Studio Ghibli is charging ahead with its plans to open a theme park in 2022. Earlier this week, the company gathered at the park’s future site in the Aichi Prefecture. It was there an official groundbreaking ceremony was held to usher in the start of Ghibli Park’s construction.
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The event called for the appearance of several high-ranking execs who are working on the theme park. For those needing a bit of info on the ambitious project, Ghibli Park was announced years ago for Japan. The park, which is expected to total $323 million to fund, will spotlight five movies done by Hayao Miyazaki. The park itself will be housed in Aichi Prefecture in the area where the 2005 World Expo took place.
The groundbreaking ceremony ushered in official work on the park despite the fact that construction has been on-and-off for months now. The outbreak of COVID-19 forced crews to halt work for some time, but labor resumed not long ago as Japan has managed the virus well enough.
The ceremony also gave fans a better look at concept art for the park and its five areas. The movies represented in the park include a number of classics. My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle will be included in the park. In fact, there is a version of Satsuki and Mei’s house standing within the park already as the home was built for the 2005 World Expo. Ghibli Park has decided to keep the house as-is and incorporate it into My Neighbor Totoro‘s area.
At this point, there is no word on when the park will open in 2022, but fans are hoping it is ready to visit by the summer. The destination will become a favorite with tourists, and fans are going to be better able to travel in the summer than spring. For now, netizens will have to wait and see how the construction on Ghibli Park goes before making vacation plans, but our fingers are crossed that everything stays on schedule.
Are you hoping to visit this Studio Ghibli park once it opens in 2022? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
