Museums & galleries
Ghibli Museum
The Ghibli Museum is a museum showcasing the work of the Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli. It is located in Inokashira Park in Mitaka, a western city within the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, in Japan. The museum combines features of a children's museum, technology museum, and a fine arts museum and is dedicated to the art and technique of animation. Features include a replica of the Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro (1988), a café, bookstore, rooftop garden, and a theater for exclusive short films by Studio Ghibli.
What it is
The Ghibli Museum is Studio Ghibli's own museum in Mitaka, on the edge of Inokashira Park. It's not a chronological exhibit of film props but a designed-to-wander building, with rooms about how animation is made (zoetropes, flip books, original sketches and cels), a full-size Catbus replica kids can climb into, and a rooftop garden with a large robot soldier statue from Laputa: Castle in the Sky. A small theater screens short Ghibli films made only for the museum, not available elsewhere.
Getting there
From central Tokyo, take the JR Chuo or Chuo-Sobu Line to Mitaka Station, around 15-20 minutes from Shinjuku. From Mitaka Station, it's about a 15-minute walk through Inokashira Park, or a short community bus ride (buses run directly to the museum entrance).
Time to allow
Most visitors spend two to three hours inside, including the short film. The museum is compact but designed for slow, close looking rather than a quick pass-through.
When to go
Entry is by timed slot, so arrival is scheduled in advance rather than walk-in. Weekends and Japanese school holidays tend to draw more families and longer waits inside popular rooms like the Catbus. A weekday visit is generally calmer.
What to combine it with
Inokashira Park is right next to the museum, a few minutes on foot, and makes an easy pairing for a walk, boating pond, or picnic before or after. Other listed sights like the Tokyo Mosque, Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, and Yoyogi Park are all over 10km away, effectively separate outings rather than same-day add-ons.
Sources: open data from Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap · Updated August 5, 2026 · Edited by the World by City editors
