Hiyao Miyazaki's films rival the best of Disney or Dreamworks. His best works, like the Oscar-winning Spirited Away, appeal to the wide-eyed child in all of us, drawing us into a world that is mysterious and awe-inspiring, yet accessible to the most Mickey-jaded toddler.
In Japan, animation has never been just kid stuff, and movies produced by Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli regularly break box office records for all age groups. My wife and I were lucky enough to visit Japan just as the latest, Howl's Moving Castle, broke onto the scene, packing Tokyo's theaters. We don't speak a word of Japanese, but we hurried off to the theater nonetheless to soak in the film's whirling visuals and charming characters. (The movie is based on an English-language book, so we weren't totally at sea.)
We saw Howl's at the cutting-edge Virgin Cinemas Roppongi Hills (www.tohocinemas.co.jp/roppongi). Roppongi Hills is a forest of glittering glass and steel, a brand-new high-density development in a popular nightlife neighborhood. Head over early to shop before the movie, or just wander around and check out the striking modern architecture. There are plenty of restaurants in the development; we dodged the upscale sit-down establishments and instead grabbed a few sandwiches at a coffee shop so we could save room for popcorn.
The theater itself is luxurious, and probably Tokyo's most Westerner-friendly. Signs are in English, seats are stadium style, and at any given moment, the theater is usually playing several English-language movies. Basic tickets cost $18, which is typical for Tokyo. But if you can afford to pay $30 for the ticket, plus at least $20/person for dinner, I highly recommend dinner-and-a-movie at Virgin's "premiere screen." The most exclusive movie theater in Tokyo, the premier screen has its own entrance, with an Italian restaurant, an elegant bar, a lounge and even a tiny Japanese garden on the roof. After dinner, you walk up to the theater where you'll find extra-roomy seats, and waiters serving beer and wine to you and the 72 other jet-set in the cozy screening room.
As magical as our movie going experience was, it only whet our appetites for more Miyazaki. Fittingly for the man who has often been called the Walt Disney of Japan, Miyazaki has created a tiny theme park of his own.
If you and your kids loved Spirited Away (or for that matter, Toy Story or The Incredibles), book tickets for the Studio Ghibli Museum (www.ghibli-museum.jp; the site is entirely in Japanese, except for a single page on hours and ticketing info) in the nearby Tokyo suburb of Mitaka. The day after seeing the movie, we headed out there to see what a museum designed entirely by an award-winning animator would look like. The museum is a pleasant 15-minute walk from the train station.
Booking in advance isn't optional, it's mandatory for this relatively small museum which draws 700,000 animation fans a year; one minute after the museum opened, the line to get in stretched down the driveway. Forget about buying food at the museum café -- the wait there was nearly as long. Fortunately, a small snack bar served soup and hot dogs, which were enough to keep us going during our visit. And in spite of the lines, the museum itself is strictly capacity-controlled, so it doesn't feel crowded.
The Ghibli Museum is well worth the trouble of booking in advance -- it's a little Disney, a little Dali, and utterly delightful. Miyazaki designed the building to seem even larger than it is, full of nooks and crannies, narrow spiral staircases and ladders that lead to surprises like a roof garden surrounding a giant robot statue with kind, embracing arms. Don't worry about getting lost. It's all part of the plan.
In the building's courtyard, the tiny soot-creatures from Spirited Away peek out of portholes, while just inside, kids clamber over, around and into a giant stuffed model of the Cat Bus from My Neighbor Totoro. Other exhibits are more informative, with working models of animation equipment integrated into a whimsical studio populated by strange creatures that poke out of piles of books, and containing a lifetime of Miyazaki's storyboards, concept sketches and finished drawings.
Another major attraction is the exclusive set of short films, shown only at the Ghibli museum, and nowhere else in the world. Among the offerings is a 20-minute sequel to Totoro, a sweet diversion for very small children, shown in a theater where it never gets too loud or too dark.
Even if you don't know Miyazaki's work, you've probably heard of Pixar. Miyazaki has been close friends with Pixar's John Lasseter for decades, and through May, the museum is showing a unique collection of Pixar props, sketches and memorabilia, including some drawings owned by Studio Ghibli and never shown anywhere else. And, yes, I said props: Believe it or not, objects like the trophy wall in The Incredibles were actually built by the studio's animators, then photographed and digitized.
All of this is so charming that we barely noticed the lack of English-language signage (of the 700,000 annual visitors to the museum, only a handful come from outside of Japan). A brief pamphlet in English is available at the front desk, but otherwise the exhibits pretty much speak for themselves, with a visual and hands-on approach that makes language pretty much unnecessary.
Tickets for the Ghibli Museum go on sale three months in advance, and you must specify the date and time of your visit when you order. They sell out quickly, so lock down your time when you first start planning your trip to Japan. Adult admission is ¥1000 ($10) and kids' tickets range from ¥100 to ¥700 ($1-$7) depending on their age. Go to www.jtbusa.com/enhome/gbl.asp for details, museum hours and ordering instructions. The museum is about 25 minutes from Central Tokyo on the JR Chuo line, with stops at both Kichijoji and Mitaka stations. I'd suggest getting off at Mitaka, where signs clearly direct you to the museum. After your visit, you can walk through the adjacent Inokashira park to Kichjoji, a vibrant shopping and dining neighborhood with a six-story Muji store (imagine the perfect love-child of the Gap and Ikea), where you can catch the train home.
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