Ghibli fans, you might want to start saving for a trip to Japan. Studio Ghibli, the creators behind the iconic anime films Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke, has announced it’s partnering with the local government to build a theme park in Aichi Prefecture, near Nagoya.
The theme park will focus specifically on My Neighbor Totoro, which was written and directed by Ghibli’s famous co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. It will be built in Expo Park (the site of Expo 2005, about two hours from Kyoto), which houses a monument to the 1988 anime right now. Visitors can already stop by a replica of main characters Satsuki and Mei’s house.
At an official announcement, Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki said the park would not have rides, but rather would be an attraction “set in the world of Totoro,” reports BBC News.
There’s no word if other iconic Studio Ghibli films or characters will be featured as well.
Ghibli Park is planned to open in the early 2020s, according to The Japan Times. If you’d like to get your real world fix of Totoro before then, Studio Ghibli also runs a museum in Mitaka, west Tokyo, which features interactive exhibits, replicas of the films’ creations, and a rotating screening of Ghibli-animated shorts.
Meanwhile, Hayao Miyazaki is working on a new feature film. Last year, he came out of retirement and announced he was working on a full-length adaptation of his CG short Boro the Caterpillar, due out sometime later this year.