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Tokyo: Day 2

Today was years in the making - after 3 tries of coming to Tokyo, it was an unrelenting desire to secure tickets to the Ghibli Museum that led to the events that transpired today. Before this trip, we managed to buy two of the tickets sold online to foreigners - by madly clicking and trying to get our website requests through the very antiquated server/service used by the museum. 

Getting up a bit earlier to make sure we were at the museum on time was nothing, compared to the 5am wake-up call for Super Nintendo World. We were well-prepared with drinks and onigiri, so the queueing process flew by quickly once we walked from the train station to the Ghibli Museum - apparently lots of people read the instructions on their tickets to show up early! They have tons of staff on hand to help guide people through getting into the museum, and then through the various exhibits at whatever pace you choose. You are allowed to take photos outside the museum, but not inside.

I was pretty excited finally stepping into the museum I've wanted to visit for 10 years - it wasn't quite the unbridled burst of giddy joy I had in Super Nintendo World, but it was a slowly growing awe as I explored every small detail and painting. It's not a large museum, but it has enough content and variety to make any Ghibli fan happy and entertained for hours - from the theater that shows a short film only available at the museum, to the exhibits dedicated to showing the magic behind Miyazaki's films, and the bookstore and gift shops. Even just walking around the museum, every window and display is a reference to a Ghibli film - if you've watched the films, it will fill you with a sense of appreciation for how much thought they put into making this such a wonderful experience. The short film we got to see in the museum theater was a neat animation featuring a girl who leaves the city to journey through the forest and leaves gifts of apples along the way as she meets different forest inhabitants - the cool part was that all sounds in the film were voiced by humans (e.g. the wind whooshing through the trees, traffic noises in the city, the pitter patter of rain falling) and animated with words on screen. 

There was also a special rotating exhibit, which was focused on the "Future Boy Conan" series developed by Miyazaki in 1978. It was something new to me, as I don't think it would easy to come across this in North America. When one of the staff members saw me trying to translate the text on a poster, she very helpfully gave me a complete English guide to the whole exhibit - I learned about each episode in the made-for-TV series and felt the importance and impact of the series on the films Miyazaki made after. I'm so glad I was able to finally make it into the museum, and buy a book that includes art from Howl's Moving Castle!

The rest of the day was spent wandering around Kichijoji, since we were already in the neighbourhood. It was nice being in a quieter area, compared to the chaos of yesterday in Shibuya. We were able to find a store that had BT21 merchandise, a Capcom arcade, and a coffee shop that ended up being a bit too overpriced.

Dinner was a visit to a special spot in Azabujuban - Ryunosuke. It was 9 years since I first ate at the restaurant, and returning to it in the springtime was amazing, to see the differences in dishes served, without any compromise in quality. It's a Kaiseki restaurant that is lovingly run by a couple that shares the same enthusiasm for impeccable food - catering to whatever budget you can afford. The husband and wife both were thrilled that I had come back again after so long, and made me feel so welcome! It will continue to be a must-visit spot every time I find myself in Tokyo.

Tomorrow will likely be a chill day as we wind down our trip, and relish all of the excitement over the past few days.

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