Shopping Guide
Director Hayao Miyazaki, who has given the world such masterpieces as My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away and many more, has been working on an Edogawa Ranpo-themed exhibit entitled “Welcome to the Ghost Tower –The Road to Popular Culture–.” Though director Miyazaki has previously planned and organized exhibitions for the museum, this is his most recent project.
The newly designed exhibit will open on Saturday, May 30, 2015. Miyazaki aims to introduce the setting of the story with the “clock tower” and some of the intrigue of Edogawa Ranpo’s novel, Ghost Tower, with his comic panel. Miyazaki hopes to introduce the fun and the intrigue of Ranpo’s novel in this exhibit. And, Miyazaki will introduce the setting of Ghost Tower through his own illustrated comic panels featuring the “clock tower.”
Edogawa Ranpo was born in 1894, and produced The Fiend with Twenty Faces and The Boy Detectives Club series of juvenile novels as well as numerous original mystery masterpieces, such as The Case of the Murder on D. Hill and his debut piece, The Two-Sen Copper Coin, before passing away in 1965. For many years, his works had and still have a big influence in the world of Japanese detective literature.
In regards to the story of Ghost Tower, it was actually based on a British mystery novel. A Woman in Grey, by the British author A.M. Williamson, was published in 1898 and then adapted by the Japanese translator and writer Shuroku Kuroiwa, also known as Ruiko Kuroiwa. Afterwards, it was revised once again in 1937 by Edogawa Ranpo. It is said that Hayao Miyazaki first encountered Ghost Tower when he was in junior high school, and the story greatly impressed him. It was so inspiring that the clock tower and romance from Ghost Tower greatly influenced the setting in Miyazaki’s first theatrical production, Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro.
Director Miyazaki is responsible for the planning and organizing of this exhibit. For this reason, Miyazaki reread the novel after 60 years, and made sure that Ghost Tower represents the path to popular culture, or how something becomes mainstream.
In the exhibition, the director uses manga that he illustrated to explain how he arrived at this conclusion. Also, the gigantic “clock tower” designed by Miyazaki can be seen in the main hall. There is another exciting feature, too! Once you climb up the spiral staircase and face the exhibition room, there is a maze created to look like an underground labyrinth in which treasure might be hidden. At the end of the maze is a diorama for the movie Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro. The layout of the exhibition will be more like an entertainment space, not just a display.
Director Miyazaki’s large-scale project is sure to draw a lot of attention. And for that reason, please pay close attention to information concerning how to obtain tickets.
Tickets are only available through reservation. Furthermore, summer 2015 tickets will go on sale earlier through a lottery. Since comments like, “I couldn’t get a ticket,” are frequent during the busy summer season, this lottery was created to offer more fans a chance to purchase tickets. The exhibition is scheduled to continue until May 2016.
Welcome to the Ghost Tower Exhibit –The Road to Popular Culture–
Exhibition Dates: Saturday, May 5, 2015 – May 2016 (Planned)
Special Cooperation: Studio Ghibli © Nibariki © Museo d'Arte Ghibli
■ How to Purchase (Reserved Admission) Tickets for the Mitaka Forest Ghibli Museum
(1) On the 10th day of each month (in the case of Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays, it will be the following weekday), tickets for the following month will be available for purchase at Lawson convenience stores across Japan. You can reserve tickets over the counter, with Loppi, on the phone, or online.
(2) In regards to admission tickets for the 2015 summer vacation season only, a lottery sale will precede the sales that occur every 10th day of the month. Lottery entries for July admission tickets will start being accepted from Monday, May 25 by phone or online, while applicants for August admission tickets will begin Thursday, June 25.
Welcome to the Ghost Tower Exhibit
© Nibariki
© Museo d'Arte Ghibli
Source: animeanime