Ghibli Park: Encounters with Totoro and Laputa’s Robots with Dr. Jeff DuBois (Online)

Please join us for  “Ghibli Park: Encounters with Totoro and Laputa’s Robots” with Dr. Jeff DuBois on Thursday, September 14 at 6:00 p.m. on Zoom.

(Photo: Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo)

Ghibli Park, a theme park devoted to the world of Studio Ghibli, opened in November 2022 to much anticipation. Located within the site of the Aichi World Expo of 2005, Ghibli Park has few of the usual attractions of theme parks such as rollercoasters, performances, or even the high cost of entry tickets. Instead, visitors can inhabit spaces that resemble the world as experienced by the characters of Ghibli movies, whether by visiting Seiji’s violin workshop from Whisper of the Heart (Mimi o Sumaseba, 1995) or rummaging through Mei and Satsuki’s house from My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro, 1988). This presentation introduces Ghibli Park from the perspective of one of the first Minnesota families to enter the park during the month it opened. It will also give larger context to Studio Ghibli and its history, its Tokyo-based Ghibli Museum, and what it means for Ghibli co-founder Miyazaki Hayao to have just released his final film before retirement.

Ticket Price

$8 for Non-Member

Free for Member

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Dr. Jeff DuBois is Associate Professor of Japanese Studies at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University. His research and teaching interests include the Japanese emperor, nuclear issues, literature, folklore, film, anime, and language. He has taught Ghibli films extensively in his Anime and Folklore classes, brought groups of students to the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo, and directed a semester-long study abroad program in Tokyo during Fall 2022.

(Photo: Jeff DuBois in Mei-Satsuki house)