Studio Ghibli revealed more details and concept design illustrations for its
planned Ghibli Park on Tuesday. The illustrations show the planned layout of the Ghibli no Daisōko Area (Giant Ghibli Storehouse) and Seishun no Oka Area (Hill of Youth).
The first illustration below shows a part of the Ghibli no Daisōko Area that recreates the restaurant district from the beginning of the
Spirited Away film.
The second illustration shows another part of the Ghibli no Daisōko Area, with the yellow building serving as a 170-seat mini-theater, and the blue building serving as a permanent exhibit.
The third illustration shows the Seishun no Oka Area, which will also contain the "Neko no Jimusho" (Cat's Office) attraction modeled after the film
The Cat Returns.
The fourth illustration provides another view of the Seishun no Oka Area, showing the elevator structure in the area that takes design motifs from
Castle in the Sky and
Howl's Moving Castle.
Both areas, as well as the Dondoko Mori Area (Dondoko Forest), are slated to
open in fall 2022, followed by the Mononoke no Sato Area (Mononoke Village, inspired by
Princess Mononoke) and Majo no Tani Area (Witch Valley, inspired by
Kiki's Delivery Service) about one year later. The Dondoko Mori Area will feature a recreation of the shrine and path from
My Neighbor Totoro.
The staff projects that 1 million people annually will visit the first three areas to open, and then 1.8 million people annually will visit once the park is fully open a year later. To accommodate the flow of visitors, the surrounding area and roads are adding 1,500 more parking spaces and measures to control traffic.
Work on the designs began last year, and construction will begin in 2020 and continue for about two or three years. Aichi Prefecture has budgeted 31 billion yen (about US$280 million) for construction, in addition to 3 billion yen (about US$30 million) for the design and planning process.