Ghibli Park's final Valley of Witches area opens to public

A theme park in central Japan based on world-famous Studio Ghibli characters and scenes from hit anime films such as "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Spirited Away" on Saturday opened its Valley of Witches area, completing the attraction after more than three years of construction. Ghibli Park's final attraction is based on anime films "Howl's Moving Castle" and "Kiki's Delivery Service," and features the park's first rides -- a traditional carousel featuring motifs from the studio's films and a flying carousel inspired by a traveling fair. In the Valley of Witches section, located within the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture, visitors can purchase baked goods at a replica of the bakery at which protagonist Kiki works while enjoying the European-style scenery from the movie. A carousel in the Valley of Witches area of Ghibli Park in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture, on March 16, 2024. (Kyodo) Electric vehicles modeled after the Cat Bus featured in the 1988 film "My Neighbor Totoro" also began operating. "I simply wish that (the park) will be loved for a long time," Goro Miyazaki, a film director who supervised the construction of Ghibli Park, said in a ceremony marking the opening of the new area. "After a film has been created, it is entrusted to the audience. But in the case of a facility, everything starts after it has been built," said Miyazaki, the son of Studio Ghibli Inc. co-founder and legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki. Photo taken on March 16, 2024, shows a baked goods shop in the Valley of Witches area of Ghibli Park in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture. (Kyodo) Hayao Miyazaki recently won a U.S. Academy Award for a Studio Ghibli film "The Boy and the Heron." Visitors can also venture inside the 20-meter-tall Howl's castle, which a few times an hour emits smoke and has parts of it that move. Tomomi Hagita, a 55-year-old longtime Ghibli fan, said, "It is my fifth time at the park. I just want to fully enjoy the atmosphere of the new area." The plan to build the park was first announced in 2017. The park opened its first three areas -- Ghibli's Grand Warehouse, Hill of Youth, and Dondoko Forest -- in November 2022, and a year after, added the Mononoke Village, based on its classic movie "Princess Mononoke." A family is pictured in the Valley of Witches area of Ghibli Park in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture, on March 16, 2024. (Kyodo) Related coverage: Ghibli Park unveils new "Valley of Witches" area, to open in March Ghibli "Cat Bus" electric vehicles unveiled at central Japan park Ghibli Park in central Japan opens "Princess Mononoke"-themed area    

Mar 16, 2024 | KYODO NEWS