Ghibli Museum Update

I was asked by several people about ways to get tickets to the Ghibli Museum other than going online on the tenth of the month (prior to the month you want tickets for) and hoping for the best.

The skyrocketing popularity of Miyazaki’s films, interest in travel to Japan, and the internet have all increased the difficulty of acquiring tickets to the museum.

If you’re buying tickets online, it is much easier to get them during less popular travel times. Due to increased demand, Summer, Spring break, and Cherry blossom season are very tough times to get tickets. Winter is probably the best time, and weekdays are easier than weekends. Also, later in the day entry time slots sell out less quickly than earlier entry times.

A couple of options other than going online on the tenth of the previous month are:

1.) Contact the concierge at the hotel you are staying at and see if they can get the tickets for you. This is a service that the high-end hotels provide, but they also have only a limited supply of tickets. Budget hotels probably won’t be able to get you the tickets. So, this may only be an option if you’re staying at a fancier, upscale hotel. There will be an up-charge for acquiring the tickets. I don’t know how much as it’s up to the individual hotel’s discretion. You should contact them before arriving in Japan as they need time to do this.

2.) If you’ve tried other avenues and had no luck, there is another option to get tickets. You can sign up for a tour that includes a visit to the Ghibli Museum. These tours are significantly more expensive than just buying the tickets yourself, but they save you the time and hassle of trying to get the tickets yourself.

Here’s a link to the tour (Not an affiliate link)

The prices are about $175 per person. The tour includes visits to the Ghibli Museum, Hotel Gajoen Tokyo, the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum, and a brunch. Ghibli tickets themselves are not expensive (only around $7 for adults and even less for teenagers and children), but the scarcity and difficulty of acquiring them may make it worthwhile to go this route. Another benefit of going this route is that you can book them months in advance. I looked yesterday via this link and tickets are available through the end of March 2025.

Liquid Shio Koji

Liquid Shio Koji is a convenient way to bring Japanese flavor to your home cooking. This traditional Japanese seasoning, made from fermented rice, salt, and water, has a salty, lightly sweet flavor with savory undertones, adding a rich umami punch. The liquid form is easy to incorporate into various dishes.

You can add it to dressings, soups, sauces, and stir-fries, use it as a marinade for meats and seafood, or as a unique seasoning in your usual everyday cooking. It’s nice on grilled vegetables if you want an easy flavor boost.

Hanamaruki is a great brand that can be found in Asian grocery stores in the USA.

Book Off

Book Off is part of the Hard Off brand of stores, which also includes Liquor Off, Hobby Off, and many other Offs. I don’t come up with these names, I just write about them. You can find stores here.

Book Off has amazing prices on used and new books. The English section is usually small, but if you are studying Japanese and want to stock up on native reading material at any level (including the Japanese language editions of any Manga you’ve ever heard of), this is the place to go. 

In addition to crazy prices on books, Book Off also has Pokemon Cards (including some harder-to-find ones), video games, action figures, DVDs, clothes, and tons of other stuff. Look on the website.

The Book Off in Ikebukuro is larger than most and has a particularly good selection. 

If you truly want to lose your mind, go to a Book Off Super Bazaar which is an enormous version of Book Off. They carry used items in about any category you could want including CDs/DVDs/Records, video games, clothes, books/comics/magazines, sporting & outdoor goods, musical instruments, and much more. Just like going to other used shops anywhere in the world, the thrill of the chase is part of the fun.