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Traditional Japanese washi paper features Totoro and friends in 20 beautiful seasonal scenes

Oona McGee
Mar 10, 2016
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Whether you’re into origami, scrapbooking or decorating, these Japanese papers will bring the magic of Studio Ghibli to all your favourite projects.

Anime & Manga, Cute, Japan
(anime • cool • Hayao Miyazaki • My Neighbor Totoro • origami • paper • Studio Ghibli • washi)

Real-life Kiki’s Bakery is worth a visit whether you’ve seen the anime it’s based on or not

Casey Baseel
Mar 9, 2016

We fly down to Yufuin Floral Village to try the Ghibli-inspired bakery’s goods for ourselves.

Food & Drink, Japan
(anime • bread • food • Hayao Miyazaki • Kiki's Delivery Service • Kyushu • restaurants • Studio Ghibli)

Tokyo’s Ghibli Museum set to crack down on ticket scalping and resales with pre-entry ID checks

Casey Baseel
Mar 2, 2016

Want to get in to see the Catbus? Then the name on your passport better match the one on your ticket.

Japan
(anime • Ghibli Museum • Hayao Miyazaki • museums • Studio Ghibli • Tokyo • travel)

Have you seen them all? The top 10 Ghibli films Japanese college students haven’t watched

Scott Wilson
Feb 21, 2016

If you’ve seen all of these, then count yourself among the most elite of Ghibli otaku.

Japan
(animation • Goro Miyazaki • Hayao Miyazaki • movies • ranking • Studio Ghibli)

Pen-and-ink illustration takes us on a road trip through the whimsical world of Ghibli

KK Miller
Feb 6, 2016

How many different movies can you find in this one piece of art?

Internet, SE Asia
(art • Cat Bus • Hayao Miyazaki • ink • Kerby Rosanes • sketch • Studio Ghibli • Totoro)

Hayao Miyazaki has no idea that his anime keeps setting Twitter records, Ghibli producer says

Casey Baseel
Jan 7, 2016

Hayao Miyazaki is responsible for one of the biggest social media trends in the world, but one of his closest associates says the legendary anime director doesn’t know about it.

Internet, Japan
(anime • Castle in the Sky • Hayao Miyazaki • Laputa • movies • Studio Ghibli • twitter)

Donguri Kyowakoku fukubukuro is filled with fantastic Studio Ghibli merch【2016 Lucky Bag Roundup】

Oona McGee
Jan 5, 2016

Donguri Kyowakoku, the chainstore that sells nothing but Studio Ghibli items, has delighted fans with the best offering of the year: a bag filled with amazing Ghibli merchandise.

Japan
(fukubukuro • Ghibli • Hayao Miyazaki • lucky bag • My Neighbour Totoro • Princess Mononoke • Studio Ghibli • Totoro)

Studio Ghibli unveils new animated film set for release in Japan next year

Casey Baseel
Dec 15, 2015

Japan’s most famous anime production house is back in the animation saddle, with a European director holding the reins.

Europe, Japan
(anime • Hayao Miyazaki • Isao Takahata • movies • Studio Ghibli • The Red Turtle)

We visit one of Japan’s stunning secret destinations: the “Road to Laputa” in Kumamoto

Oona McGee
Dec 6, 2015

If you want to feel like you’ve stepped into an animated film from Studio Ghibli, “The Road to Laputa” in Kyushu is one place you won’t want to miss.

Japan
(Ghibli • Hayao Miyazaki • Kumamoto • Laputa • travel)

Ghibli fans express their thanks to Miyazaki with six-second Vine masterpieces

Scott Wilson
Nov 28, 2015

Fans around the world say thank you to Hayao Miyazaki by creating some amazing art of their own.

Japan
(fan made • fanart • Hayao Miyazaki • Studio Ghibli • thank you • Vine)

The Ghibli that no one knows: former animator’s book offers inside look into famed anime studio

Kay
Nov 5, 2015

Studio Ghibli’s animated works have won acclaim around the world, and we’re sure many of our readers are familiar with their hit films like Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky. But have you ever wondered what it may be like to actually work in the famous studio? Well, now it looks like we can get a glimpse of what goes on in the studio, as one of Ghibli’s former animators, Hitomi Tateno, will be coming out later this month with a book titled “The Pencil War Chronicles: The Studio Ghibli that Nobody Knew“!

Japan
(anime • books • Hayao Miyazaki • Hitomi Tateno • Studio Ghibli)

We track down the stunning Ghibli-like waterfall made famous online — just outside Tokyo!【Pics】

Oona McGee
Nov 5, 2015

There are many well-known areas of beauty all around Japan, but sometimes you stumble upon something off the beaten path that simply takes your breath away.

That’s what happened to one person in Japan, who came across a waterfall in a tunnel of sunlight, filled with the same muted hues as a scene from a fantastical animated movie. Upon sharing the atmospheric photograph above on Instagram it received thousands of likes, with people all over the country eager to learn where the secret waterfall was hidden.

It might look like something from the foggy mists of a far-flung island many miles from Tokyo, but the beautiful scene is actually located just a short one-hour drive from the bustling metropolis. We decided to make our way there, and we’ve marked out the route so you can visit it too!

Japan
(anime • Chiba • Hayao Miyazaki • Instagram • nature • Studio Ghibli • travel)

Video documentary explores the Essence of Humanity in the film works of Hayao Miyazaki【Video】

Aleisha Riboldi
Oct 31, 2015

Hayao Miyazaki film buffs will appreciate the popular video documentary “Hayao Miyazaki – The Essence of Humanity” created by Lewis Bond, an English film maker. The 16-minute video, featuring a montage of Miyazaki’s much-loved animated films, beautifully explores human nature, Miyazaki’s vision, and the universal appeal of his movies.

Japan, USA
(anime • Hayao Miyazaki • movies • Studio Ghibli • video)

The little-known inspiration for Princess Mononoke: A manga about a tribe in Papua New Guinea

Scott Wilson
Oct 28, 2015

It’s no secret that Hayao Miyazaki and his team of animators find inspiration for Studio Ghibli’s movies all over the place. Ponyo’s setting was inspired by a harbor town in Japan, Spirited Away’s world was based on a location in Taiwan, and Princess Mononoke’s forest came from Japan’s Yakushima Island.

But it was recently brought to light that a lot of inspiration for Ghibli’s movies came from a more innocuous place: a manga. The title is Mudmen, named after the Asaro Mudmen of Papua New Guinea, where the manga takes place.

Who are these “mudmen” and where do their inspirations crop up in Ghibli films? Read on to find out!

Japan
(Ghibli • Hayao Miyazaki • indigenous people • inspiration • manga • Papua New Guinea)

We visit Tomonoura, the scenic harbor town that inspired Studio Ghibli’s “Ponyo”【Photos】

Scott Wilson
Oct 24, 2015

If you’ve seen Ponyo, Studio Ghibli’s adorable movie about a fish girl who wants to be human, then the above location may seem pretty familiar. That’s because it was taken in the port town of Tomonoura, where Hayao Miyazaki and his team spent months getting the inspiration and imagery to create their next animated film.

As massive Ghibli fans, we had to take a look at the town for ourselves and see what real-life Ponyo looks like. Read on to check out the beautiful scenery for yourself, and see the effect that Ponyo has had on the town, as well as the effect the town had on Miyazaki.

Japan
(anime • Hayao Miyazaki • inspiration • Ponyo • real life location • scenery • Studio Ghibli • travel)

Illustrator creates beautiful “Bicycle Boy” watercolour series inspired by Studio Ghibli

Oona McGee
Oct 19, 2015

Studio Ghibli, Japan’s famed animation house, has a remarkable talent for captivating audiences around the world with inspiring storylines and loveable characters. What really brings them all to life, however, are their animated backgrounds; beautiful palettes of light and shade and inky hues that draw us into their magical worlds and have us never wanting to leave.

There’s one background illustrator in Tokyo who knows just how to recreate the atmosphere of a Studio Ghibli movie and now he’s bringing out the beauty of Japan’s narrow roads and suburban landscapes in a series of illustrations entitled “Bicycle Boy”. Using a real-life setting from Studio Ghibli’s Whisper of the Heart, the picturesque journey of a boy and his bike through the streets of Japan is so beautiful we’ll happily follow him wherever he goes!

Japan
(art • Hayao Miyazaki • illustrations • illustrator • Studio Ghibli • whisper of the heart)

Totoro made me do it! Man says he was inspired to shoplift by Studio Ghibli anime classic

Casey Baseel
Oct 16, 2015

As popular as Japanese animation is, some critics argue that it can have negative psychological effects on audiences. After watching anime martial artists solve their problems with their fists, will fans try to resolve their own conflicts in similarly violent ways? Isn’t is possible that witnessing lewd acts in animated form will cause impressionable viewers to become more sexually aggressive in real life?

We don’t know about those scenarios, but one recently arrested man was led down the path of crime by his love of anime, and the unlikely corrupter was Studio Ghibli’s Totoro.

Taiwan
(anime • crime • funny • Hayao Miyazaki • Studio Ghibli • Totoro • weird)

The top five Ghibli sequels that Japanese moviegoers would like to see

Oona McGee
Oct 8, 2015

It’s been 30 years since Studio Ghibli began producing the adorable characters, inspiring storylines and amazing animated scenes that we all know and love. The warmth of the animation house’s distinctive style has created worlds so captivating it’s almost as if our favourite characters might continue on their journey after the credits finish rolling to live in an alternate animated Ghibli universe alongside our own.

So what if there were a way to catch up with all our Ghibli friends to see how they’ve been getting along? Which stories would fans like to explore further, decades after they were originally created? If semi-retired director Hayao Miyazaki ever needed a reason to come back to making movies full-time, he might like to consider the following list of five Ghibli sequels Japanese moviegoers would most like to see.

Japan
(animation • anime • Hayao Miyazaki • Studio Ghibli • survey • Totoro)

Director of Ghost in the Shell shares his favorite Hayao Miyazaki movie and scene

Casey Baseel
Oct 6, 2015

Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii are two of the most successful and influential anime directors in the history of the medium, but their films couldn’t be more different in tone and appearance. The soft-edged natural environments of Miyazaki’s anime are bathed in a nostalgic glow, while Oshii’s animation, such as Ghost in the Shell and The Sky Crawlers, is filled with shadowy ruinscapes and turns its sharpest focus inwards to the human mind and consciousness.

Miyazaki and Oshii are such fundamentally different people that they even communicate with their production teams in completely opposite styles. But that’s not to say that one can’t find things to admire in the works of the other, as Oshii has shared his favorite film and even scene in a Miyazaki anime.

Japan
(anime • Hayao Miyazaki • Howl's Moving Castle • Mamoru Oshii • Studio Ghibli)

South Korean graphic designer pays tribute to Studio Ghibli films with minimalistic icons

Krista Rogers
Sep 22, 2015

We’ve seen many Studio Ghibli tributes from around the world–some in the form of still artwork, and others in even more ambitious video formats. Today, we’d like to share another fantastic tribute by a South Korean artist that’s sure to please anyone with an eye for some clean graphic design!