Ghibli Museum in Mitaka (Tokyo): How Tickets Work, Entry Times and the No-Photo Rule

The ivy-covered outside wall of the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka (Tokyo), painted yellow and red, with small round windows — The outside of the Ghibli Museum in Inokashira Park, Mitaka (Tokyo). Inside the museum, visitors are asked not to take photos or videos.Photo: Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)

The Ghibli Museum, Mitaka sits in the woods of Inokashira Park in Mitaka (Tokyo), about 20 minutes by train from Shinjuku (Tokyo). It's one of the hardest tickets in Tokyo (Tokyo) to get, and the reason is simple: every ticket is sold in advance for a set date and time, and nothing is sold at the museum. This guide sets out, from the museum's official pages and its ticket seller's page, when tickets go on sale, what they cost, why the name on the ticket matters, and the museum's house rules, including the one that surprises most visitors: no photos inside.

If you're a Ghibli fan, it's natural to worry about missing out. Knowing the sales date and the rules ahead of time is most of the work.

Tickets go on sale at 10:00 (Japan time) on the 10th of each month, for the next month
No tickets at the door; buy online from Lawson Ticket, or join the JTB bus tour
The ticket carries the buyer's name: bring ID and enter together
No photos or videos inside, and no eating or drinking inside

How tickets are sold

The museum's English ticket page says that all admission is by advance reservation only, and that no reservation or ticket purchase can be made at the museum. From overseas, it lists two ways in:

Lawson Ticket (online): tickets go on sale at 10:00 (Japan time) on the 10th of each month for the whole of the following month. For example, tickets for February go on sale on January 10. Tickets are valid only for the date and entry time printed on them.
Sunrise Tours JTB: a bus tour that visits several places, the Ghibli Museum among them.

The museum also says that buying tickets in order to resell them is not allowed. Lawson Ticket's page for the museum adds that a ticket found to have been resold won't be accepted at the entrance, so a ticket from a resale site or a stranger can leave you outside the door.

From booking to leaving

From the Ghibli Museum's official ticket and visitor pages and Lawson Ticket's page for the museum (checked October 13, 2026).

Prices

Age	Admission
19 and over	1,000 yen
13 to 18	700 yen
7 to 12	400 yen
4 to 6	100 yen
3 and under	Free

The museum's Japanese ticket page adds that children under 4 don't need a ticket, and that there are no group or advance-purchase discounts.

The name on the ticket, and your ID

Lawson Ticket's page for the museum explains how the tickets work, to stop resale:

Named tickets: the name of the person who bought them is printed on every ticket in the order.
Enter together: everyone in the group goes in at the same time as the named person, so arrive together.
Bring ID: staff may check the named person's identity at the entrance. A passport is on the list of accepted IDs.
No changes: after you buy, the name, date and time can't be changed, and tickets aren't refunded.
Limits: one account can book once a month, up to 6 tickets.

In practice, this means the person whose name is on the tickets has to come on the day. If you're planning a family trip, decide who books before the 10th.

Opening hours, entry times and closed days

The museum is open from 10:00 to 18:00. According to its Japanese ticket page, there are seven entry times a day, from 10:00 to 16:00 on the hour, and you should enter within 1 hour of the time on your ticket. Visits aren't split into sessions: once inside, you can stay until closing time. The museum is closed every Tuesday, plus other days that change from year to year, so check the calendar on the official ticket page before you pick a date.

The house rules

The museum asks every visitor to agree to a short list of rules. On photos, it explains that the museum is "the entrance to a story", and asks visitors to see and feel the place with their own eyes and take the memories home in their hearts instead of pointing a camera.

Inside the museum at a glance

From the Ghibli Museum's official visitor information page (checked October 13, 2026).

No photos or videos inside the museum. The rule is about the inside of the museum. Filming for commercial purposes isn't allowed.
Phones: please don't use your phone inside the museum, and outside, avoid using it where it bothers other visitors.
The short film: the Saturn Theater shows an original short film that can only be seen at the museum. Each visitor can watch it once.
Food and drink: not inside the museum. Food you bring or buy at the Straw Hat Cafe can be eaten inside the cafe or on the deck in front of it, and you take your rubbish home.
Strollers are left in the stroller area before you go in.
Flashing light: a permanent exhibit on basement floor 1 uses strobe light, so take care if you're sensitive to flashing light.
The Cat Bus is for children of elementary-school age and younger (12 and under) only.
The rooftop, with the Robot Soldier from "Castle in the Sky", may close in bad weather.
No re-entry, no smoking anywhere on the grounds, and no pets other than guide, hearing and service dogs.

Please take the no-photo rule seriously. It's the museum's own wish, written on its official page. The museum sits in Inokashira Park, a pleasant place for a walk before or after your visit.

Lockers, toilets and access for wheelchairs

The museum has 96 free lockers. They take a 100 yen coin, which comes back when you take your things out. If your bag won't fit, for example a suitcase, ask the staff. Large multipurpose toilets are inside and outside the building, and there are two elevators that go from basement floor 1 to the 2nd floor, though not to the rooftop. The museum lends 3 wheelchairs free of charge.

Getting there

From Mitaka Station (about 20 minutes from Shinjuku (Tokyo) on the JR Chuo Line rapid service): a walk of about 15 minutes from the south exit along the Tamagawa Aqueduct, with signs pointing to the museum.
Community bus: from the south exit of Mitaka Station, about 5 minutes. Adults pay 230 yen (cash or IC card); children pay 120 yen in cash or 50 yen by IC card. The bus doesn't run on the museum's closed days.
From Kichijoji: about 15 minutes on foot from Kichijoji Station or Inokashira-koen Station.
No car park: the museum has no parking, and asks visitors not to come by car.

The address is 1-1-83 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka City, inside the west part of Inokashira Park. For more ideas, see our Tokyo (Tokyo) destination page. Smoking outside the museum? Read our guide to street smoking rules in Tokyo (Tokyo).

If you can't get tickets

Tickets often go fast, especially for weekends and school holidays. A few things can help: be ready on Lawson Ticket's site before 10:00 on the 10th, have more than one date in mind, and remember that a weekday may be easier. If the dates you wanted are gone, look at the JTB bus tour the museum lists. Please don't buy tickets from resellers: the museum and Lawson Ticket say resold tickets won't get you in.

Last reviewed: October 13, 2026. Ticket rules, hours and closed days change, and the museum posts news on its official site and X account. Please check them before you go.