A Visit to the Ghibli Museum!

One of the few sights at the Ghibli Museum you're actually allowed to photograph. Photo by Brett Homenick.

While I've been in Japan for a very, very long time, there is one place I'd never visited that many other fans of Japanese films went out of their way to make a destination: the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo. What can I say? I've just never been that interested in Ghibli films. In fact, I'm pretty sure that, to this day, I've only seen one: My Neighbor Totoro (1988), which I saw at school once. Suffice it to say, it didn't leave much of an impression on me.

The only reason I went there today was because it was part of a work-related field trip. If it were up to me, I probably wouldn't have gone. But I did think it was a good opportunity to do something a bit different for me, and -- who knows? -- maybe it would inspire me to check out more Ghibli movies.

As expected, however, I found myself mostly bored. If you're as unfamiliar with Ghibli as I am, and -- quite frankly -- if you're no longer a child, then I don't think there's much to recommend about it. All the kids I saw seemed like they were having fun, and more power to them. I'm just not the target audience. Still, I'm glad I gave it a shot, as it used to be something I gave some consideration about visiting. Maybe I should have gone on a day when the temperature was a tad less blistering!