Basic Agreement Signed on Ghibli Park Development in Japan

June 1, 2019

Nagoya--The Aichi prefectural government and others signed a basic agreement on Friday to develop a theme park featuring works of Japanese anime powerhouse Studio Ghibli Inc. in the central Japan prefecture.

Under the agreement with Tokyo-based Studio Ghibli and Chunichi Shimbun Co., a newspaper publisher based in the Aichi capital of Nagoya, the prefectural government will construct the theme park in the city of Nagakute, starting in fiscal 2020, which begins next April. Studio Ghibli and Chunichi Shimbun will set up a new company to run the park.

Three of the park's five areas are scheduled to open in autumn 2022 and the remaining two about a year later.

"We'll make the park unique in the world, reflecting the worlds of Ghibli works," Aichi Governor Hideaki Omura said at a news conference.

Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki said, "We'll make efforts to please many people in and outside the country."

The park will replicate buildings, shops, houses and others that appear in such Ghibli films as "Howl's Moving Castle," "Whisper of the Heart," "Princess Mononoke" and "Kiki's Delivery Service."

Items featured in these Ghibli films will be exhibited in the "Ghibli no Daisoko" (Ghibli's large warehouse) area, which will have play spaces and theaters. Jiji Press