Day 10 - Tokyo - Ghibli Museum and Foggy Woods

T: Today we head out west, first to the Ghibli Museum at Mitaka. We were inspired to do this from reading Francois Jordaan and Kelly Henderson's web site of their trip to Japan (highly recommended). We reserved our advance tickets through Japan Travel Bureau in Melbourne.

Then we plan to head out to Tachikawa and Showa Kinen Park. Years ago we saw this fantastic park featured on Dan Pearson's wonderful - though appallingly named - TV series 'Roots around the world'.

They showed the huge trampoline areas with kids bouncing around, and the foggy woods where mist mysteriously envelopes you as you walk through the park. The TV show didn't give the name of the park and it took ages to track it down. But we finally did - you can see their web site here.

W: Being on holiday here has become more of a lifestyle now. Seems like such a long time but really it's less than two weeks. Two objectives today: Studio Ghibli Museum and Showa Kinen Park.

But first breakfast at Lotteria. (fast foody place).

They have a decent rice ball, miso soup, mini salad and coffee deal. We ask for moorningu setto B. There's also a more western style moorningu setto A featuring ham and eggs - which the Japanese lady next to us orders.

They play birdsong muzak (I LOVE muzak at the best of times, but even better with birds twittering) which seems strangely natural sitting looking over Shibuya laneways.

We get the Yamanote line to Shinjuku then change to the Chuo line out to Mitaka, a pleasant suburb about a half hour from Shinjuku.

There's a special Ghibli bus, but we decide to take a stroll along the canal heading towards Inokashira Park. The walk is nicely signposted with Totoro signs that tell you how far you have to go.

T: We find the museum and join the queue. You have to advance purchase tickets - Japanese people get a 2 hour time slot to visit, but overseas visitors just have to specify the day. We got there right on opening time so there was a queue but it moved fast.

A staff member comes up the queue to check our tickets and welcomes us in Japanese. After asking if we understand Japanese - sukoshi - she explains that no photography is permitted inside the museum.

W: The museum showcases the films and work of Studio Ghibli and director Hayao Miyazaki.

It is fantastic and simply a must-see whether you've seen the movies or not, although you'll get more out of a visit if you have, plus they're great so you really should.

The museum building is Hundertwasser/Gaudi-esque. Once inside you descend to the main building and explore all the wonderful things that are there. I won't go into it all, but so much of it is amazing, especially the dark animation room which is jaw-dropping. All of it is beautiful.

T: My favourite was the Totoro zoetrope, plus the lovely mini film they show in the theatre. The souvenir tickets are original film cells.

W: After a very inspiring time we headed back to Mitaka and started the usual lunch hunt. Picked up some bento to take on the train ride out to Tachikawa, a further half hour out in the suburbs.

We're heading for Showa Kinen Park - the garden of mist and bubble trampolines - which we had seen on Dan Pearson's TV show, though we didn't know the name and hunted for ages to find it.

The park is very well sign-posted from the station. The suburb of Tachikawa, about an hour from Shinjuku, is very well appointed and like a small city itself. There were several huge department stores surrounding the station. But back to the park...

Another amazing adventure. The park is VAST - the biggest park I've ever seen - a bus trundles around conveying the Japanese tourists to the dozens of different themed areas. It's very artistic with dozens of lovely design touches.

We enter past the very cute dog run - which looks like a canine adventure playground - to the entrance where we pick up a map.

A long regal fountain and lake leads you in and we walk for half an hour around the lake and through woods to reach a beautiful Japanese garden.

A path/maze of huge boulders leads to a kids' area that includes gigantic sculpted dragons that roar when the kids climb in their mouths, the bouncy trampoline area, and the mythical misty woods and foggy garden.

Well worth the trek even if you're not necessarily botanical, like myself, but can appreciate the vision.

There's so much more and you could easily spend the whole day here - especially if we had the dogs with us. They'd have loved the dog run. It's late afternoon now and it's been cool all day and is now getting distinctly chilly, so we decide to head back.

On the way to the station we find a Y100 shop and buy socks - it will save having to find a laundromat and it's probably cheaper.

We ride the train back to Shinjuku and Shibuya and dinner at our fave noodle restaurant (小麦房 = Komugibou).

This evening we spend quite a while browsing at the Book 1st bookshop, better than Kinokuniya I think. Found an amazing post card book based on the 1960's William Klein movie Mister Freedom - only in Japan. Pick up snacks at Natural Lawson and back to the Fukudaya for crazy TV shows.

Next > Day 11 - Tokyo - I've had elbow room in my mind