ghibli museum suitable for non-japanese?

I just wonder Ghibli museum suitable for non-japanese speaking visitors? I'm keen to go but afraid we'll not be able to understand wat's going on inside. Pls advise, thanks

Whether the museum is suitable for you does not depend on your nationality nor language ability. Rather it depends on your interest in and knowledge of Studio Ghibli productions.

I can't remember if the descriptions were in English or any other language, or Japanese only, but to tell you the truth it is not the type of museum where it matters. It is full of stuff from the films and contains lots of storyboards of the different films and TV series; it is all very magically presented. I do remember that the short film shown had no subtitles and, again, it didn't matter to me as it was easy to understand. If you are a fan of Studio Ghibli films and TV series and if you have watched some of those, you'll have a wonderful time, I bet.

Tickets to he Ghibli Museum is only available to buy outside of Japan for foreigners. There are certain days and times you are allowed to go, and they only allocate a certain number of tickets per month as well...so its first in best dressed !

Tickets to he Ghibli Museum is only available to buy outside of Japan for foreigners.

No, foreigners can also buy the tickets inside Japan at Lawson convenience stores, provided that the tickets for the given day are not sold out yet.

I just visited Ghibli Museum. Sorry to say this but I was quite disappointed after going thru all the trouble to get the tickets. Maybe I had high expectation before the visit.

Firstly, we had a hard time looking for Lawson. We saw alot of Family Marts but no Lawson. We couldn't find Lawson in the main shopping areas in Harajuku, Shibuya and Ikebukuro. We asked alot of people and nobody knew. In the end, we found Lawson at a quiet neighbourhood near Kimi Ryokan. At Lawson, we also had a hard time trying to tell the staff that we want to buy the tickets. The staff on duty couldn't understand what's Ghibli Museum. So make sure you have the "Kanji" word of Ghibli Museum to show them. Also ask them to help you buy the tickets from the machine. If you do not understand Japanese, there's no way you can use the machine. We saw the staff keyed in some Japanese words and click on "search" before he's able to come to the Ghibli screen.

At the museum, the displays of drawings were in Japanese and I couldn't understand. So my visit was only limited to seeing the "drafts" without knowing the author's thoughts and intention when he drafted the cartoons.

However, I like the display at the ground floor. They show the effects of using lights to make the animations and I was impressed. I also like the short movie.

I was looking forward to buy lots of souvenirs from the shop in the museum. However, I did not buy anything as the things were very expensive. I saw similar products sold at Animate in Ikebukuro. I ended up buying my Ghibli stuff from Animate. Couldn't remember whether it's cheaper there. Maybe they're not the limited edition.

Anyway, this is just my personal view. If you are really into Ghibli, there's no harm going there for the experience.

the museum rocks - and there are lots of lawsons around - just make sure u you can pronouce ghibli correctly to get help for the teller machines - have fun ash

Thks everyone for your replies. Sad to say i couldn't buy the tkts locally with JTB as they only sell to me if i book my accomodations with them, too bad i did all my hotel bookings via internet. Looks like i got to seach for Lawson when i'm there & i only have 22 Dec cos the rest of the day i'll be going to Osaka & when i'm back to Tokyo i noticed the museum will be closed for New Year..

Hi all,

sorry for cutting in out of sudden. I would like to enquire where can I purchase Ghibli Museum Ticket from Singapore? I heard alot of answers said JTB do not sell the ticket itself unless you buy the whole package from them. Could anyone can advice any way for me to get it? I will be travel in March. I think from now still early to grab the ticket.

Please please advice. Appreciate it! Thank you very much!

Regards,
Michell

Hey- just a note...we are in Japan now and went to get tickets at Lawsons last minute. The clerk was very helpful and spoke enough english to get us through.
It did help, however, when we mentioned Totoro. A light went on as I think she might not have known the name Ghibli.
She proceeded to call it the "Totoro" museum and we got our tickets.

Good luck everyone- J

Thank you very much for your feedback. I think this kind of feedback is extremely practical for other readers. I wish that everyone who uses this forum will send this kind of feedback :)

Hi Michelle,

I went to JTB in spore to check it out, they only sell the tickets if we book hotels thru them. Too bad i did all my hotel reservations on-line so i couldn't buy any ticket thru JTB Spore.

The webpage below contains a nice description of the museum, in case you want to make up your mind if it is worth visiting for you:
http://www.tautoz.com/ghiblimuseum/

I'm a bit disappointed that JTB only sells the tickets in combination with their own services; it is not that they are discounting them and I'm sure that they take their part just like Lawson does.

Why is it so hard to buy tickets for it ?

I would love to go to this museum, especially the gift shop ;)

Please read this:
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+32094

It shows you how to purchase a ticket from Lawson's Stores using their Loppi machines.

Try to go early on a weekday. We went on a weekend at around noon and it was crowded!
The museum store was packed and there was no room to eat at the cafeteria...

The good thing about foreign tickets is they don't have a time on them so you can arrive when you want. Go early!

Odd, I was able to buy both my rail pass and my Ghibli museum ticket from JTB without any issues about buying a package deal from them. Maybe they have changed it in the last year.

JTB offers Ghibli tickets for sale without a package. You can buy them from the US here:

http://www.jtbusa.com/enhome/gbl.asp

or the rest of the world here:

http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/ticket/overseas.html

Check out this page for more info about the museum:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3041.html

If you are interested in Ghibli, I recommend the museaum. As an english speaking forgeinger, I had no troubles with the museam, and thought it was really charming. There was a ten minute long film which was gorgeous, and the whole thing completely transcended language barriers. Also, Make sure you grab a biru (Beer)- it is studio ghibli beer- I thought it was great. Make sure you book before you go, up to 3 months in advance.

Note: In Australia, you can only purchase via JTB Melbourne. You can also get rail passes through them, so if you're buying both, order them together.

We absolutely loved the Ghible museum when we went year before last.

We were given a guide in English as we walked in and the staff were extremely freindly and spoke English so we didn't have to struggle with our limited Japanese reportoire.

We booked our tickets online before we left for japan from www.mybus.co.uk They were easy to book and meant that we had thetickets and date of our visit before we even left the UK.

Had a look on their websitre and they do say they will sell worldwide so may be worth a look.