And So It Goes

Outside the Ghibli Museum.

No one else conjures the phantasmagoric and shifting morality of dreams--that fascinating and frightening aspect of having something that seems to represent good become evil--in the way this master Japanese animator does. His movies are as much about moodiness as mood, and the prospect of animated figures' not being what they seem--either spiritually or physically--heightens the tension.
- New York Times reviewer Elvis Mitchell on Spirited Away's creator Hayao Miyazaki

There are times when being a clueless illiterate foreigner in Japan can be a positive benefit.

Last Monday was a national holiday in Japan, so I hopped on my bike and dropped by the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, which I'd been threatening to do since it opened a year ago.

For those unfamilar with Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli by those names may nevertheless be familiar with his work: Miyazaki is the master Japanese animator responsible for such movies as Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, and, mostly recently for US movie viewers, Sprited Away, a movie that broke box office records in Japan when it was released last year (making over $200 million, beating out Titanic, was co-winner of the Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear Award, and which has only recently been released in America (and if it's playing near you you should go Right Now).

(More information than you could possibly want about Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli is available at Nausicaa.net, a rather extensive fan website.)

In any case, the rather small offices of Studio Ghibli are located here in western Tokyo, about midway to the next station from where I live. And out here is where they opened the Ghibli Museum, on the quiet edge of Mitaka's Inokashira Park (two train stops in the other direction from my house), bordering a residential neighborhood and housed in a multi-colored two-story fancifully mock-Mediterrean structure that's not only incorporated into the landscape but is actually partly buried in it. They've even built around one full-grown tree--and not for the purpose of including it as part of some courtyard, either. There's even tall grass growing on the roof--along with a life-sized(!) replica of a giant abandoned robot--intended to evoke the abandoned flying city of Laputa.

When I arrived at the Museum last Monday--after first leaning my bike against a tree in the small bike parking lot--I approached the two ushers standing by the entrance, whence I did my gomen nasai, nihongo wa wakarimasen clueless illiterate foreigner act (okay, not an act, unfortunately: "I'm sorry, I can't understand Japanese" is pretty much true, though I'm told my pronunciation is very good). The usher immediately reached into his belt pounch and handed me a much-photocopied English-language flyer (labelled "for Overseas Visitors") informing me that only advance reservation tickets are sold (at the Lawson's convenience-store chain throughout Tokyo) but a few same-day tickets for overseas visitors could be obtained at a nearby JTB travel agency. So I hid my Japanese ID card, went to the travel agency, and pretended to be a foreign tourist to get my ticket ("Sorry, no passport. California driver's license okay?").

It was worth the price of the ticket (hell, the ticket itself was worth the price of the ticket, since it was a strip of cardboard with three 35 mm frames from a Studio Ghibli movie imbedded in it--though in this case nothing special, being from My Neighbors the Yamadas, a 1999 domestic comedy featuring comic-strip-style drawing coupled with rather subtly beautiful watercolor-style backgrounds). The place is compact cross between an art museum, animation museum, and an evocation of the world of Miyazaki, beautiful and painstaking in its attention to detail. Highly recommended if you're a Miyazaki fan visiting Tokyo.

I'll put stuff about my visit on my weblog over the next week or so (I took a lot of notes, but I've also been very busy), but since I didn't bring a camera (the shot above I found in my video camera from an earlier drive-by), I'll point to the official site in the meantime.

Links of the Day:

While search for information on Spirited Away (okay, sometimes I do some real--albeit shallow--research), I came across a column from the Charlotte Observer by Dannye Romine-Powell which discusses the evil that is the Washington, DC sniper and what lessons can be drawn for children--and parents--from Spirited Away. I think she makes some good points "Chihiro..does not survive by destroying evil -- evil, as we all know, will never disappear -- and not even the most daring child could defeat a sniper," writes Romine-Powell. "No, Chihiro survives the way children must -- by learning to adapt and endure."
Some photos of the Museum (outdoor only) can be found at Peter Chow's website or the No-Name anime site (scroll to the bottom).