On July 15, 2021, the Ghibli Museum of Fine Arts (also known as the Miyazaki Hayao Museum) in Tokyo, the coveted punch card mecca for countless Ghibli fans, launched a crowdfunding project to maintain the museum's daily operations with the help of the Mitaka City Government in Tokyo.
As of the time of the small writing, the crowdfunding amount had reached 31,359,313 yen, and the target amount set at the beginning was 10,000,000 yen.
What happened to such a famous Ghibli Museum?
Why does the Ghibli Museum, which was once hard to find and even have to buy scalper tickets to enter, now need collective crowdfunding to maintain it?
01 The Ghibli Museum under the influence of the epidemic
As November approaches, the third winter of humanity,000 years of COVID-19 is approaching.
Repeated outbreaks around the world have hit the tourism industry around the world hard, such as Japan, which is particularly dependent on tourist income.
Japan, which has been in a continuous economic downturn in recent years, originally hoped to use the "east wind" of the 2020 Olympic Games to stimulate investment, but due to the impact of the epidemic, it can be said that none of the original goals have been achieved.
Naturally, the Ghibli Museum of Art has been doomed, and since 2020, with the repeated epidemics in Japan, it has repeatedly oscillated between opening and closing. It can be said that it has hit the art museum hard.
Since 2020, there has been a back-and-forth swing between opening and closing
Panoramic model of the Ghibli Museum
The entrance to the Ghibli Museum
In 2020, the Ghibli Museum will only be open for about 100 days.
During this short opening hour, the number of people entering each day is strictly limited according to the epidemic prevention regulations. This makes it worse for art museums, which already have little income.
According to Japanese media reports, the museum's annual income in 2020 will be about 150 million yen, and before the epidemic, this figure could reach a maximum of 660 million yen.
02 Repair work, worse
On October 1, 2021, the Ghibli Museum, which opened in 2001, celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Originally, the museum would hold a grand commemorative event. However, due to the epidemic, the event had to be cancelled.
The Totoro balloon was raised to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the museum's opening
Although having a birthday is a happy thing. However, this also means that the Ghibli Museum, which has been in operation for 20 years, has reached the point where it needs to be repaired.
The Ghibli Museum of Art is under maintenance
The repair work cost the museum about 300 million yen in savings, which became the last straw that crushed the museum.
In July, the Ghibli Museum of Fine Arts contacted the Mitaka city government to launch the crowdfunding campaign mentioned at the beginning.
Just one day after the crowdfunding began, the initial goal of 10 million yen was achieved.
03 The most healing corner in the world
20th Anniversary Poster on Ghibli's official website
Since its opening, the Ghibli Museum has gained popularity with visitors from all over the world.
After all, the owner of the museum is the famous animation director Hayao Miyazaki, who won the Oscar Lifetime Achievement Award.
The museum's unique shape, careful design and ubiquitous animation easter eggs have also made it a mecca for Miyazaki animation fans around the world.
The first highlight: the Totoro ticket office
At the main entrance of the museum, the first thing to greet everyone is the famous Totoro ticket office. (Of course, this isn't really where tickets can be sold.) The Ghibli Museum of Art implements a strict reservation ticketing system, and tickets cannot be purchased directly on the spot. ）
However, this cute pseudo-ticket office is still loved by all the big friends and little friends. After all, the fat totoro that sits at the ticket window for 365 days, who can say that it is not loved?
The second highlight: the central hall
The towering central courtyard + exquisite wooden structure + exquisite spiral staircase + European stained glass are hard not to think of the fantastic buildings in Ghibli movies.
The third highlight: the permanent exhibition hall
The Ghibli Museum's permanent exhibition, "The Place where Cinema Was Born", is a warm and dazzling room that showcases the environment and process of Miyazaki's creation.
Full of books, models, drawings, design drawings...
One can't help but imagine: is it here that Hayao Miyazaki created the colorful worlds of Castle in the Sky, Totoro, Witch House Rush, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Hal's Moving Castle, and many other colorful worlds?
The fourth highlight: the special exhibition hall
The special exhibition hall regularly holds various thematic exhibitions. Around Studio Ghibli's 36 years of animation creation, there have been "Ghibli Animation Manuscript Exhibition", "Totoro's Hometown - Sozawa", "Take the Cat Bus to the Ghibli Forest"! "","Marnie in Memory" theme exhibition" and other wonderful exhibitions ~
Food in Animation from 2017 to 2018
What do you think? Is it the person watching the index finger move?
The fifth highlight: the "Saturn" screening hall
On the basement floor of the Ghibli Museum, there is a screening hall called "Saturn", which is a must-check-in place! Because here will be screened Ghibli animated shorts that have never been shown in theaters.
Due to Ghibli's strict copyright rules, these animated shorts do not have any genuine copies such as DVDs, and you must come to the museum in person to see them! Several of these short films also share a worldview with some of the most famous animated films before Ghibli, and you can earn it when you see it!
Until October 31, the "Saturn" screening hall was "Plum and the Kitten Bus".
"Plum and the Kitten Bus"
The sixth highlight: the cat bus and the giant robot soldier
The furry cat bus on the second floor of the Ghibli Museum and the giant robot soldier on the roof are also popular punch-in meccas.
Can you see the cat bus in "Totoro" and the robot soldier in "Castle in the Sky" in reality, and don't you want to punch in?
The cat bus is only available for children under 12 years old!
Change me!
Robot soldiers who appeared in Lupin III and Castle in the Sky
The seventh highlight: bookstores, cafes and souvenir shops
The Ghibli Museum, full of human design, is of course indispensable to the supporting service facilities and surrounding goods.
The bookstore has children's books, picture books, original Ghibli movies, etc., and there is also a reading room where you can read books on the spot. The souvenir shop also offers a variety of beautiful surroundings with Ghibli animation themes.
bookshop
Souvenir shop
The Ghibli Museum has come to this point, which can be said to be one of the countless tragedies under the global epidemic.
And the crowdfunding campaign that reached the goal in just one day seemed to be the epitome of humanity standing up against the disease, giving fans around the world hope.
Xiaobian sincerely hopes that mankind can get rid of the haze of the epidemic as soon as possible and resume normal life as soon as possible.