Japan’s Aichi Prefecture announced last year plans to build a huge Studio Ghibli theme park on top of the remnants of the 2005 World’s Fair. Now, the local government has released its idyllic first renderings and they look ripped straight from Hayao Miyazaki’s classics.
The former fairgrounds already host a scale model of the house from Miyazaki’s 1984 film My Neighbor Totoro, and the new pictures reveal children riding on the possessed boar from Princess Mononoke, a teacup ride printed with Jiji the cat from Kiki’s Delivery Service, a mysterious building labeled “Catbus,” and a towering replica of the intricate castle from Howl’s Moving Castle. SoraNews24 reports the castle will be the entrance to the park, sucking visitors inside with “steampunk elevators” that will offer a sweeping view of the rest of the attractions.
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Like Disneyland, the park will be divided into sections. According to SoraNews24, one will be called “Totoro’s Hometown,” and Entertainment Weekly reports that a “Princess Mononoke VIllage” and “Witch Alley” will also be included in the 200 hectare plot outside Nagoya.
Other details are few and far between, but Studio Ghibli fans are having no trouble filling in the gaps with their imaginations. Artist Takumi has been drawing a concept for a similar park for years, and there’s a recurring gallery show dedicated to unofficial renderings of Miyazaki’s iconic characters and locales.
For now though, Ghibli acolytes will have to be satisfied with photos. The real park is not projected to open until 2022.
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