The museum is extensively soliciting donations. A network of support for it is not expanding, however, under the shadow of the thriving Ghibli Park, a theme park that opened in November in the Aichi prefecture city of Nagakute.
The number of visitors to the Ghibli Museum plummeted to about 86,000 in fiscal 2020 through March 2021 – a period during which the museum was closed intermittently – from 600,000 the year before the outbreak of Covid-19. In the first half of fiscal 2022, toward the end of which Japan began to lift entry restrictions, it had an average of 1,700 visitors a day – about 70% of the pre-Covid level. A factor behind the slow recovery in the number of visitors is a lack of tourists from abroad, as the museum has not yet resumed ticket sales through travel agencies.
The museum has been forced to pull ¥350 million (US$2.56 million) from its reserve funds, nearly half of the total amount, to make up for the significant decline in income. Although the number of visitors has recovered to a certain extent, the museum still cannot afford to add to the reserve. The Mitaka city government, the owner of the institution, has stressed the importance of replenishing the reserve, saying it is a precious source of funds to repair the facilities.
The museum was built by Studio Ghibli, an animation company based in the Tokyo city of Koganei, and others. In it, studio co-founder and Oscar-winning animation director Hayao Miyazaki’s passion for expression is felt everywhere. For instance, some wooden staircases grow narrower toward the top, making them seem deeper than they really are. Visitors can savour a strange feeling there. Many furnishings to reproduce the world of Ghibli are one-of-a-kinds, carefully maintained by the staff.
The museum is run based on the notion that its main characters are actually its visitors. Emphasising their comfort rather than the preservation of exhibits, the ceiling windows are left open to let in wind and light. Visitors can touch and experience many exhibits freely as children run around.
Such facilities are hugely expensive to operate and maintain. Moreover, having opened in 2001, the 21-year-old museum will sooner or later need large-scale renovations to the aging building and facilities, stoking further concern about the insufficient reserve. A museum spokesperson said it desires to “keep in existence the one and only museum that could not be found anywhere else in the world.”
The Mitaka city government is asking for donations to the museum through the furusato nozei tax benefit system, in which taxpayers can take deductions for donations to municipalities. More than two months after the city began the crowdfunding effort, donations had totalled around ¥4.5 million as of Dec 24, far short of the target of ¥20 million. The effort is scheduled to continue through the end of December.
This is the second time the city has solicited donations to the museum, following an effort in fiscal 2021. In contrast to the lukewarm response this time, back then as much as ¥50 million was contributed from Japan and abroad. Given the popularity of Ghibli Park, “People may think that Ghibli Museum is faring well too,” said a city official.