Hi guys! I think the next couple posts are going to be all over the place. There’s a lot of pictures and video I want to post but I can’t muster the wit or intellectual-osity to link them in any interesting way, so here you go. And plus I’d rather do this than do homework. Homework never stops sucking, does it? In this post: Halloween and Totoro
1. Halloween: This whole month has been full of amazing Halloween decorations and it inspires such a festive autumn feeling. Usually when Halloween rolls around back home I turn into the chocolate-hating version of Scrooge #allergies. But here, there’s like this autumn classiness with their Halloween anticipation.
look at these halloween lollipops!!! they are so pretty! how much you wanna bet they taste better than a tootsie pop (guessing for the price, they better taste better! hehe)
And then there’s good old Engrish with the cute decorations:
can you read the little words at the bottom? "something nice is about to happen. something nice is about to happen..." the creepiness is implied through the cute I LOVE IT
have you ever seen a halloween cafe?!!
2. The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka: If you haven’t seen Hayao Miyazaki’s movie My Neighbor Totoro, do your inner child a favor and go watch it RIGHT NOW. I can’t say I’ve seen all his movies, but Ghibli does some magical animation. And the Ghibli Museum (Miyazaki = Studio Ghibli) is one of the most magical places on earth.
the view from inside the bus window!!!
There’s even a Ghibli bus that runs from Mitaka Station to the museum (and also makes stops at other points in town so it’s accessible and useful to the whole community…really nice touch!). On the bus, there were people of all ages, from four year olds to 80-somethings, all sticking around til the last stop: THE GHIBLI MUSEUM! The little kids could barely contain their enthusiasm; as we pulled up to the museum, they literally squealed with delight and happiness. Disney wishes he could manufacture that kind of joy. It’s not a theme park they were excited about, it was a MUSEUM. A museum made up mostly of animation exhibits, expressive architecture, and pure whimsy. A lot of the Ghibli movies just speak so much to your soul (lil cheesy, I know!) that every character and detail and color palette has a significance, so to see them re-created, or to see the process, is kind of deeply personal. Like you’re seeing how much work went into that one moment of artistic resonance. In that first pure moment when art hits you, you never really ask why it does and how. It just does. The museum invites you to revel in that first moment and tries to answer a little of the “why” and “how” with their exhibits like “A Re-creation of Inside the animator’s studio,” complete with cigarette ashtrays and wall-to-wall watercolors and sketches…but somehow you just end up with an even more exhilarating sense of curiosity. I kind of maybe might have cried at one point standing in an archway staring at the ceiling.
loved this bus, it helps get you in the magical mood!
the entrance to the museum. even the location of the museum is strategic...kind of secluded and foresty. a lot of his movies evoke the beauty of nature. those are totoro(s) at the top, it's worth it to click and see close-up if you're already a fan!
outside the museum, you can see their outdoor/rooftop exhibit from afar!
and now here i am on the roof! next to this big guy! robot or something. haven't seen this movie. someone enlighten me?? =)
also on the roof, there was a re-creation of the forest tunnel that you need to run through to find totoro in the forest. so magical and beautiful!!! and the museum's unofficial slogan is "Let's Lose Our Way Together." the romantic in me loves it. and not just because my sense of direction sucks.
oops no pictures inside please! gomenasai! it's the entry door so i guess that's ok??? totoro, please forgive me!
Ok, now I really have to do my homework, no more procrastinating! But I hope you liked the pics and hope you go watch My Neighbor Totoro ;)! Big fluffy totoro hugs from meeeee x
swoopingcurve 