Ever since we first watched My Neighbour Totoro many, many years ago, we’ve been fans of Studio Ghibli. There’s something about their art, storytelling and character development that draws us in, and keeps us wanting more.
Hayao Miyazaki and his team of animators have consistently churned out movie after movie, starting with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in 1984.
To-date, they’ve published 23 full-length anime, the latest being The Boy and the Heron, released in July 2023. While we’ve not watched all of them, we have made significant progress in covering their entire catalogue.
From Totoro to Kiki's Delivery Service to Spirited Away to Laputa: Castle in the Sky to Nausicaä to Princess Mononoke to Howl's Moving Castle to Ponyo to Only Yesterday to Pom Poko to Porco Rosso to Ocean Waves and Grave of the Fireflies.
Spirited Away is probably most people’s favourite, but I personally rate Princess Mononoke the highest. On the other hand, The Wife’s number one choice has been, and always will be, Totoro.
At last count, she owns more than a dozen merchandise featuring the so-adorable-it-hurts dragon cat. I’m not immune to its charms either. A mini figurine sits on my desk, silently observing as I type away.
During the winter of 2017, we checked off one item on our bucket list and finally made a pilgrimage to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo. Unlike nowadays, tickets weren’t as impossible to secure then.
Next on our radar is the Ghibli Park in Aichi prefecture. The park is still under construction, though several areas are already open to visitors, including foreign tourists like ourselves.
We plan to wait until it’s completely built before making the trip down to Nagoya. By then, we would hopefully have seen all 23 movies.
In the meantime, we actively hunt down Studio Ghibli stores whenever we’re in Japan. During our visit to Kyoto earlier this year, I found two in Higashiyama, both within walking distance of one another.
Ghibli Store Ninenzaka
The first was located near the entrance to Ninenzaka (二年坂), a stone-paved pedestrian road that’s massively popular with visitors, both local and foreign.
Even though we were there during the shoulder season, just before the start of sakura season, it was already super crowded.
Like most people, we were there to soak in the ancient charms of Kyoto. But more importantly, we were there to visit some of our old friends.
As we walked down the path to the Ghibli Store, we managed to say hello to several Totoros doing whatever it is that Totoros do for a living.
There was the big grey Oh-Totoro, medium-sized blue Chuu-Totoro and petite white Chibi-Totoro, as well as their enigmatic neighbour, the one and only Cat Bus.
Also guarding the walkway was Jiji, the cute but opinionated black cat that’s always by Kiki’s side. Except when he meets his love interest, of course.
There was even a tiny Laputian robot, quietly tending to its little garden. Given its diminutive size and calm demeanour, it’s easy to forget how devastatingly lethal it can be when the need arises.
Similarly, guarding the main door was the most non-threatening bouncer you’ll ever meet. Wearing a surprised expression, it looked like a newly-hired intern who didn’t know what it was supposed to be doing.
The space inside was compact, but it was filled with familiar scenes from various movies. It was clear which character was the most popular; 80% of the decorations were Totoro-related.
We could still spot merch from the other shows like Howl and Ponyo, but they were few and far between. I was tempted to buy some of them, but unfortunately, they were not for sale.
What was in abundant supply though, were embroidered handkerchiefs and towels made by Marushi, a Japanese company famous for producing anime collectibles.
Not surprisingly, Totoro made up the bulk of the offerings, followed by Jiji and finally a precious few from Porco Rosso, Laputa and Princess Mononoke.
Despite having to jostle with the crowd, we spent a happy half hour browsing the narrow aisles and picking out merch that we wanted to bring home.
Ghibli Store Kiyomizu
Just down the road, at the junction of Sannenzaka (三年坂) and Kiyomizuzaka (清水坂) sat the second Ghibli Store in Higashiyama ward.
The only indication of the treasures to be found within was a small weather-beaten wooden signboard with “どんぐり共和国” in faded green lettering.
Most passersby would, well, pass by, with no inkling of what kind of store it was. But true Ghibli fans know that “Donguri Kyōwakoku”, or Acorn Republic, is a portal to souvenir heaven.
A fluffy Oh-Totoro greeted us, happily floating above its friends. A small sign at the bottom of the multi-layered display pointed the way to the main entrance tucked away at the back.
As we made our way down the rabbit hole, more and more familiar faces appeared, including clusters of the hardworking soot sprites that stole our hearts in Totoro and Spirited Away.
The Kiyomizu store was smaller than the one in Ninenzaka, but it was no less packed with all sorts of enticing goodies.
Furry plushies, character figurines, movie replicas, gachapons, blind boxes, keychains, towels; anything you can think of, they had it.
One item that I couldn’t help staring at was a cuckoo clock that was mounted high up on a wall. It was decorated with acorns, leaves and mushrooms, with all three types of Totoro represented.
The cuckoo in the clock was a small Chibi-Totoro holding an ocarina. I didn’t manage to hear it play its wind instrument, but it must have sounded ethereal.
Like most of the high-end stuff, it was accompanied by a discrete “Sold Out” tag. Even if I was thinking about buying it, the sticker shock would have been scary. Either way, it was a moot point.
As a consolation, blind boxes featuring Totoro charms in different colours were readily available. For only ¥770, you could bring home a keepsake that would impart one of many blessings.
Studio Ghibli Merch
We had budgeted a generous amount for the acquisition of merch, but ended up spending just a modest amount.
Partly because most of the good stuff were either marked as not-for-sale or sold out, but mostly because there weren’t many items that caught our fancy.
The Wife took her time at the towel section, shortlisting several candidates for consideration. Eventually, she went with (and no surprises here) two Totoro hand towels.
Both were green with flower motifs and featured carefully-stitched Totoros doing Totoro things. The first towel included many elements from the movie, whereas the second was more simple.
She was especially in love with the two Totoros in side profile, each holding up a stalk of flower as they chased one another in the the bottom right corner.
I was hoping to find some pretty Mononoke figurines, but they were few and far between. Those that were available weren’t to my liking and so I settled for a mini Tororo charm.
There were eight possible outcomes, and there was no way to tell which I got until the cute little package was unwrapped.
We compared its colour against the accompanying leaflet, and concluded that it was a 希望の石 (Kibō no Ishi), or Stone of Hope.
As the tiny charm caught the sunlight, it projected a small but beautiful arch of light.
It immediately joined the other Totoro-related figurines sitting on our TV console, right beside Mei in her kawaii aquamarine raincoat.
For most people who head to Higashiyama in Kyoto, the highlight is the majestic Kiyomizudera Buddhist temple.
While we also eventually made our way there, it was merely a side quest as we made our pilgrimage to the Studio Ghibli stores in Ninenzaka and Kiyomizu.
