Ghibli day Part II: Edo-Tokyo Open air museum

After the morning-visit to the Ghibli museum we got on the JR Chuo Line again, and travelled a few station to the Edo-Tokyo open air museum. The museum was a perfect fit for our Ghibli themed day as it was the inspiration for the buildings in the spirit world of Spirited Away. The museum is located in an enormous park filled with cherry blossom trees. We were a little early in the season to see them in full bloom but when they do it will be wonderful place to be. 

The open air museum exhibits buildings of great cultural value, constructed in Tokyo between the Edo-period (1602-1868) and the post-World War II period. However, most of the buildings exhibited are constructed in the Meiji Period (1868-1912) or more recent times. Among the buildings are former residences of influential politicians, farm houses, a public bathhouse, and various stores and craft shops.

It were these Meiji Period buildings that inspired Ghibli director Miyazaki when he was writing the story for Spirited Away. In an interview he stated that he set the movie in the atmosphere of the Pseudo-Western style buildings of the Meiji era (mixture of typical Japanese and Western design) seen in this museum. "I feel nostalgic here, especially when I stand here alone in the evening, near closing time, and the sun is setting--tears well up in my eyes."

The 'evil' spirit in front of the bath house

Miyazaki and the spirit displayed in the museum.

Just like the movie, the shops are filled with goods as if bus loads of customers could arrive any minute. This gives the eerie impression something is wrong, as if the shops are waiting for the spirits of nature to arrive when the museum closes and night falls...

We would show some pictures of the exhibitions that clearly shows the inspirations for the movie:

These corridors resemble the halls Chihiro had to clean in the bath house

Foreign spirit boarding the tram

The panels with orders for the bath heater

Bath house entrance

Right is for female spirits, left for male

Beautiful mural

Traditional Japanese bar

So much liquor and still it's called a 'soya sauce' shop

The shopping street leading to the bath house

 

There were various other buildings to be seen and entered at the museum. We will show some of the buildings that impressed us the most. 

The picture below is made in the Tokiwadai Photo Studio. Built in 1937 it incorporated some 'high tech' photo features in its architecture. The windows are exceptionally large and made of 'frosted glass'. This improves the diffusion of the light and provides more depth and realism to photo's. Nowadays we probably use apps for that.

The Tokiwadai Photo Studio (1937)

Below is the residence of Mitsui family (also know as the Mitsui zaibatsu). The house is actually made from two other family residences that got badly damaged during World War II. The guest room and dining room were constructed around 1897 in Kyoto, and was originally designed as a Japanese tea house. The storehouse was built in 1874 in Tokyo. After the war the family built a new western style residence in Tokyo and decided that their damaged property should be salvaged as much as possible. Thus this 'patch work' house came into existence in 1952. In combination with the beautiful garden it actually feels as if this conjuncture of styles was always what the architects envisioned.

Entrance and former tea house section

Dining room and guest room

A big surprise was the House of Koide. After architect Sutemi Horiguchi returned from his travels through Europe, his designs were greatly inspired by European architecture. The House of Koide is a very well balanced fusion between typical Dutch elements and original Japanese architecture. See for yourself:

Ghibli day Part I: the Ghibli museum

Last Thursday we had Ghibli-themed field trip. Ghibli is a famous Japanese animation studio that produced well known films like 'Spirited Away' and 'My Neighbor Totoro'. The studio's animation style is very distinctive and their storytelling talent is magical. They have their own museum in Mitaka-shi, a quiet and green part of Tokyo that will be full of sakura blossoms when spring arrives. Only a few stations away from Mitaka-shi there is the Edo-Tokyo open-air museum. It's Edo-style architecture was the inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki to write the Oscar winning Spirited Away, so we were very curious about that place

The Ghibli museum's exterior seems to be taken straight out of one of their movies: lots of round corners, stained glass windows depicting famous scenes and characters, ivy crawling on the walls and beautiful carved woodwork. A very inviting atmosphere indeed. When entering the building you find yourself in a hallway with more stained glass and a wooden stair case leading to the central area. All kinds of Ghibli elements have come to life here: Porco Rosso/Nausicaä style propellers, enormous granny chairs, twisting metal staircases, a see-through elevator, and once more a lot of woodwork. This central area leads to the little cinema that shows Ghibli shorts exclusive to the museum, a room where animation techniques are shown with various Ghibli characters, and the staircase that leads to the exhibition level. To describe the exhibition area would take forever since there are so many things to be seen. It's not an ordinary museum exhibition where everything is ordered neatly and explained with 400 character signboards. Rather it's a complete chaotic 'mess' where sketches and objects are placed in seemingly random order. This approach is actually quite true to the Ghibli style; characters visit these kinds of fairy tale places where everything is a little messy but because of that also very cozy. Like a grandfather's workshop or study.

Upon leaving the exhibition room you enter the gift shop (of course) where souvenirs can be bought for magical prices (of course). Outside the museum you can follow another metal staircase that leads to one of the highlights of Ghibli history: a roofgarden with a life-size Goliath from 'Castle in the Sky'. A popular scenery to have your picture taken (not by the staff though, people are encouraged to take pictures for each other). After an elderly lady took our picture we descended the stairs and walked back to the station for part II of our field trip: the Edo-Tokyo open-air museum.

 

 

Museum entrance

Top view from the roof garden

Together at the friendy Goliath