The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2022
Ghibli Park (2022): a theme park with no rides — walking the film worlds is the show
Studio Ghibli opens a ride-free park on Aichi's 2005 Expo grounds; tickets sell out for months and the park expects 1.8 million visitors a year.
Studio Ghibli
What it had to solve
Outside developers brought Studio Ghibli conventional theme-park plans full of rides and attractions. The studio felt they were out of step with its film worlds and instead built a park inside Aichi's 2005 World Expo site, on land owned by the prefecture.
How it works
Ghibli Park opened on 1 November 2022 in Aichi Earth Expo Memorial Park, the former Expo 2005 site. It has no rides or general-admission ticket; instead, visitors walk through life-size reconstructions of Studio Ghibli film worlds, such as the Grand Warehouse, Hill of Youth, and Dondoko Forest.
The no-rides decision was deliberate. Developers proposed rides, but a spokesperson said they 'didn't feel like they were a fit with the Ghibli way'. Goro Miyazaki echoed: 'People think of it as a theme park, but I've always wanted it to be a park.' The park is a joint venture with the Chunichi Shimbun, on Aichi-owned land.
The restraint doubled as marketing. Only three of five planned areas opened first, keeping discovery. Tickets cost JPY1,000-2,500 ($7-17), below typical theme-park prices, and sold out for months. The park projects 1.8 million visitors yearly and 48 billion yen ($325 million) for the local economy.
Why it lands
- Scarcity of spectacle becomes the product: telling fans there are no rides promises something rarer than thrills — atmosphere, memory and calm.
- The constraint forces immersion: with nothing to queue for, visitors slow down and look, which matches how Miyazaki films reward patience.
- Keeping the existing nature made the park cheap and authentic: no cleared lots or fake facades, so the forest the films celebrate is the actual setting.
- Per-area pricing at a few dollars kept the park a local amenity — Goro Miyazaki wanted it 'loved by the people of Aichi' — while advance booking created controlled, sellable demand.
What it did
Advance tickets sold out until the end of the year days after opening. The park forecasts more than 1.8 million visitors a year and an estimated 48 billion yen ($325 million) boost to the local economy.
What you can take
When every competitor adds rides, subtraction can be the differentiator: promise only a place to wander, and the absence of attractions becomes the attraction itself.
Since then
Further areas were announced at opening — a Mononoke Village for 2023 and a Kiki's Delivery Service zone for 2024 — extending the park to five themed areas. The ride-free concept drew international coverage as a deliberate counterpoint to Japan's ride-heavy theme-park business, and per-area advance booking remained the stated model, with the park projecting more than 1.8 million visitors a year.
Sources
- No fun rides but plenty of spirit: Studio Ghibli offers anime fans a new walk in the park
- Ghibli Park: Long-awaited Japan attraction opens to visitors
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