Studio Ghibli’s theme park, which represents the Japanese animation industry, will open in November. As the world’s theme parks are recovering from the pandemic closure, Studio Ghibli sent a series of promotional materials from the local tourism bureau to overseas media on January 27 to showcase the park’s highlights.
Ghibli Park will open on November 1 in Aichi prefecture, central Japan. Studio Ghibli’s official Twitter account was announced on the 27th.
According to AFP, three of the five theme park areas, including the one with the movie “My Neighbor Totoro” as a motif, will open in November with the themes of “Princess Mononoke” and “Howl’s Moving Castle.” It is said that the two areas will be opened in 2023.
The Aichi Tourism Bureau has released a website and promotional video for the announcement in conjunction with this announcement. Ghibli’s Twitter account has released photos of the attractions under construction.
Information such as ticket sales time, number of tickets sold, and the price has not been released yet.
According to Agence France-Presse, $ 300 million was invested in constructing the theme park.
The “Ghibli Park” in Aichi Prefecture, whose construction was first announced in 2017, is positioned to complement the “Ghibli Museum in Mitaka” near Tokyo.
Studio Ghibli is extremely popular in Japan and has won various awards, but its recognition in the United States is still cult. The studio has been reluctant to stream for many years but signed deals with HBO Max and Netflix last year.
Lockdowns and the consequent suspension of domestic and international travel have had a devastating impact on the global theme park industry. Disney posted billions of dollars in losses due to the continued closure of the park and was in the black for the first time in three quarters in the three months to December last year (third quarter of 2021).
However, many theme parks aim for recovery and expect to increase profits by raising ticket prices.