The first sentence I lead to Japan , I was in the air longer than I was on the priming . It was for a press eventand while I walked around a bit , between sleep and work I did n’t really get to see anything . So when Lucasfilm announced thatStar WarsCelebration was go to be in Japan in April 2025 , I took it as a foretoken . I ’m change by reversal 45 in April and a trip-up to Japan foraStar Warsconventionsounded like a fun means to lionise .
But I was n’t gon na make the same mistake again — no quick tripper in and out . This time , I ’m staying longer , giving me a chance to visit the routine one property on my Japan bucket list : the Studio Ghibli Museum . The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka ( not to be confused with the park in Nagoya ) is somewhere I ’ve wanted to go for as long as I ’ve known it existed . Not many of my favored film studio ( Lucasfilm , Pixar , Marvel , Amblin , Aardman ) have consecrate tourist localisation you’re able to visit without knowing someone on the inside , so this was something I was n’t going to miss . As shortly as the determination was made to actually travel to Japan , I start bring through up — and doing my research . I find out that museum ticket go on sale at 10 a.m. Tokyo clip on the 10th of the month before . So , probably back in August 2024 or so , I put the words “ GHIBLI MUSEUM TICKETS MARCH 10 ” as the only matter to do on my calendar this past weekend .
As the date got close , I get the picture a bit deeper . I obtain the site . Signed up for something where I had to “ S phosphorus A C eastward M Y N A M E ” like that before realizing it was the incorrect website ( peradventure the one for local sales ) and did n’t want to do all that . I watched a few YouTube video ( this one in especial was salutary ) , discover the right site for international sales(this is the right site ) , and waited for the day in question .
Me after getting those tickets.Image: Studio Ghibli
But what day was I look for ? I soon realized that 10 a.m. in Tokyo is the twenty-four hours before in the United States . Plus , my specific weekend was the first day of daytime economy time . It was n’t until the morning of March 9 that I could confidently say that the tag would be available at 6 p.m. local fourth dimension in Los Angeles , California . I was quick .
Now , before I break this down in more point , a few crucial things . You have to bang what 24-hour interval you are available to assist . The tickets are sold in specific time and day stop and some of the more popular days / times trade out chop-chop . Also , it ’s usually closed at least one day a week . So look at your trip and picture out at least one or two days that are flexible enough that you’re able to get ticket at any clock time and still be happy . That ’s one .
The other thing is recitation . If you’re able to , sample and go through the process in the calendar month or two before your days become available , just so you are familiar with it all . I did not do this and it added to my stress , which is crazy because I ’ve been buy circumscribed - edition post horse , toys , all that kind of stuff for basically 20 years . I ’m also something of an expert on San Diego Comic - Con hotel reservations , a notoriously hard task . Buying two tickets to a museum that accommodates thousands in any windowpane over two full days did n’t feel like an impossible project . I have experience . The take was if I did n’t get them , there was n’t any good second option . The Ghibli site is pretty clear about secondary market ticket not being ideal and the name on the ticket have to match your name . Surely , if I drop more , I could visualise it out . There are always ways . But I did n’t need to deal with that . In my mind , I had one shot at this and I wish I had practiced .
The image at the top of the museum page. – Studio Ghibli
The day arrived . A few hours before the ticket live on on sale , the site addedthe April dates and gave you a look at what specifically you had to come home . you’re able to select dates , times , and even see the type of slate before the land site stops you . So I did that a few times as anxiousness continued to build up . The key consequence , however , is 30 minute before the sale . That ’s when the website gets make over by Queue - It . waiting line - It is a devilish companythat I detest very much because it does a very in effect job at being very fair about high - demand events like this . It ’s the one I ’ve been consider with for years for Comic - Con hotels . So while Queue - It is my opposition , it ’s an foe I respect .
In this 30 - minute window , the key is to unfold as many different devices or internet browser as possible . You ca n’t just give different tabs . They have to be different profile entirely . Each of these has to be loose to the ticketing site that you’re able to see counting down to the top of the hour . The main thing to check is that the unique ID number at the bottom of the page is unlike from all the residuum you have open . If so , that ’s dear . That ’s its own entry .
You require this because each internet browser / gimmick is another cast of the dice . Once the countdown hits 0 , Queue - It takes every single person on that Sir Frederick Handley Page at that clip — no matter when they arrived on the pageboy , mind you — and sorts them into a random order . So someone will immediately get put onto the ticket pageboy and others will see that there are ten-spot of thousands of people ahead of them and the hold is over an 60 minutes . The Queue - It site keeps you well - informed on all that with an evil little person walk .
An admittedly crude screencap of my computer screen in the queue – io9/Gizmodo
But , if you have multiple devices / browsers all opened to the page before the on - sale time , each one counts as a different entry . One might get 35,000 , and one might get 1,300 , which just so take place to be the highest and lowest numbers I stimulate on my serial of devices . So while I let the higher numbers operate as a backup , I focus on my good and lowest incoming .
The Ghibli Museum , the reason we ’re doing all this , is usually open six Clarence Day a calendar week and has four time slots per twenty-four hours ( 10 , 12 , 2 , 4 ) . I was aiming for either a Thursday or a Friday , with the earliest slot uncommitted . So , after 10 minutes of waiting , 1,300 people forrader of me correspond out and it was my turn .
Hopefully at this point , you ’ve already done this part — but if not , it ’s go time . You click a few pages and get to the big calendar with all the dates . On here you ’ll see all the time slot with one of three symbols . An “ O ” is available . A trigon mean close to sell out and an “ X ” is sold out . The 10 a.m. time slot on my first choice day was already a trilateral but I unwisely went for it anyway . I filled everything in , got to the credit card and , alas , it sell out . Onto noon I went . At this pointedness — and this has changed over the years — you need a few thing . You need a date and fourth dimension , of course . You need to bang which variety of ticket you want ( it ’s historic period - dependent ) . You need the email and name of the primary somebody responsible for the tickets ( of which you’re able to only buy six ) , and you will need to know which airdrome you are flying in and out of in Tokyo . Why ? I ’m not certain . But you ’ll have to fill that out along with your nationality .
A screenshot of the, now sold-out, April Ghibli Museum calendar. – Studio Ghibli
You ’ll also have to define up an chronicle with a four - character password ( you ca n’t do this before I do n’t guess , but it ’s super leisurely and on the same page ) and then pay . The tickets are comparatively chintzy ( only 1000 yen for adults , which is about $ 7 ) but can only be purchased via credit circuit board . Now , this is a key I learned from the YouTube videos . Most credit card companies will see a ostensibly random charge from a extraneous area pop up , flag it as fraud , and your carte du jour will be denied . This is not a near thing , specially when there ’s a tick clock . So , call your reference card company a few Clarence Day early ( or maybe two if you have them ) and tell them that on this day you are go away to buy something from Japan . And while you have them on the phone , give them your full travel dates too . It ca n’t ache .
Once the credit card is accepted , voila ! You have tickets to the Ghibli Museum . You then have to get at them with your new account info and impress out a substantiation with a QR computer code ( it ’s stressed that you should publish it out , in all probability so you do n’t have to worry about earpiece data ) . That ’s your just the ticket .
After months of anxiety and stress , the genuine ticket - purchasing process only took me 15 minutes . I was very lucky but I was also prepare . I catch my first - choice 24-hour interval and second - choice time . My other browser app , however , were not so fortunate . Just as an experimentation , I let a second browser app that had a number in the 20,000s enumeration all the mode down . It hire a minuscule over an hr to enter the tickets and while there were some times still useable for my Thursday and Friday , they were later in the good afternoon and most weekend dates were sold out . An hr after that , the whole month was gone .
Nothing but happy faces at this point. – Studio Ghibli
To recap , here are my large summit to get Ghibli Museum ticketson the prescribed website .
It ’s as “ simple ” as that . Yes , I ’m joke . But , hopefully , all the stress was worth it . I ’ll discover out next month when I ’m in Japan .
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