Before You Go to the Ghibli Museum (Mitaka)

Short answer: you can't buy tickets at the museum — they go on sale online at 10:00 Japan time on the 10th of the month before your visit. Your ticket fixes the date and entry time; photos and videos inside are not allowed.

Tickets (official)

• Advance reservation only. No reservation or ticket purchase at the museum.
• When: 10:00 a.m. JST on the 10th of each month, for the following month (e.g. February tickets on January 10). From overseas: Lawson Ticket online, or a Sunrise Tours (JTB) bus tour that includes the museum.
• Price: 19+ ¥1,000 · 13–18 ¥700 · 7–12 ¥400 · 4–6 ¥100 · 3 and under free.
• Valid only for the date and entry time on the ticket; no set exit time. Buying tickets to resell is not allowed.
• Closed days (official ticket-page calendar, read Nov 4, 2026): Nov 4–18 and Nov 24, 2026; Dec 1, 8, 15, 22 and Dec 27–31, 2026; Jan 1, 2, 12, 19, 26, 2027. Mostly Tuesdays plus maintenance and year-end closures — re-check the calendar before the sale.

Rules inside (official)

• No photos or videos inside the museum. Turn off mobile phones.
• No eating or drinking inside, except at the Straw Hat Café and its deck.
• No pets except service dogs. The roof garden may close in bad weather and is reached only by a narrow spiral staircase.
• One exhibit uses strobe light — note if you are light-sensitive.

Luggage and payment

• Lockers: coin lockers for small bags (free, refundable deposit). For larger luggage, ask staff.
• Payment at the shop, reading room and café: yen cash, major cards (JCB, Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Diners, UnionPay) and Suica-type IC cards.

Getting there (official)

• Train: JR Chuo Line to Mitaka (about 20 min from Shinjuku), then a 15-minute walk from the south exit.
• Bus: community bus from JR Mitaka Station every 15 minutes during opening hours; adult ¥230 (cash or IC card).
• No visitor parking. Hours: 10:00–18:00.

Not confirmed by an official source, so left out: how fast tickets sell out, passport/ID checks at the gate, resale sites. We only list the official sales routes above.

Places: All "before you go" guides · Fushimi Inari · Chureito Pagoda (Mt Fuji view) · Ghibli Museum · teamLab · Shibuya Sky · Senso-ji · Nara deer · Arashiyama · Miyajima · Disney & USJ · Kyoto autumn light-ups