Getting into Ghibli’s theme Park is on top of a lot of Japanese animation fans’ wish lists in 2024. Unfortunately, it’s a little complicated and still quite limited for tourists.

You can buy Studio Ghibli theme park tickets overseas, but they only give access to the Grand Warehouse. Unfortunately, the Hill of Youth and Dondoko Forest tickets are only sold in Japan. Regardless of ticket type, sales for three months in advance start each month on the 10^th at 14:00 JST.

Read on for prices, purchasing methods, and more.

How to Buy Ghibli Park Tickets Online

If you’re currently plotting your trip to Ghibli Park from outside of Japan, there’s good news: Getting in is really simple.

The process is almost the same as buying tickets for Ghibli’s museum in Tokyo. That means choosing a date well in advance and lining up at the appropriate time online.

Ticket Sale Period

As for when to line up, it’s slightly different from museum tickets, which are sold for the upcoming month on the 10^th of each month at 10 AM Japan Standard Time. 10/10. Easy.

The theme park is similar, only their tickets go on sale on the 10^th at 2 PM Japan time.

The booking period is also a little different. Ghibli Park tickets are sold three months in advance instead of one. So, if you’ve got your sights set on any day from July 1^st to 31^st, you’ll need to be ready on April 10^th. This is the same whether you’re booking from inside or outside of Japan. Speaking of which…

Available Tickets

Due to high demand and Japan’s COVID-19 concerns at the time, overseas tickets were limited to the Ghibli Grand Warehouse in 2023.

Fortunately, that’s changed. Now, you have access to all areas of the park, no matter where you’re booking from! The various ticket packages for Ghibli Park are:

• Ghibli Park O-Sanpo Day Pass. This gives access to all areas of Ghibli Park, but it bars access to the World Emporium (Hill of Youth), Satsuki and Mei’s House (Dondoko Forest), and The Okino Residence, Howl’s Castle, The House of Witches (Valley of Witches)
• Ghibli Park O-Sanpo Day Pass Premium. This grants access to all areas and all buildings of Ghibli Park.
• Ghibli Park Light Sanpo Pass (only available to domestic purchases). Grants access to the Hill of Youth, Dondoko Forest, Mononoke Village, and Valley of Witches with access to the same buildings as the regular day pass restricted.

Available Time Slots

Another vital bit to plan for is entry time. At Ghibli Park, like the Mitaka museum and even other theme parks like the Harry Potter tour in Tokyo, you have to reserve entry for a specific time. However, with Ghibli Park, the entry time only applies to the Grand Warehouse. You can enjoy the other areas of the park outside of your reserved entry time to that section.

Here are the time slots available for Ghibli Park’s Grand Warehouse:

• 9 AM (one Saturday per month the first opening time will be at 10 AM)
• 10 AM
• 11 AM
• 12 PM
• 1 PM
• 2 PM
• 3 PM

Where to Buy Tickets

If all of that sounds good to you, your next step is to go to the English-language Lawson ticketing site at the appropriate time. Have your credit card ready at 2 PM along with your group leader’s passport and start refreshing that page. If you’re booking in Japan, you’ll book through the Boo-Woo site. Links to both sites and entry times can be found on the Ghibli Park ticketing page.

It’s important to note that the person booking the tickets needs to be one of the people physically going on the trip since the park has a policy of random ID checks and a firm rule of no ticket exchanges.

Getting Ghibli Park Tickets at a Lawson or Ministop Convenience Store

For the expats or residents of Japan who don’t want to book online, there’s another method: Loppi machines, found at any Lawson or Ministop convenience store.

Walk on up and tap the icon at the bottom that says ”ジブリパーク” and ”三鷹の森ジブリ美術館” (Ghibli Park and Mitaka Ghibli Museum). From there, follow the instructions, choose the date and time of entry, and pay via one of the many options listed.

You may need to go through the instructions in Japanese as some machines seem to only have Ghibli Museum tickets (and no tickets for the park) in the English menu. Have a look at this guide for more info on the Loppi machine process.

Regardless, once you pay, the machine will print your tickets out for you. Make sure you keep them in a safe place!

Ghibli Park Cost Breakdown

Previously, each section of the park had its own price of admission, but now your pass grants access to the entire park with various restrictions. The price of your visit to Ghibli Park will depend on which pass you opt for, and here’s how the costs break down:

There’s a ¥110 ticketing fee that you’ll need to pay when booking. There are also separate fees for the following attractions:

• Charcoal Grilled Gohei-mochi Cooking Experience (Mononoke Village)
• Carousel (Valley of Witches)
• Flying Machine (Valley of Witches)

Oh, and don’t forget about non-ticket costs, because once you step inside you’re gonna want to splurge on Ghibli merch!

Restrictions on Studio Ghibli Park Tickets

With the purchasing process being as strict as it is, it may not come as a surprise that there are a lot of rules surrounding the tickets themselves.

You can find them all on Ghibli Park’s homepage, but here are a few of the important ones to bear in mind:

• You can purchase tickets for a maximum of 6 people. That doesn’t mean that you can’t visit with a bigger group, but the leftovers will have to book separately
• Ghibli Park tickets can’t be reproduced at the park, so don’t forget to bring it
• Staff may request ID verification to make sure your ticket is really yours
• Once you enter the park, you can stay as long as you want, up until the park closes at 5 PM. However, if you miss your entry time, you’ll be denied entry. It’s best to show up a few minutes early and wait for entry

It sounds like a lot – and it kind of is a lot – but these rules boil down to two things: Holding onto your ticket and showing up on time.

Conclusion

Visitors to Ghibli Park from outside of Japan now have a lot more options than in 2023. More choices of pass, more entry times, and access to all areas of the park means more fun for all!

Whatever pass you choose, make sure you get in line three months in advance. If you’re one of the lucky ones, you’re sure to have a great time.

Satsuki and Mei’s House image CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=281058