Ghibli Museum @ Mitaka

Are you a fan of Hayao Miyazaki? Have you watch any of his cartoon animaes like My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Porco Rosso, Whisper of the Heart, The Cat Returns, Tales from Earthsea, Only Yesterday, Kiki's Delivery Service, Grave of the Fireflies. Before making this trip, I made a point to watch again his animaes and my favourites are still Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo.

If you are a fan then a must-visit place is Ghibli Museum. There are lots of things to see and activities to keep both the adults and children entertained and occupied. With the number of foreign visitors I wish they would consider more English translation.

Click here if you want to know how to pre-book the tickets - there are 4 time slots to choose from 10am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm (close on Tuesdays). Since I couldn't get the tickets easily outside Japan, waited until I reached Tokyo to get them at any Lawson convenience store. Even with the published guide in English on how to buy the tickets, you still need some assistance as it is all in Japanese. I was fortunate a youngster at the store was kind enough to help me as he could speak very good English.

Getting there: Take the JR Chuo Line from Shinjuku to Mitaka station, approx. 20 min. From the Mitaka South Exit, approx. 15 min. walk along the Tamagawa Josui "Waterworks" to the museum.

Alternatively take the Community Bus Stop #9 from Mitaka Station to the Museum.
(Fare: one-way 200 yen / round trip 300 yen - 1/2 price for children under 12 years old).

My feet were aching from my heeled knee high boots so I opted for the bus. Wanted an earlier session but couldn't only get tickets for the 4pm slot.

Cute bus....if only it was the real cat bus (Nekobasu)!!

Mitaka is very pretty, lots of trees, houses and no tall buildings unlike Tokyo city. Wished I had time to explore the area more. No wonder Miyazaki chose this place for his museum - perfect place for fostering creativity.

The receipt to be exchanged at the museum for the ticket which is made from a strip of film. I asked the counter lady whether I could choose the film but was declined. Fortunately I got Ponyo!!! *so happy*

If you are walking from the station, Totoro will greet you before you reach the main entrance. But if you take the bus, you'll need to walk a little further to greet Hi to Totoro.

Taking pictures inside is not allowed.

Side view of the museum outside.

Main entrance.

Top view

The life-size mighty but gentle giant from the Castle in the Sky.

Porco Rossco.

Night view of the Straw Hat Cafe

menu

My feet were killing so was grateful to have a rest and coffee. They use melted chocolate to draw the picture.

Cat tap

Stain glass from a scene of Princess Mononoke.

Makkuro Kurosuke more popularly known as "dust bunnies" or "soot sprites".

Tin man feature. Not sure from which film though.

Each visitor is also entitled to watch short exclusive animae shown at the Museum's own Saturn Theater. Annathered visited Japan last year in Oct and she saw Mei and the Kitten Bus. So I was pleasantly surprised with a new short film entitled "Mr Dough and the Egg Princess".


The story was entertaining and goes something along this line (extracted from the official Ghibli Museum site):

In a lonesome water mill deep in a forest of briers and brambles lives a witch named Baba Yaga. There the witch keeps her servant the Egg Princess confined and forces the tiny egg-girl to do all the hard daily chores around the mill. One night, a large batch of kneaded dough resting in a trough suddenly comes to life from the witch’s spell. Fearful of the witch, the Egg Princess and her new friend decide to run away. What will lay ahead for the two of them...?

Sushi Dai @ Tsukiji

There are two popular sushi restaurants in Tsukiji market. One of them is Sushi Dai and the other Sushi Daiwa, both located (almost side by side) at Block 6. You can't miss them as there is normally a long line outside the restaurants.

Queues outside restaurants in Tokyo is normal. Reason being that the restaurants are usually small and cramp so seating capacity is limited.

Sushi Daiwa - apparently been around for 55 years.

Sushi Dai - apparently been around for 50 years.

There are two types of sets you can order at Sushi Dai:
(i) Omakase (chef's choice) @ Y3900
(ii) Regular set (7 pieces) @Y2500
Both sets come with green tea, soup and complimentary tamagoyaki.

Sushi Dai seems to be more talked about in the internet. Note that the wait may be long, sometimes taking up to 2 hours!! Not surprising since the seating capacity is only 12 pax in the restaurant.

I was thankful to avoid the queue. Only solution is to starting your sushi breakfast before 6am!! Yep, despite the cold morning, forced myself to wake up for a Sushi Dai experience. Having been there, I understand why it is so popular with tourist....main reason is that they speak English (not fluent but enough for you to feel comfortable), not only that, they can speak Korean, Mandarin and also Bahasa Malaysia - when I informed the chef serving me that I was from Malaysia, immediately he spouted "Selamat Datang"!!!! How can you not feel instantly at home with this place? Also, it is common for pictures to be taken here - yep, almost every customer will be pointing their camera at the food, making the chefs proud if not insanely happy!!!

'My' friendly sushi chef.

The biggest drawback would be the long queue. But at least you can be comforted that you are not alone. Other option is to wake and be there super early!!!

The lot.

Starting from the bottom - Salmon Belly, Japanese Gizzard Shad, Yellow Jack, Mackerel, White Bait, Yellow Tail, Sea Eel.

Let's see left to right - Sea Eel, White Bait and Yellow Tail.

Complimentary soup.

Complimentary tamagoyaki.

Yellow Jack, never seen such a beautiful twist on a sushi!!


Address: Building 6, 3rd Alley at Tsukiji Fish Market, 5-2-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo.