The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka (三鷹の森ジブリ美術館) is one of the hardest tickets to get in Tokyo. There are no tickets at the door and no same-day sales. Every entry is a dated, time-slotted reservation, so travelers who search on a whim usually hit a wall of sold-out dates.
The good news: once you know the release date and which route to use from your country, you can absolutely get in. This guide covers how to buy from abroad, what ID you may need at the entrance, prices, getting there, and what to do when your date is gone.
Tickets are registered to a name. You must buy under the name of the person who will actually visit that day, and resold or transferred tickets are refused at the entrance. Get this wrong and you will be turned away.
On sale: the 10th of every month
Ghibli Museum tickets are released at 10:00 a.m. Japan time on the 10th of every month, for entry during the following month. If you want to visit in November, tickets go on sale at 10:00 a.m. on October 10th. Weekend, holiday, and long-weekend slots often sell out within minutes, so if your date is fixed, be logged in and ready the moment the clock hits 10:00.
Each account may buy once per month, up to six tickets. Once bought, tickets cannot be changed, transferred, or refunded, even if unused, so lock in your dates before you purchase.
Buying from outside Japan
If you live overseas, the museum officially points to two routes, and only two.
The first is the English Lawson Ticket site, where you can reserve the following month's tickets online. Prices and the on-sale time (10:00 a.m. JST on the 10th) are the same as for tickets bought in Japan. Check the terms and the checkout screen for how overseas-issued cards are handled: English Lawson Ticket.
The second is a special bus tour run by Sunrise Tours (JTB). It bundles about two and a half hours at the museum with a visit to the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum (江戸東京たてもの園) and tour-only merchandise. If you would rather skip the release-day scramble, it is a solid option.
Those are the only two official routes from abroad. What Klook and other travel sites sell as "Ghibli" tickets is usually the separate Ghibli Park in Aichi, not this museum. Always check the venue name before you pay.
One more warning: in March 2026 the museum flagged fake sites posing as its official page. Buy only through the museum's own site and Lawson, and stay away from resale platforms.
The named-ticket rule and getting in
Because tickets are registered to a name, the person who bought the ticket should be the one who visits. At the entrance, staff may ask for photo ID (a passport, driver's license, health-insurance card, student ID, or My Number card, for example). A ticket in someone else's name can be refused, so make sure the ticket name matches whoever's actually going.
You enter within one hour of your chosen time slot. Once inside, you can stay until closing, but there is no re-entry once you leave, so hit the shop and cafe before you go in, or after you leave.
Photography and video are not allowed inside. Take in the Catbus and the rooftop robot soldier without a camera in hand. Lockers (96 of them, ¥100 coin-return) sit by the entrance, and you leave strollers there before heading in.
Prices and entry times
Admission is priced by age.
Age Group | Price |
|---|---|
Adults and university students | ¥1,000 |
High school and junior high students | ¥700 |
Elementary school children | ¥400 |
Young children (age 4 and up) | ¥100 |
Under 4 | free |
Adults and university students: ¥1,000
High school and junior high students: ¥700
Elementary school children: ¥400
Young children (age 4 and up): ¥100
Under 4: free
There are seven entry times: 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, and 16:00, and the museum is open 10:00 to 18:00. If you're visiting with young kids, aim for a morning slot.
Closing days are not fixed to a weekday. Long maintenance closures, exhibition changeovers, and winter breaks all happen, so check the opening calendar for your exact date before you commit: Ghibli Museum opening calendar.
Getting there from Mitaka Station
The nearest hub is JR Mitaka Station (South Exit), about 20 minutes from Shinjuku on the JR Chuo Line rapid. From there you have two options:
- Mitaka City Bus (みたかシティバス): about 5 minutes from the South Exit. Fare ¥230 for adults (cash or IC).
- On foot: about 15 minutes along Inokashira Park (井の頭公園) from Mitaka Station. It is also about 15 minutes from Kichijoji Station and Inokashira-koen Station on the Keio Inokashira Line.
The old museum round-trip transit ticket has been discontinued, and there is no parking lot, so plan to arrive by train.
If it sells out: next options, and the Ghibli Park mix-up
If your slot is gone, first try another day or time slot. Weekdays beat weekends, and mornings usually have more availability than afternoons. If nothing works, aim for the next month's release (the 10th at 10:00).
If your dates simply will not line up, Ghibli Park is another option — but know that it is a completely separate site in Aichi Prefecture, at the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park (愛・地球博記念公園), with its own tickets and content. Its tickets go on sale at 2:00 p.m. Japan time on the 10th, a different time from the museum, so don't mix the two up.
Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿) built this small forest as a place to "get lost together." Tickets are hard to get, which makes finally arriving all the sweeter. Mark the release date and grab the slot you want.
This article was translated from the original Japanese with AI assistance and reviewed by our editorial team. The Japanese version is authoritative.
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