Minmaxing Life

I only visited two museums during my whole stay in Japan: the Ota Memorial Museum of Art and the Ghibli Museo d’Arte. The first one is a tiny place where you take off your shoes before going in and has a rotating collection of ukiyo-e. By an immense stroke of luck, while I was in Tokyo it was displaying masterpieces from Hiroshige and my personal favorite, Hokusai. Best of all, I got to see with my own eyes the original great wave - from the 36 views of Mount Fuji set - that is reproduced just about everywhere. Bliss!

As for the Ghibli Museum, it quite simply blew my mind. Admittedly, I am a huge Miyazaki fan so I may be biased. But honestly, I don’t think I am. The museum is a work of art in itself. The level of attention to details, the amount of thinking that was done for this place is astounding - even for a Studio Ghibli project. I cannot begin to describe the joy I felt seeing the stained glass windows full of characters from their movies, walking through rooms each more exciting than the preceding, watching strange devices or the 3D zoetropes - custom built with the help of Toshio Iwai (of Electoplankton fame). In many ways, the Ghibli Museo d’Arte is an anti-museum. It’s full of life, you can touch almost everything, it does not preach.

Here’s what Miyazaki himself wrote down when he was thinking about creating it :

“This is the Kind of Museum I want to Make
(by Hayao Miyazaki)

A museum that is interesting and which relaxes the soul. A museum where much can be discovered. A museum based on a clear and consistent philosophy. A museum where those seeking enjoyment can enjoy, those seeking to ponder can ponder, and those seeking to feel can feel. A museum that makes you feel more enriched when you leave than when you entered!

To make such a museum, the building must be… Put together as if it were a film. Not arrogant, magnificent, flamboyant, or suffocating. Quality space is where people can feel at home, especially when it’s not crowded. A building that has a warm feel and touch. A building where the breeze and sunlight can freely flow through.

The museum must be run in such a way so that… Small children are treated as if they were grown-ups. The handicapped are accommodated as much as possible. The staff can be confident and proud of their work. Visitors are not controlled with predetermined courses and fixed directions. It is suffused with ideas and new challenges so that the exhibits do not get dusty or old, and that investments are made to realize that goal.

The displays will be… Not only for the benefit of people who are already fans of Studio Ghibli. Not a procession of artwork from past Ghibli films as if it were “a museum of the past”. A place where visitors can enjoy by just looking, can understand the artists’ spirits, and can gain new insights into animation.

Original works and pictures will be made to be exhibited at the museum. A projection room and an exhibit room will be made, showing movement and life (Original short films will be produced to be released in the museum!). Ghibli’s past films will be probed for understanding at a deeper level.

The café will be… An important place for relaxation and enjoyment. A place that doesn’t underestimate the difficulties of running a museum café. A good café with a style all its own where running a café is taken seriously and done right.

The museum shop will be… Well-prepared and well-presented for the sake of the visitors and running the museum. Not a bargain shop that attaches importance only to the amount of sales. A shop that continues to strive to be a better shop. Where original items made only for the museum are found.

The museum’s relation to the park is… Not just about caring for the plants and surrounding greenery but also planning for how things can improve ten years into the future. Seeking a way of being and running the museum so that the surrounding park will become even lusher and better, which will in turn make the museum better as well!

This is what I expect the museum to be, and therefore I will find a way to do it.

This is the kind of museum I don’t want to make!
A pretentious museum. An arrogant museum. A museum that treats its contents as if they were more important than people. A museum that displays uninteresting works as if they were significant.”

If the measure of a creator is how far he falls from his inital vision, then the Ghibli museum is yet another proof of Miyazaki’s mastery because it is exactly as he intended. To me the visit felt like a lesson not just in animation, art, business and marketing - it felt like a lesson in life.

It is a truly magical place and you shouldn’t miss it under any pretext if you ever make it to Tokyo.
My only regret was feeling too old and ashamed to jump with the small children on the huge furry neko-bus.