Japan's Ghibli Park rolling out international ticket sales

For international fans of Studio Ghibli's works, getting into Ghibli Park located at the Aichi prefecture can be a trying experience.

While its tickets are fairly affordable by theme park standards, the reservation system isn't the friendliest to navigate, with very low daily attendance caps, different ticket tiers for different sections of the park, and the lack of other language options.

Courtesy of its new English-language ticket reservation website, overseas enthusiasts will now have an easier time planning for their trip to the attraction, which opened its doors to the public on Nov 1.

Ticket prices, terms, and the sale periods for specific visiting windows are all detailed in English on the Ghibli Park page, as well as a disclaimer that reads, "Advanced reservations specific to date and time of entry are required with no exceptions."

It should be noted, however, that the English system isn't as well-furbished as its native counterpart. Where the Japanese page offers tickets to Ghibli's Grand Warehouse, Dondoko Forest, and Hill of Youth Areas, the former is only selling tickets to the Ghibli's Grand Warehouse section with admission fixed to one timing: Noon.

In comparison, the Japanese website lists admission times of every hour from 9am to 3pm.

Ghibli Park will gradually roll out international ticket sales, with the next batch going live on Jan 10, 2023 at 2pm for admission between March 15 and April 30.

Prior to the online system, Ghibli Park tickets were only available for purchase via a lottery, but are now allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

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