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Ghibli Park Teases Mononoke Village, Kiki's Area in New Art
posted on by Egan Loo
The Anime! Anime! website and Aichi Prefecture posted more conceptual art and an area map for the planned Ghibli Park that will open in the prefecture's Expo Park in the 2022 fiscal year.
The maps lists five areas:
1) Hill of Youthful Days Area (featuring a main gate inspired by Howl's Moving Castle and a replica of Whisper of the Heart's antique shop, near Expo Park's existing elevator building)
2) Giant Ghibli Warehouse Area (housing many exhibits and a children's playground, in a building that now houses Expo Park's heated pool — that will close this September)
3) Mononoke Village Area (inspired by Emishi Village and Irontown/Tataraba in Princess Mononoke, in a currently unused area of the Aichi Satoyama Laboratory agricultural school)
4) Witch Valley Area (with buildings and a play area inspired by Howl's Moving Castle's titular castle and Kiki's Delivery Service's Okino residence, in a currently unused area near Expo Park's meadow)
5) Dondoko Forest Area (centering around the existing replica of the home from My Neighbor Totoro)
Aichi Prefecture and Studio Ghibli are collaborating to open the park in a 200-hectare area in Aichi's Expo Park, also known as Moricoro Park, the site of the 2005 World's Fair. The park already has "Satsuki and Mei's House," a replica of main characters' house from the My Neighbor Totoro anime film. The house was the site of a Studio Ghibli exhibition in both 2008 and 2015.
The prefecture is aiming to make the park an attraction for both foreign and domestic tourists. Both Studio Ghibli and the prefecture are funding the operating company that will be in charge of the park.
While the park is being developed, the construction will not cause damage to the park through felling trees or other methods.
The studio also maintains The Ghibli Museum, located in Mitaka in west Tokyo. The Ghibli Museum has interactive exhibits and replicas of iconic Ghibli creations, and offers a rotating screening of different Ghibli-animated shorts.
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