Ghibli Museum

I'm heading to Japan this fall, and decided I wanted to see the museum. This information might be helpful to other.

This information is good as of today. If you are traveling from the US, the main way would be to get it from JTB USA.

I just received an email reply from them. They state the price is $14/ticket + $5 transaction fee.... That is per ticket. Then they charge $12 FedEx 3 day shipping.

That is kind of pricey considering the ticket is \1000 (about $10USD). What comes into consideration is that we can buy 3 months in advance and only have to choose a date. You can buy from a Lawson in Japan, but you have to choose a time AND date for the tickets. Also chance of tickets being sold out.

I will probably still buy from JTB USA just for peace of mind, but I figured someone could use this info.

You only choose a day, not time when buying a ticket at Lawson. The museum is pretty crowded so there might not be any tickets left for a week or two ahead.

Sorry, I forgot. Yes, you pick date and time!

The museum is pretty crowded so there might not be any tickets left for a week or two ahead.

The museum is only crowded on weekends and during school holiday seasons. On regular weekdays tickets rarely sell out.

I am planning to be in Japan in October and my first full day I want to go to the Ghibli Museum. I was planning to get tickets through JTB, did not realize how much markup there was. Is it possible to get tickets the day we get in (Wednesday) for Thursday tour?

Is JTB the best place to get a JR Pass or is there someplace cheaper/better?

I got another email from JTB USA about museum tickets. Those prices are set by year, so it won't go down. Shipping is only you can save money on if you are buying more than one ticket.

From what Uji says, if we go during week, the tickets may be available still. Now I'm up in the air about what to do. I still have time before I can purchase so I will think it over.... Cheaper tickets there in Japan or peace of mind buying through JTB.

As for rail pass, JTB said prices change every Thursday depending on exchange rate. Even so, their price is average compared to others. The site that Japan-guide has advertised on side of the page seems to be pretty reasonable. About $10 USD cheaper than JTB.

if you can be flexible when you go and it's not a holiday period, then I would say just get them from a lawsons. If you are restricted by your itinerary and don't have much time after you arrive then just pay the extra, or find someone who doesn't rip you off on postage.

I feel that tickets will not sell out on many October weekdays, but I cannot guarantee. The main school holiday periods are:
- second half of March
- late July through August
- late December to early January

As an example, right now, tickets are booked out for today, but tomorrow there are still vacancies for the 16:00 slot as of now. Likewise, there are vacancies on all upcoming weekdays in June (although frankly less than I expected), while weekends are booked out.

It is not without risk to rely on Lawson vacancies, but a lot of the time it should work out, especially if you have a few weekdays to choose from.

You could try requesting from your hotel to purchase the tickets for you. That's what I did and the concierge got them for me at regular price. Some hotels would go out of their way to provide great service. :)

I'm planning hoilday 6 october -14 october, and planning to visit this museum on the 8th october, hopefully they are still available from lawsons, if not i' will just fing somewhere else to go.

In hong kong you can also book the tickets in advance, but the prices are all marked up as well, I think it's the same if purchased outside of japan.