Virtual Tours of the Ghibli Museum to Tide You Over Until Your Next Trip to Japan!

The outbreak of COVID-19 in Japan threw off hundreds of people's plans... to visit the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo in 2020. Out of the many Tokyo facilities that closed down to prevent the spread of infection this year, the Ghibli Museum was one of the quickest to respond to the situation, closed completely for a full five months! Recent news tells us that the Ghibli Museum is now slowly reopening, first to local residents and then to the world, but the museum hasn't been entirely empty over the past months. Staff, it turns out, have been busy giving fans everywhere a look inside the Ghibli Museum, via their YouTube channel, and drawing up plans to prepare for its reopening.

The Ghibli Museum is notoriously hard to get a look at, with tickets selling out within hours every month, and photography prohibited inside the building. And that's exactly why the Ghibli Museum's new "Staff Video Journals" are a rare chance to see inside the museum walls, for all those who can't make it to Tokyo (or just couldn't score a ticket)!

The virtual tours started back in May, when the museum had only (!?) been closed for three months, showing off the main hall―a three-floor atrium surrounded by exhibition rooms and dotted with Ghibli easter eggs galore.

Perhaps even more special is their two-part video showing off the Ghibli Museum's current temporary exhibition, a series of rooms that get completely redone every year or so. When the museum closed in February, this particular exhibition ("Sketch, Flash, Spark! ~ From the Ghibli Forest Sketchbook") had only been open for a matter of months, meaning many hopeful visitors hadn't yet had to opportunity to see the new displays. It might not be quite the same as seeing it in person, but this way nobody has to miss out on the magic!

Some of the videos also give you a more direct peek into the world of Ghibli Museum staff, like this one showing how they do their best to completely sterilize the museum's beloved stuffed catbus, disinfecting it between groups of playing kids.

There are plenty more videos of the museum on the Ghibli Museum YouTube Channel, so don't hesitate to check it out if you're interested in exploring a space that seldom shows up online! And for more news and updates from Japan, follow Japankuru on twitter, instagram, and facebook!