Day 3 part 2: Studio Ghibli Museum

We thoroughly enjoyed the park but it was getting close to what we thought may be “work time” so we decided to get on the train again before they were packed. We are REALLY bad at this game! After winding our way through the sea of suits we found our way to the World Trade Center…yea, we know.  This is a 40 story building in Shidome? We were supposed to be here by 1 pm to check in for our Studio Ghibli tour. It was about 9 am. After attempting and failing to find the check in area and having now been on our feet for about five hours it was time for a rest. We found a nice coffee shop across from the Trade Center and sat watching the sea of suits ebb and flow.

Still, nothing is open!!! We decided to wander around the trade center a bit and found a small bakery. We grabbed some goods and then went out in search of a place to sit. Again we found that there was nowhere to really sit down. We found a raised part of the building outside of one of the side exits and ate our snacks. This consisted of basically a pig in a blanket, but it was sort of spicy so we are thinking there was some curry in there.  Additionally there was a cinnamon twist and a hard bread ball filled with red bean paste. As we were sitting there, there were still tons of people going in and out of the doors. Where are all of these people going? It seems like the suits never stop moving.

After searching further we finally found the bus station and mercifully it was filled with seats. We were able to sit for a long while and rest our feet while we waited. At lunch we experienced a great journey attempting to find a plain sushi bar. For some reason this was much harder than you might think. After searching around several blocks we were able to locate a sushi bar and share a delicious plate of sushi.

(sorry no picture, the restaurant was tiny and extremely silent even though there were several people coming in and out).

Ghibli:

Eventually we did get to check in and get ready for Ghibli. Around 2pm we set off with a group of 15 people heading all the way across town. Our tiny tour guide was spunky little Japanese woman who held up a small flag on a stick and rushed through the crowd at a quick pace. Every now and again she would stop and count us to make sure no one got lost and then continue on. 

We were getting a lot of strange looks being a large group of mainly foreigners following along basically like ducks in a row. The trains were still very packed. In order to get to Ghibli we had to switch trains, take a 30 min train ride, and then a five minute bus ride but we finally made it!

It was crazy packed, we were able to basically walk through one time and see a short film in the time allotted. Everything was amazing but unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside. This is probably because if they were you would never get through due to everyone taking pictures of everything. Every surface had some minor touch to it to make it Ghibli. The windows had paintings on them, the walls had characters or strange windows. The children's play area was a huge catbus (From My Neighbor Totoro, check it out if you haven't already) and our whole group was mad that there was an age limit to get in. Luckily outside we were allowed to take pictures so we got to get a bunch of good ones of the area and exhibits.

They have Totoro right out front

I'm beginning to realize that hot dogs are a big thing here. Not sure why yet, might try to research.

This was a working water pump. It filled the bucket then you could dump it and the water would flow down...

Into this.

Like I said, small touches.

There is a theater inside of the museum that cycles through seven exclusive shorts that were directed by Hiyao Miyazaki. We got to see one about an egg who is captured by an evil witch that make her a slave. It was classic Ghibli and was really fun to watch in the cool theater. Our tickets were segments of film from actual Ghibli films.

While the museum was amazing we had been out walking for over 12 hours total so we were ready to go once the meetup time came. Somehow during free time we lost two members of our party in the museum. We had to wait about 20 minutes while the tour guide searched for them in the small museum before she finally gave up and called the office to report that they hadn't returned. No one was sure where they had gotten off to. These were two adults so it was not such a huge deal. They were all over each other on the train so perhaps they had other pursuits?

Heading Home:

Finally we were able to get on a crowded bus to get on a crowded train where we stood for 30 min before changing to our final train home. The final train was actually fairly clear. We were excited as we may actually get to sit down after a few stops. Suddenly the flood gates opened and everyone got off and we had every single seat to ourselves. The looks of joy and relief on our faces must have shown brightly. We chose our seats and waited patiently for the train to start again talking about how great it was that we could finally sit. We should have known it was too good to be true. Just as we were settling in, there came the conductor “Finished, off please”. We then got to make our walk of shame out where all of the other people were already standing waiting patiently for the next train to come through.

After one more crowded train we finally made it back to our stop and after 15 hours we finally fell appreciatively into bed and passed out.  

The Ghibli gift shop was great.