Studio Ghibli in Japan: real locations behind Spirited Away, Totoro, Mononoke

The first time I walked into Dogo Onsen, in Matsuyama, it was on purpose. I had flown 14h from São Paulo to Tokyo, plus 1h20 by plane to Matsuyama, in Shikoku — the smallest and least visited of Japan's four main islands. I didn't go for the onsen. I went because I wanted to know if the Spirited Away bathhouse was there.

The answer is: yes and no.

Yes, because Miyazaki himself said Dogo Onsen, together with the Notoyaryokan in Nagano, was one of the visual references for Yubaba's building. No, because Dogo Onsen has three floors and is built entirely of dark wood, while the bathhouse in the film is red, golden, monumental, with nine floors and a terrace where gods arrive by boat. Dogo Onsen is the whisper. Spirited Away is the shout.

And that's how it works with every Studio Ghibli location.

Hayao Miyazaki doesn't copy places. Miyazaki looks at a place until he understands what makes it that place, and then draws what he saw, with the rest invented. Anyone who goes after the location expecting to recognise a frame from the film comes back frustrated. Anyone who goes after the location expecting to recognise Miyazaki's gaze, that traveller comes back with the whole trip rearranged.

This guide is for that second kind of traveller.

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Dogo Onsen — Spirited Away (Matsuyama, Shikoku)

Dogo Onsen Honkan is the building. It has over 3,000 years of documented use as hot springs. The current building dates from 1894, three wooden floors, a roof in several levels, a square structure with that feeling of something that grew by addition rather than by plan. That "grown by addition" is exactly what Miyazaki captured.

You enter through the basic level (Kami-no-Yu, 460 yen, common public bath). For about 1,270 yen, you go up to Tama-no-Yu, more reserved, with tea and a biscuit included in the lounge. You're going to see the place, not to bathe — so pay the full package and use the entire two hours wandering the floors, seeing the Emperor's private rooms (Yushinden), the corridors, the narrow staircase.

Route from Tokyo: flight Haneda → Matsuyama (1h20, ~$120 one way). Tram nº 5 from Matsuyama station to Dogo Onsen Eki (25min, 170 yen). From there, 3 minutes walking through the covered arcade.

Best month: October or November. The onsen calls for cold outside, heat inside. Summer (June–August) is too humid in Shikoku.

Total round-trip cost from Tokyo: ~$360 including flight, two nights of accommodation, meals, onsen. Worth combining with Hiroshima (ferry) or the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage if you can spend 4-5 days.

Important warning: the main building went into renovation in 2019 and part is still closed to visitors. In 2026, two of the three floors are accessible. Before booking tickets, check the official site.

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Jiufen — the visual confusion of Spirited Away (Taiwan, not Japan)

Jiufen, in Taiwan, is the mining village on a mountainside, with red lanterns and narrow alleys, that everyone on Instagram calls "the Spirited Away village". Miyazaki personally said he had never been to Jiufen before making the film. In 2016, he gave an interview where he explicitly denied the inspiration.

Even so, Jiufen became a pilgrimage. A-Mei teahouse (the one at the top of the steps, with red lanterns) has a two-hour queue on weekends. Worth it? Yes, if you're already in Taipei — it's 1h30 by bus, an easy full day. No, if you're going to detour from Japan for it.

If you go, pick a weekday, late afternoon (arrive 4pm, leave 8pm). The lanterns come on around 6pm and you get an hour of magic light. Lunch: peanut ice cream wrap with cilantro at the kiosks on the main street. Cost: ~$15 with transport, tea and meals.

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Sayama Hills — Tonari no Totoro (1h from Tokyo)

Sayama Hills, west of Tokyo (Saitama prefecture, on the Tokyo border), is the forest where Miyazaki wrote Totoro. He lived nearby, walked there for years, and the rural landscape — satoyama, that Japanese mosaic of woodland + rice paddy + farmhouse — became the whole scenery of the film. Mei and Satsuki's house, the shrine where Totoro sleeps, the path to school, all of it was born here.

And the best part: Sayama Hills still exists almost intact. A foundation called the Totoro Forest Foundation has been buying parcels over the years to stop it becoming a housing estate. There are official marked trails, a discreet Totoro totem at one of the entrances, and Kurosuke's House — a restored old farmhouse that is the unofficial Totoro visitor centre.

Route from Tokyo: Seibu-Ikebukuro line from Ikebukuro to Seibu-Kyujo-mae (45min, 320 yen). From there, 15 minutes walking to the Sayama Hills entrance.

Best month: April (sakura on the edges + green rice paddy) or November (autumn foliage). Avoid July-August, it's humid and the mosquitoes are no joke.

Total cost: ~$6 round trip. Lunch at a local soba shop: ~$10. Full day under $20. It's the cheapest and most authentic Ghibli location there is.

A heads up: Sayama Hills has no sign saying "Totoro here". It's real satoyama. You'll walk through rice paddies, oak woods, small shrines. If you need a "look, Totoro", go to Ghibli Park. If you want to understand why Totoro exists, go to Sayama Hills.

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Kaminokuni and the house from the film — Hokkaido (northern Totoro variant)

There's also a theory, less confirmed but loved by fans, that the specific house in the film — the one with the gabled roof and the back garden — was inspired by rural houses in Hokkaido, particularly in the Kaminokuni region. It works as a variant if you're already heading to Hokkaido (for the Sapporo Snow Festival in February, or Furano lavender in July). It doesn't justify a trip on its own.

Route: Shinkansen Tokyo → Hakodate (4h, ~12,000 yen), then local bus to Kaminokuni (1h30).

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Yakushima — Princess Mononoke (island of thousand-year cedars)

Yakushima is a subtropical island south of Kyushu, UNESCO World Heritage since 1993, covered in cedars (sugi) over a thousand years old. The oldest, the Jomon Sugi, is between 2,000 and 7,200 years old (the range is wide because carbon dating doesn't match ring counting, and nobody wants to cut the tree open to check). Miyazaki spent weeks in Yakushima before Princess Mononoke. The Shishigami forest, with that luminous green moss carpet and twisted trees, is Yakushima almost literally.

The most famous trail is the Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine, specifically the "Taiko-iwa Course" variant, which is the sister-landscape of the film's central scene. 4-5h hike round trip, medium difficulty.

Route from Tokyo: flight Haneda → Kagoshima (1h50, ~$150). From Kagoshima, fast ferry to Yakushima (1h50, 9,700 yen one way) or short flight (35min, more expensive). Minimum 3 days on the island.

Best month: October is the sweet spot. Lighter rain, mild temperature, moss at its peak. Yakushima is "the island that rains 35 days a month" — it will rain, that's part of the trip. May also works. Avoid June-July (heavy rainy season) and January-February (snow at the top closes trails).

Total cost: ~$700 with flights, three nights of minshuku (family inn), certified guide for Taiko-iwa, meals. The guide is almost mandatory for Jomon Sugi, optional for Shiratani.

Yakushima is the most transforming Ghibli location. You leave it with the same feeling the film leaves: that the forest has a consciousness of its own.

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Tomonoura — Ponyo (coastal village in Hiroshima)

Tomonoura is a fishing village on the coast of Hiroshima prefecture where Miyazaki spent two months in 2005 sketching the first drafts of Ponyo. The whole village is the inspiration: the small port, the houses on top of the rock, the old lighthouse, the boats. The tone of Tomo-no-ura has survived almost intact.

Route: Shinkansen Tokyo → Fukuyama (4h, ~17,000 yen), then a 30min bus to Tomonoura.

Best month: May or October. Summer is packed with Japanese domestic tourism.

Cost: ~$280 round trip with overnight stay and meals. Combine with Hiroshima, Miyajima and Onomichi for a 4-5 day Chugoku route.

Locations outside Japan (Ghibli's European side)

A significant part of the Ghibli imagination lives outside Japan. Miyazaki is a declared Europhile, especially of medieval architecture and Mediterranean landscape. Three foreign locations are firmly established in his work:

Howl's Moving Castle — Colmar (Alsace, France) Sophie's town was born in Colmar, with those crooked colourful houses and the La Petite Venise canal. Miyazaki visited in 2004 and sketched there. Flight Paris → Strasbourg + 30min train. Best time: December (Christmas market) or May (colour and light). Europe cost: ~$1,200 for a full 7-day trip.

Kiki's Delivery Service — Visby (Sweden) + Stockholm Koriko, the medieval port town where Kiki delivers bread, is Visby (island of Gotland) in structure, with Stockholm elements at the port. Miyazaki visited both in 1985. Visby is UNESCO World Heritage, best visited in June-July (Scandinavian summer, 19h of daylight).

Castle in the Sky — Cinque Terre (Italy) + Wales (UK) Laputa, the floating city, has clear architectural inspiration in Cinque Terre and in mining villages in north Wales (Miyazaki visited Wales in 1984, during the miners' strike, and it left a mark). Castle in the Sky is the film with the most diffuse foreign inspiration — there is no single "Laputa" to visit.

If you're a hardcore fan, consider a dedicated Europe-Ghibli trip: Colmar → Visby → Cinque Terre in 12-14 days. Cost: ~$3,600.

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Ghibli Park — Aichi (Nagoya outskirts)

Ghibli Park opened in November 2022 inside the former Aichi Expo Park, near Nagoya. It's not a traditional theme park — no rollercoasters, no character meet-and-greet queues. It's a park-museum, with five areas (Hill of Youth, Dondoko Forest, Mononoke Village, Witch Valley, Valley of Witches) that recreate the studio's settings at real scale inside the forest.

In 2026, Ghibli Park still requires tickets bought 3-4 months in advance. There are quotas per area, per day, per slot. The system is via Boo-Woo Ticket (official).

Route from Tokyo: Shinkansen Tokyo → Nagoya (1h40, 10,500 yen), then Linimo (magnetic train) to Ai-Chikyuhaku-Kinen-Koen (25min).

Best month: April (sakura) or November (foliage). Avoid Aichi's summer, the hottest in Japan.

Cost: ticket per area 1,500-2,500 yen, multi-area ~7,300 yen. Full day with transport and meals: ~$100 from Tokyo.

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Ghibli Museum — Mitaka (Tokyo)

The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka is the original museum, opened in 2001, designed by Miyazaki himself. It's small, it's intimate, and it requires tickets bought exactly 1 month before, on the 10th at 10am Japan time (lottery system via Lawson tickets). Tickets sell out within minutes.

There's a room where exclusive Ghibli shorts play, not available anywhere else. Each visitor sees a different short depending on the day. That's the highlight.

Route: JR Chuo line train to Mitaka station (20min from Shinjuku), then yellow Ghibli Museum bus (10min, 210 yen) or a walk through Inokashira park (25min, recommended).

Cost: 1,000 yen adult ticket. Combine with lunch in Kichijoji, the neighbouring district.

We've already covered Tokyo for people who like quiet neighbourhoods in our guide Tokyo at 5am — Kichijoji fits naturally in there too.

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Studio Ghibli Cafés (Tokyo + Osaka)

Official and semi-official themed cafés:

• Studio Ghibli Donguri Republic — official stores in Tokyo (Shibuya, Ikebukuro Sunshine City) and Osaka. Not a café, it's a shop, but with little corners with Totoro coffee and themed sweets.
• Shirohige's Cream Puff Factory (Setagaya, Tokyo) — unofficial café but licensed by the Miyazaki family to make Totoro-shaped cream puffs. Setagaya-Daita stop, Odakyu line.

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Combining Ghibli locations with Sakura

If you're catching sakura season (cherry blossom) and want to fit Ghibli into the itinerary, the recommended calendar is:

• Late March: Tokyo (Ghibli Museum + Sayama Hills + sakura in Inokashira Park)
• Early April: Kyoto + Nagoya (Ghibli Park with sakura)
• Mid April: if time allows, flight to Matsuyama (Dogo Onsen)

For exact bloom dates by city in 2027, check our guide Sakura in Japan 2027: official dates by city. The Ghibli Park window in Aichi usually falls between 28 March and 6 April.

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How to build a full themed trip

Suggested 14-day Ghibli-only itinerary in Japan:

• Day 1-3: Tokyo (Ghibli Museum, Sayama Hills, Inokashira Park)
• Day 4-5: Nagoya/Aichi (Ghibli Park two days to cover the five areas)
• Day 6-7: Kyoto (rest, temples, Ghibli café in Osaka)
• Day 8-9: Matsuyama (Dogo Onsen)
• Day 10-11: Hiroshima + Tomonoura (Ponyo)
• Day 12-14: Yakushima (Princess Mononoke)

Estimated total cost per person, excluding international flight: ~$2,800-3,600 with mid-range accommodation (business hotels + one minshuku in Yakushima), all meals, rail transport (buy 14-day JR Pass before boarding), tickets, domestic flights.

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What not to do

• Don't go expecting to recognise exact scenes. You'll be frustrated at every location. Miyazaki transforms the place — the place is the seed, not the photo.
• Don't try the Ghibli Museum without a ticket bought 1 month in advance. No queue on the day. No tickets at the box office. You simply don't get in.
• Don't go to Yakushima without boots, a rain jacket and a second pair of socks. It's wet. Always. Your everyday running shoes will betray you in the first half hour of trail.
• Don't confuse Jiufen with Spirited Away. Go to Jiufen if you're already in Taiwan. Don't detour from Japan for it.
• Don't go to the Studio Ghibli Building in Higashi-Koganei. It's the production office. It's private. No visits. You'll only see a grey door and polite security asking you to leave.

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The truth about Ghibli locations

The best Studio Ghibli location is none of the ones I listed. It's the way to get there. It's the regional train to Sayama Hills with three grandmothers coming back from the market. It's the ferry to Yakushima where a woman silently offers you tea for 1h50. It's the Dogo Onsen waiting room where an old man in a blue yukata reads the paper as if time didn't exist.

Miyazaki didn't draw locations. He drew the way Japan looks at its own everyday life. The locations are everywhere. You just have to walk slowly enough to notice.

And that's where the Voyspark rule comes back: good travel isn't about going to places. It's about how you walk through them.