Ghibli Park Unveiled to Media

Nagakute, Aichi Pref., Oct. 12 (Jiji Press)--Ghibli Park, a new theme park in central Japan that recreates the world of animated movies produced by Studio Ghibli Inc., was unveiled to the media on Wednesday, ahead of its opening on Nov. 1.

Located at the 2005 World Exposition commemorative park in the city of Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture, Ghibli Park consists of five areas. Initially, three of the areas will open, including those featuring “Mimi wo Sumaseba” (Whisper of the Heart) and “Tonari no Totoro” (My Neighbor Totoro). The remaining two areas are scheduled to start accepting visitors in the next fiscal year.

The Aichi prefectural government spent some 34 billion yen to build Ghibli Park on a 7.1-hectare site at the commemorative park, which was the main venue of the 2005 World Expo, aiming to continue the ideals of the nature-themed event.

A new company set up jointly by the Tokyo-based anime studio and Chunichi Shimbun Co., a newspaper publisher based in the Aichi capital of Nagoya, will carry out the planning and management of the theme park.

Once the theme park is fully opened, the number of visitors is expected to total approximately 1.8 million annually, with economic effects seen coming to some 48 billion yen per year.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]