Studio Ghibli theme park set to open in 2022

Studio Ghibli theme park has its basic plans laid out for a 494 acres lot. The site is located within the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park in Japan. The park is set in 2022 in partnership with the local Aichi Prefecture government and the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper company.

Theme park layout | Image: Grapee

Ghibli Park

The press conference was held May 31, 2019 in Tokyo by Studio Ghibli producer and co-founder Toshio Suzuki. Also present there were Aichi governor Hideaki Omura and Chunichi CEO Uichiro Oshima.

The Studio Ghibli theme park will occupy 494 acres (200 hectares) in Nagakute City, Aichi, Japan. It was first announced in 2017 when the local government said it was looking for other commercial partners.

Studio Ghibli theme park design would be in keeping with director Hayao Miyazaki’s strong environmental beliefs. Thus, it is to be built in harmony with existing nature and without cutting down a single tree. With this in mind, the park will not feature roller coasters or other ride-type attractions.

According to the three companies, three areas are set to open in fall of 2022. Youth Hill would be partly based on Howl’s Moving Castle. This is while Dondoko Forest is based on My Neighbor Totoro. The other one would be the Great Ghibli Warehouse.

After a year, two more attractions are set to open. This includes a Mononoke Village based on Princess Mononoke. The other one would be the Valley of the Witch area, themed on both Kiki’s Delivery Service and Howl’s Moving Castle.

The three companies are still considering the admission prices and targets for visitor numbers.

Witch’s Valley | Image: Grapee

Studio Ghibli’s various projects

Goro Miyazaki—the son of Hayao Miyazaki, the co-founder of Studio Ghibli—is the one representing the studio. He is currently working together with his father on new features.

He even joked that Hayao Miyazaki is the “kind of extremely interfering old geezer” as his dad is unable to fully delegate to anyone. This is because Hayao Miyazaki can’t help worrying about the Studio Ghibli theme park.

Suzuki said that the existence of Studio Ghibli was in question after Hayao Miyazaki’s retirement announcement in 2013. But even with this, he added that the studio had various projects in the works. He continued to say that they would not only dwell in films as they want to try a stage play and other things. An announcement will be coming soon.

Image: Grapee

Source: Hollywood Reporter, Grapee
Image: Animation Screencaps

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