Ghibli Park will be Studio Ghibli’s answer to Disneyland. The park’s staff recently held a press conference, and there, they revealed its logo. And what better way to celebrate the park than to have none other than Hayao Miyazaki design the logo with Toshio Suzuki. Suzuki himself unveiled the logo, and revealed that while Miyazaki designed the “Ghibli” part, he designed the “Park” part.

Aside from the logo, Suzuki also unveiled a teaser poster for the park. The Ghibli producer then joked that the world-renowned animation studio is like a home-made handicraft industry​.

Previously, Aichi Prefecture governor Hideaki Oomura announced that parts of the park will open in 2022. These parts include several complete areas, such as he Hill of Youth, Giant Ghibli Store House, and Dondoko Forest. Unfortunately, he also confirmed that Witch Valley and Mononoke Village will be opening in 2023.

Here’s how they describe each of Ghibli Park’s five areas:

  • The Youth Hill which features architecture from Howl’s Moving Castle, as well as Whisper of the Heart.
  • The Great Ghibli Warehouse will be a facility which visitors can enjoy an any weather. They can enjoy an indoor heated swimming pool, a video room, a children’s playground, and even a few exhibition spaces.
  • Mononoke Village will include exhibits from the Princess Mononoke film, as well as life-size statues of several creatures.
  • The Valley of the Witch will be kinda like the Youth Hill as it will also feature architecture from Howl’s Moving Castle. However, it will also feature architecture and attractions from Kiki’s Delivery Service.
  • Finally, Dondoko Forest will feature a My Neighbor Totoro theme. It will contain the replica of Mei and Satsuki’s house, which fans can visit at Aichi Prefecture’s Expo Park.

They previously planned it to open by 2020, right in time for the Tokyo Summer Olympics. However, it seems that they pushed it back, as they are now planning it to open by 2022.

Ghibli co-founder, Toshio Suzuki, as well as Aichi governor, Hideaki Oomura,previously announced the theme park during their conference in Nagoya. Both the Aichi Prefectural Government and Ghibli will be co-funding the operations. The prefecture also aims to attract both foreign and local tourists with Ghibli Park.

Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki is known for his passion about nature conservation. Because of this, Ghibli aims to use nature-friendly construction methods which won’t cause damage to the park. In other words, they won’t be cutting any trees as much as possible.

Source: Movie Natalie