Studio Ghibli is and always has been a force of its own. Compelling storytelling and powerful female protagonists have kept the company's extensive library in the forefront of anime collections for decades.
Even those who haven't seen every entry that Studio Ghibli has released over the years are at least familiar with the titles or characters from several of the stories due to their extreme exposure in pop culture. Even casual anime viewers will perk an ear up to the sound of names like My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, and even Howl's Moving Castle.
While the formative list may contain many of the most popular and mainstream titles from the Ghibli library, super-fans of the studio would be remiss if we weren't to mention films such as Ponyo. The Tale of Princess Kaguya, When Marnie Was There, Grave of the Fireflies, Pom Poko, Only Yesterday, The Secret World of Arrietties, The Wind Rises, Nausicaa, My Neighbors The Yamadas, Porco Rosso, Whisper of the Heart, From up on Poppy Hill, Tales From Earthsea, The Cat Returns, and Ocean Waves.
With 22 titles under it's belt, the anime film producing studio has enough content to rival the likes of animation juggernaut Pixar. Bringing so many iconic stories and characters to life, it would be a waste for there to be no theme park to visit considering studios like Disney and Universal have their own respective vacation locales.
Luckily for fans, that problem has now been solved. Appropriately names Ghibli Park, the destination is located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and the focus of the theme park is not so much rides as it is themed attractions and experiences. Valley of the Witches, the newest of these attractions and the largest to date was built on March 16th, 2024. It joins the likes of explorable replica locations based on Kiki's Delivery Service, Howl's Moving Castle, and Earwig and the Witch. These take the form of Baba Yaga's house from the latter title, Kiki's House, and Howl's castle from their respective films.
Below we have included two photos of Ghibli park itself along with a headshot of President Toshio Suzuki, who recently spoke with press members about the new attraction and the park in general.
Pictured in the latter image once again is Toshio Suzuki, current president of Ghibli Studios. He was on hand for the opening of the Valley of the Witches attraction and had quite a bit to say about the new experience and the park in general. He even went as far as to gas up the founder of the park, Hayao Miyazaki's son himself, Goro Miyazaki.
"I have known Goro-kun since he was in junior high school. At the time, I didn't think I would ever work with him, but we have since worked together on the Ghibli Museum, films, and Ghibli Park—so I was deeply moved when seeing Valley of Witches today.
Movies, as you all know, are two-dimensional things, right? At Ghibli Park, we deal with three-dimensional objects. Goro-kun's original career involved working with three-dimensional objects [as a landscape architect]," Suzuki explained. "[After exploring Valley of Witches,] I once again realized that Goro-kun loves movies and shows his true potential when you let him create with three-dimensional objects. I think Goro-kun must be really satisfied. When I looked around Valley of Witches, that's my main impression. It makes me a bit happy."
He added in regaards to Valley of the Witches, "In your usual theme park, you have a steel frame inside your 'wooden' support beams—it's just made to look like it's wood. I think there is a big difference between that and the real thing. Everything Goro-kun has created this time is real. I asked Goro-kun which was superior, doing it with real or fake wood. And he said, 'It's about the same no matter how you do it.' So I guess we have different ways of thinking about this stuff."
"To tell you the truth, when we decided to do Ghibli Park here, I didn't like the idea at first. I'm from Nagoya, so I kept thinking I wouldn't be able to escape doing interviews. There were many potential locations. But when Goro-kun chose this site—the former site of the World's Fair—out of all the offers, I thought, 'Maybe it's just another twist of fate.' Regardless, it turned out for the best."
As for whether the legendary Hayao Miyazaki himself spends any time at the park, Suzuki addressed the point by stating "He hasn't come to see 'Valley of Witches' yet, but he came [to Ghibli Park] once before incognito. A lot of people know him, so I asked him to disguise himself a little. I thought it would be better that way." Suzuki explained. "All he said about the experience was, 'It was well done,'—he was giving his son a bit of praise.
I don't know yet whether he'll come and see Valley of Witches. He probably wants to see it but also doesn't want to see it. If you see something, you're going to want to talk about it. I mean, he's not a person who can just stay quiet. Honestly, people like that can cause problems for others. I think that's probably why he's holding out on coming for now."
Ghibli Park is open seven days a week. Will you guys be checking this out in person or searching online for a video experience? Let us know your thoughts on these attractions down in the comments section as always!