Somewhere in your camera roll there’s a screenshot of a Ghibli frame you saved because it looked like how a feeling feels. The Catbus grinning in the rain. Howl’s castle wheezing across a hillside. You’ve never been able to explain why those films land the way they do, and you’ve stopped trying.
Now there’s a version of that you can walk through. The Story of Studio Ghibli opens at Gardens by the Bay on 18 December 2026, and Singapore gets it first, before anywhere else in the world.
12 Worlds, 3,500 Square Metres
The exhibition takes over nearly 3,500 square metres of the West Lawn with 12 life-sized recreated worlds, which makes the Singapore run the largest presentation of The Story of Studio Ghibli so far. That’s the whole pitch in one number, and it’s a big one for a walk-through show.
The films represented read like a starter pack for anyone who has ever fallen down a Ghibli rabbit hole: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and The Boy and the Heron.
Of everything announced so far, two things are worth the ticket on their own. The first is the eight-metre-tall three-dimensional recreation of the bathhouse from Spirited Away, billed as a world first. Eight metres is roughly two and a half storeys of HDB block, built as a physical object rather than projected onto a wall. The second is the Ohmu from Nausicaä, the enormous armoured insect whose eyes glow blue when it calms down. Getting that creature right at full scale is a genuinely hard build, and it’s the one that will tell you how seriously this production takes its source material.
There’s also the Totoro set piece, where visitors stand beside him waiting for the Catbus. You already know the shot. Everyone is going to take it.
What It Costs, and the Gap Worth Knowing
Here’s where it gets interesting for anyone in Singapore. Singapore citizens and permanent residents pay S$39 for an adult ticket and S$29 concession, which covers seniors aged 65 and above and children aged three to 12. Standard admission runs S$49 adult off-peak and S$55 at peak, with concession at S$43 and S$49 respectively.
For comparison, a Premium all-area day pass at Ghibli Park in Aichi costs ¥7,300 on weekdays and ¥7,800 on weekends in 2026, somewhere around S$65 to S$70 before you’ve even bought the flight. The Singapore resident price is a little over half that.
Buy an adult ticket during the Early Bird window from 12 September to 17 December 2026 and it comes with a limited-edition gift, while stocks last. Klook is the official ticketing partner for the Singapore run.
One practical note: the exhibition is a standalone ticketed experience on the West Lawn. Flower Dome, Cloud Forest, and the Supertree Observatory are separate paid attractions at Gardens by the Bay, so factor those in if you were planning to make a full day of it. The outdoor gardens and Supertree Grove remain free.
Who’s Actually Building This
The show is produced by TSUKURU, INC. and M Experience, with support from the Singapore Tourism Board. TSUKURU was founded in 2023 and runs out of Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, working in intellectual property management and content production. M Experience has delivered immersive exhibitions across Asia, including previous Studio Ghibli shows, and has worked with partners like Neon Global and Tencent.
“The Story of Studio Ghibli is not simply an exhibition to be viewed. It is an experience to be felt,” said Sean Lim, CEO of M Experience, in the release announcing ticket sales.
Ms Guo Teyi, Director of Leisure Events at the Singapore Tourism Board, framed it as a draw for the region: “Events of this calibre contribute to Singapore’s vibrancy, adding to our line-up of world-class experiences.”
Studio Ghibli itself was founded in 1985 by Isao Takahata, Hayao Miyazaki, and Toshio Suzuki, and has made 25 feature films. Spirited Away took the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003. The Boy and the Heron took the same award, plus a Golden Globe and a BAFTA, in 2024.
A Fair Warning About Immersive Shows
Gardens by the Bay has hosted big ticketed pop-ups before, and the reviews are worth reading before you commit. Avatar: The Experience ran there from October 2022 to March 2023, and reactions split hard along fan lines. One travel guide called it “essentially a branded walk-through exhibit” and argued the SGD 28 ticket bought a 30-minute experience that was forgettable unless you already loved the films. Other visitors raved about the interactive elements and the sense of stepping into the world.
The lesson is straightforward. These shows deliver for the people who already care, and The Story of Studio Ghibli has a built-in advantage there because almost everyone under 40 cares about at least one of these films. When we rounded up must-see exhibitions to start 2025, the Ghibli show at ArtScience Museum was the one readers kept coming back to.
The run is long, which helps. 18 December 2026 to 4 July 2027 is nearly seven months, so there’s no need to fight the opening-week crowds. Go in February, go on a weekday morning, and give the bathhouse the time it deserves.
🗓️ Date: 18 December 2026 to 4 July 2027
⏰ Time: 10am to 7pm daily
📍 Location: Gardens by the Bay, West Lawn, 18 Marina Gardens Drive, Singapore 018953
🎟️ Tickets: S$39 adult and S$29 concession for Singapore citizens and PRs; standard admission from S$49 off-peak to S$55 peak, concession S$43 to S$49
🎁 Early Bird: Adult tickets bought from 12 September to 17 December 2026 include a limited-edition gift, while stocks last
🌏 Scale: 12 life-sized worlds across nearly 3,500 square metres, including an eight-metre bathhouse recreation
If you’re the sort of person who has rewatched Kiki’s Delivery Service on a bad day, put 12 September in your calendar as the date the Early Bird window opened and 17 December as the date it shuts, because that gift only lasts while stocks do. Tickets for The Story of Studio Ghibli are live now on Klook, the official ticketing partner, and doors open at Gardens by the Bay on 18 December 2026.
Visuals courtesy of The Story of Studio Ghibli.
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