Meeting Totoro part II I Wish I Could Stay Forever page 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 This wasn’t the top of the building, however. To the left of the giant catbus was a spiral staircase that took you to the roof. I climbed it ever so carefully, and standing vigil over the rooftop garden was a life-sized robot from Castle in the Sky. I was spellbound, as it looked very Iron Giant. I walked up to get a closer look, trying very carefully not to ruin any pictures. Lots of people were posing next to it and getting their picture taken. Hey yeah! I’m outside the museum! Rules say no pictures inside. I whipped out my camera and started snapping pictures of the robot. Sadly, this was still at the point when I didn’t have the courage to walk up to strangers and say, “Could you take my picture please?” The Robot on the Roof From the top of the museum, I surveyed the surrounding park. The museum planners were brilliant when they decided to put the museum in a park. The hustle and bustle of the typical Japanese city was so far; so distant. Directly below me was the museum courtyard. It looked like that would be my next destination. The Front Entrance I went back down the spiral staircase to the third level. No line at the glass elevator, so I rode it down to the main hall, savouring every moment. I consulted my map to find out how to get to the courtyard. The Courtyard Scanned from the Ghibli Museum Souvenir Booklet Oh, I was lucky that it was such a sunny day. The courtyard was modest. You could tell that they’d gone out of their way to give it a distinct “out in the country” flavour. In the center of the courtyard was good old fashioned hand pump, and children were furiously pumping it and watching the water splash on the ground. It made me smile. A staple of my childhood was such a novelty to these people! Speaking of staples of my childhood, I saw a museum employee head over to the nearby woodpile and start chopping wood. I’d been told that fireplaces are rare things in Japan, and the museum literature makes great mention of the fact that they have a working woodstove in the restaurant. I stood for a moment and watched the employee attempt to chop wood. I tried not to laugh as he was doing it so completely wrong and making no leeway in splitting logs. I mused with walking over, taking the axe from him, and showing him how it was done, but ultimately decided against it. But still, I wonder how he would have reacted? The Woodcutter Out in the courtyard was the requisite overpriced restaurant. I’d heard quite a bit about the restaurant. One of my students even told me that they have a microbrewery inside, and he suggested I try their very own Ghibli brew. However, the line for the restaurant was incredibly long, and I wasn’t very hungry. Besides, it was just about time for the movie. The Straw Hat Cafe 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 <<Previous Page | Next Page>> Return to the Columns Page © Mark Sladen Cappis, 2005