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The Ghibli Museum's Crowdfunding Campaign Now Accepts Overseas Donations

The Ghibli Museum, the museum dedicated to the anime of Studio Ghibli, announced on Twitter on Wednesday that it is now accepting donations from international donors for its Furusato Choice crowdfunding campaign. As of press time, the campaign has raised 35,013,659 yen (about US$309,732) from 4,545 donors.

The online donation portal for the crowdfunding campaign does not allow access to users from China, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Andorra, San Marino, Vatican, Iceland, and European Union member states (Ireland, Italy, Estonia, Austria, Netherlands, Cyprus, Greece, Croatia, Sweden, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Finland, France, Bulgaria, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Luxembourg). The campaign does not accept donations from the European Economic Area in compliance with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation.

All donors will receive a thank you-card by regular mail.

The museum surpassed its Furusato Choice crowdfunding goal of 10 million yen (approximately US$90,000) in less than 24 hours on July 16.

The crowdfunding campaign operated by the city of Mitaka started on July 15 and is open until January 31. The crowdfunding campaign asks donators to donate at least 5,000 yen (about U$45). The Furusato Choice system allows people to donate to local businesses and claim those donations for tax purposes.

The museum stated on the crowdfunding site that because of a huge decline in revenue from ticket sales due to the ongoing new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the museum has now has a large deficit. The Furusato Choice campaign states that while the museum received a grant from Mitaka City in March, those funds will not cover the cost for larger repairs and maintenance.

The museum temporarily closed from April 25 to early June due to the third state of emergency against the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Tokyo, among other prefectures. The museum closed from February to July 2020 due to the first state of emergency.

The Ghibli Museum, located in Mitaka in west Tokyo, opened in October 2001 is dedicated to bringing the works of Studio Ghibli to life through interactive exhibits and replicas of iconic Ghibli creations like the Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro and the robot from Castle in the Sky. The museum also offers a rotating screening of different Ghibli-animated shorts. Additionally, exhibits on works that have influenced Hayao Miyazaki are also common. Tickets to the museum must be purchased in advance, and the museum only makes a select number of tickets available for each day.

Sources: Studio Ghibli's Twitter account, The Ghibli Museum's Furusato Choice page