions of many Ghibli characters at the Grand Warehouse. Also, you can interact with most of the rooms inside the buildings by opening drawers and cupboards and touching objects. However, pictures are forbidden, except for the open-air areas and most of the Grand Warehouse.

Finally, as the theme park is part of the Expo Commemorative Park, even without a ticket you can enjoy interesting bits of nature. The trails and wooden boardwalks towards Dondoko Forest and the Japanese Garden near Satsuki and Mei’s House are specially noteworthy as the most Ghibli-esque and beautiful landscapes among them.

You can find more information on the park areas, maps, what to eat, etc., as well as buy tickets, at the official website.

Getting there

To get there from Nagoya station, you can take the Higashiyama subway line (yellow) to Fujigaoka station (the end of the line). There you have to change to the Linimo train to Ai-Chikyuhaku-Kinen-Koen station. The whole trip takes around 1 hour. From Ai-Chikyuhaku-Kinen-Koen station, it is a short 250 meter walk to the Northern entrance of the park.

While the subway is wheelchair accessible, you should ask for a ramp to board to a staff member next to the ticket gates, as there is a step between the train and the platform. For the Linimo, the step and gap are minimal, although you may also ask for a ramp if needed. Each station of the Linimo line has a distinctive geometric icon associated. These icons are meant to ease travel for the elderly, people with autism or people with cognitive disabilities.

Accessibility

As a newly built theme park and true to the inclusive nature of Ghibli movies, Ghibli Park has done a good job to ensure access to its attractions to a wide range of public. While some parts of the park can get crowded, as the area is extremely wide, it is quite easy to find peaceful places to rest and relax. Actually, despite some queues to access Pass-restricted areas, most of the experience does not feel crowded.

Overall, physical accessibility, both to move around the park and at the attractions, is very good. However, there are a few things to take into account in order to be able to enjoy a visit to the park at its fullest.

While some trails or paths between sections are inaccessible due to stairs, all areas can be reached via wheelchair accessible boardwalks or paved paths. Keep in mind that some of the wheelchair accessible trails have steep or long inclines, so an electric wheelchair, powered assistive device or a pushing companion is recommended.

Although there are some rest areas every now and then, distances are long and you can expect a day full of walking. If you want to visit all the areas of the park in a single day, your total walking or rolling distance will be around 4 to 5 km. If you do not want to rush, it is recommended to get to the park early in the morning.

For those that cannot walk long distances, there is a bus within the Aichi Commemorative Park that gets near all areas. Buses are wheelchair accessible via manual ramps. However, the Cat Bus that operates on the Eastern side of the park is not wheelchair accessible. There is a priority Cable Car (or Slope Car) for the elderly, wheelchair users and strollers to go up the hill in Dondoko Forest.

While some of the buildings may not seem wheelchair accessible from the outside, most of them have got ramps and/or elevators. A special mention to the hidden elevator inside Howl’s Moving Castle, which is incredibly integrated inside the building. Specific sections in some of the buildings are not wheelchair accessible. These amount to less than a 10% of the total experience. Satsuki and Mei’s house is one of them and wheelchair users can only see it from the outside.

At Mononoke Village, the activity to cook your own gohei mochi is accessible for people with disabilities. There is a lower counter where they can put the charcoal grill and a staff member will help you with the process if needs be.

For those with mobility impairments or traveling with children, wheelchairs and strollers are available to borrow at North Gate Information Center, West Gate Information Center and Lounge. While wheelchairs can enter all buildings, strollers are to be left outside in designated parking areas.

Accessible toilets are available in all areas of the park. All accessible restrooms have ostomate equipment and diaper changing stations. Nursing rooms are also available at The Grand Warehouse and The Valley of the Witches.

For those with hearing impairments, scheduled screenings during the day at the Cinema Orion in the Grand Warehouse have Japanese subtitles. You should ask staff nearby for more details.

Guide dogs, hearing dogs and service dogs are allowed in all areas of the park including the café.

For those with visual impairments, as mentioned above, most buildings included in the Premium Pass have plenty of opportunities to touch and interact with objects present in the houses of Ghibli movies.

Finally, a note for international disability certificate holders that buy discount tickets. You may be asked to show your certificate plus your passport at most of the Pass-restricted areas. Depending on your certificate, this may take a while. It is recommended for certificates to have a photo and to be translated into English or Japanese, to ease the process.

Also, for all restricted areas, you will need to show your Pass on your smartphone. Internet connection is needed as the QR code keeps changing during the day, so printed tickets may not be valid. Instructions are on your confirmation email after buying the tickets.