If you’ve found your way here, you’re probably gearing up to get your hands on Ghibli Museum tickets. I’ve dedicated a whole post to this topic because, honestly, booking tickets turned out to be one of the most stressful parts of my trip to Japan.
If the Ghibli Museum is a must-see on your list, be ready to plan your trip around it—because, as I’ve learned, you don’t choose the time slot, the time slot chooses you. Unless, of course, you are very lucky or you reside in Japan.
How to pre-plan scoring Ghibli Museum tickets
It’s important to note that Ghibli Museum tickets are released at 10 a.m. (Japan Standard Time) on the 10th of each month for the following month.
This means you will most likely only have one chance to secure tickets for your visit. Be sure to convert the time to your local time zone and have a plan to be on your devices at least half an hour before the clock hits.
To increase your chances, the first and most important step is research. I found the best place to gather information is r/JapanTravelTips on Reddit, where you can learn from other people’s experiences.
Once you’re familiar with the process, head to the Ghibli Museum tickets page and bookmark it on all your devices—desktop, mobile, and tablet—for quick access on the sales date. You can also bookmark the official Lawson tickets page. I had it saved everywhere to make sure I was ready.
There’s also a calendar on the tickets page that tells you when the museum is closed, so you can confirm it’s open during your visit. By default, the museum is closed every Tuesday.
It’s also worth recruiting a friend or two to help you secure tickets. Having a team increases your chances of success, so even if you’re travelling solo, ask a friend to assist.
Finally, don’t leave booking to the last minute—once the sales window closes (and trust me, it’s a very narrow window), your chance to visit is gone.
My Ghibli Museum tickets test-run
For my visit to Japan in October, I had booked my trip in April. After researching and shortlisting Ghibli Museum as a must-visit, I put the 10th of September in my calendar to buy the tickets. Since I had the luxury of time on my side, I decided to do a test-run in August to familiarise myself with the process ahead of the real thing.
Living in Western Australia, I was fortunate that the time difference was only one hour, meaning ticket sales opened at 9 a.m. my local time.
On the 10th of August, I had my desktop browser ready, then went off to make a coffee and prepare breakfast. By the time I finished, it was 8:58 a.m., and I had to dash back to my computer to join the queue. I was certain the odds weren’t in my favour at this point.
Surprisingly, as soon as I joined the queue at 8:59 a.m., the loading screen popped up, and I was placed at only #353 in the queue! I was super shocked that I was at the front of the line!
The website uses the Queue-it system, which places everyone in a virtual waiting room with a seemingly random number. Within a few minutes, I was able to access the calendar to pick a date and time. I was surprised to see that all the dates and times were still available!
I quickly picked a random time slot and proceeded to the next step to fill in my details. However, I exited the page before finalising the purchase, as I didn’t actually need any tickets for that test-run.
I remember thinking the process wasn’t too bad—and maybe I had just been super lucky. I crossed my fingers that I’d have the same luck the following month.
The day of getting Ghibli Museum tickets
Fast forward a month, and September 10th had finally arrived. By this time, I’d enlisted my friend and Japan travel buddy, Yvonne, to help with securing the tickets.
I was feeling pretty confident, so I upped the ante by using three devices. I logged into each one at 10-minute intervals, starting at 8:30 a.m., and Yvonne was also on three devices. With my fingers still crossed that we’d have the same luck as August, we waited anxiously for the clock to hit 9 a.m.
When the ticket sales finally opened, my tablet was at #15,220, my desktop was at #27,455, and my mobile phone was sitting at around #25,000. I was absolutely shocked and disappointed—seeing those high numbers compared to #353 last month was disheartening!
One of Yvonne’s devices was in the #7,000s, which became our only hope. At this point, I mentally prepared myself to accept that I had no chance of getting tickets—what even are these numbers?!
After waiting for about an hour, Yvonne finally got into the booking calendar. We were lucky that we had designated four days in our itinerary to choose from. In the end, we somehow managed to secure tickets for the 2 p.m. session on our least preferred day, Saturday 26th October.
Although we had to rearrange our itinerary and rebook some activities on different days—a bit of a small hassle—we were ecstatic that we had managed to get tickets!
My tablet finally made it into the calendar about 20 minutes after we’d secured our tickets, but it kept timing out. By the time I refreshed and checked what was still available, everything had sold out. This was around 1.5 hours after ticket sales had opened.
Details you will need for buying Ghibli Museum tickets
When purchasing your tickets, I recommend having the following details ready:
- Your email address and telephone number including the country code (numerical characters only without the + symbol).
- You will need a “group leader” i.e. the name of the person buying the tickets.
- The website will also ask for your arrival and departure airport and your nationality.
- You will need your credit card details—might be worth having 2 or 3 cards ready in case payment fails.
- You will also be asked for a 4-digit code as a password for your ‘My Page’ login.
Oh, and be prepared for the website to crash when you’re trying to make a payment. It happens a lot, so stay resilient and be ready to refresh if the payment page crashes on you.
Tips for securing Ghibli Museum tickets
During my research phase, I had seen many Redditors comment on the different techniques they had used to secure tickets in the months prior. Some of these tips include:
- Use multiple devices but not multiple browser tabs. Opening the ticket page in multiple tabs on the same device doesn’t help much.
- Set an alarm for 30 minutes before the tickets go on sale.
- It seems the time you enter the queue doesn’t really affect your chances (as proven by my own experience), but you must be in line before 10 a.m. (JST). If you’re not, you’ll be placed at the back of the queue once ticket sales open.
- Try to have a few days open in your itinerary to fit in the Ghibli Museum—this will give you more opportunities to get tickets if your preferred date is sold out.
- Some Redditors say using a Japan VPN gives you a better chance at being ahead in the line (I didn’t try this).
If you miss out on buying Ghibli Museum tickets
I totally sympathise if you’ve been in the queue for an hour only to find out all the tickets are sold out. It’s disappointing, but there are a few alternatives. I’ve heard about organised tours that include a visit to the Ghibli Museum, though they can be significantly more expensive than buying tickets directly from the Lawson website.
Sunrise Tours, run by JTB Tours, offers a comprehensive day tour which includes visits to several Ghibli-inspired sites. Another tour company, Willer Travel, offers a more affordable walking tour. GetYourGuide also has a few tour options.
If you happen to have a friend or contact in Japan, you could ask them to help secure tickets, as the locals have access to a different ticket website. You can also try asking your hotel reception staff—they may be able to assist in some way.
Final thoughts
Getting Ghibli Museum tickets was one of the most stressful experiences I’ve had just to visit an attraction. Was it worth the stress? For ¥1,000, absolutely! (Here’s my review of the museum.) For Ghibli fans, it’s worth it for the fascinating look into the history of the studio and the production process. The gift shop, in particular, was great because it sells one-of-a-kind items that you can’t find anywhere else.
However, the biggest drawback for me is how crowded the museum can get. Sadly, I felt like there wasn’t enough time or space to appreciate each exhibit. But this could also be because we went on a Saturday. Also, keep in mind, it’s not a theme park—so if you’re expecting to see all the well-known characters, you might be disappointed.
At the end of the day, securing Ghibli Museum tickets really comes down to pure luck. If you’re about to give it a go, I’m sending good vibes your way!
