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Ghibli Park Lets Kids Cook Rice, Heat Up Bath Water at Totoro House

Aichi Prefecture announced the "Satsuki to Mei no Ie de Asobo!" (Let's Play in Satsuki and Mei's House!) event on February 18. The event will allow 60 children to experience Japanese life in the 1950s by cooking rice and heating the bath at My Neighbor Totoro protagonists Satsuki and Mei's house within Ghibli Park. Along with the event, Goro Miyazaki (the park's creative development director, the son of Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki, and an anime director in his own right) will speak about the construction of the house.

Shortly after Aichi Prefecture announced the event, Aichi governor Hideaki Ohmura stated, “The Satsuki and Mei's House event allows children living in the prefecture who will be entering fifth and sixth grade in April of this year to experience life in Japan in the 1950s.”

Ghibli Park stated in June 2024 the park uses the kitchen and bath in Satsuki and Mei's house to make it appear lived in. While the post did not state at what intervals Ghibli Park staff use the kitchen and bath, it noted for that instance it was done on one of the park's closed days.

The "Let's Play in Satsuki and Mei's House" event will run on April 1 from 10:25 a.m. to 3:50 p.m. Although the event is free, participants must be in fifth or sixth grade and live within Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Applications for the event began on February 20 and continue until February 28. The application form is available through the Aichi Prefecture's website.

Sources: Hideaki Ohmura's X/Twitter account, Aichi Prefecture's website via Studio Ghibli Unofficial Fansite