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[Japan] Satsuki and Mei's House in Nagoya

by - January 06, 2014

 Note: I just got back earlier this week from an amazing 23 days trip in Japan. I will be blogging in details about Japan so please bare with me as there's a lot of things to blog about. I'll also be creating a Japan trip guide, along with blogging about the restaurants that I went to. It won't necessarily be in order but the entire itinerary will be posted up eventually.

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It was an incredibly long journey getting from Hiroshima to Nagoya. We got up around 7 am and got ready for the day. We went downstairs to the lobby around 8 am, and asked one of the hotel staff to call us a taxi. The taxi quickly got us to JR Hiroshima Station and only cost us $10 CAD. It was completely worth it as we would have been late for the JR train had we taken public transportation.



The JR Rail Pass was valid for this trip, so we went directly downstairs to track #14, and got on the Shinkansen Sakura which took us to Himeji Station. From Himeji Station, we transferred onto the Shinkansen Hikari, which went straight to Nagoya. The duration of the trip took 163 minutes which is a long time to be on board of a train.



It is highly recommended that you buy the tickets to view Satsuki and Mei's House beforehand, as only a limited amount of tickets are sold at the location. You can buy the tickets at any Lawson (a convenience store chain in Japan) for a mere ¥500. I find it amusing that the trip getting to the house costs substantially more than the entrance ticket itself.



Anyways, we booked for the 12:30 pm showing. However, by the time that we reached the Ai - World Fair Memorial Park; it was already 1 pm. Ohhh nooooo, we had missed it =( 

I was pretty devastated as it took us more than 3 hours to get to Nagoya, and we wouldn't be able to join the tour. Fortunately the two ladies at the front desk were very friendly, and they allowed us in despite out time has passed. I am very grateful to the both of them because this one of the many places that I had really anticipated on seeing.


Sat, Dec 28, 2013 (Day #19)

Satsuki and Mei's House [Expo 2005 Aichi Japan]


My Neighbor Totoro is a 1988 animated production written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It's a childhood favorite of many people and I have seen many shops dedicated to selling Totoro merchandise while in Japan.

I never grew up watching My Neighbor Totoro, and just watched it for the first time about four years ago. Since then, I have watched it three times. I can see why people still enjoy this film even as they grow older; it's such a whimsical tale.


Satsuki and Mei’s House is located in the middle of a park that was used for the grounds of the Expo 2005 Aichi Japan. In order to get to the house, one  needs to get to Nagoya Station, and then take the Higashiyama Line (Nagoya City Subway) to Fujigaoka Station (¥290, 30 min). From Fujigaoka Station; transfer onto the Linimo monorail and get off at Aichikyūhaku-kinen-kōen Station. The Linimo will cost ¥340 each person and it's a 15 minute ride.

My stuffed Chu Totoro plushie enjoying his ride on the Nagoya's Linimo =)

Ai - World Fair Memorial Park.


 Visitors were que into two lines to get into Satsuki and Mei's House; A and B.

 The house is an exact replica of the 1950's Showa-era house from the popular animated film. It's amazing how detailed the house really is; from the rotten pillar, the pink colored roof, the bucket with the hole, the back of the home, and down to the father's western-styled study room.



I screen-capped this scene from the animated movie, My Neighbor Totoro.

Pictures were not permitted inside of the house, but you can take all the pictures that you want standing from the outside.

Chu Totoro posing with the rotten pillar; the same one where Satsuki and Mei were seen laughing around in the film.

I screen-capped this scene from the animated movie, My Neighbor Totoro.

The details of the 1950's Showa-era house was amazing!

Chu Totoro posing with Satsuki and Mei's father's sandals. Isn't he so fat and cute? The bf got him for me when we were in Kobe, Japan.


Chu Totoro sitting on the two girls' father's chair.

The side of the house.


The backyard and the bucket with the hole underneath is in there as well.



A wonderful trip!

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