Ghibli Time

in Japan for the Superchunk tour, but doing some family vacationing in advance. as fans of movies like My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo and the Iron Giant, we made reservations in advance to not risk missing a visit to the Ghibli Museum dedicated to the films of Miyazaki and other Studio Ghibli animators.
no photography allowed inside the museum, which is pretty cool actually. makes you just pay attention to what's happening, what you're learning, and the incredible work that's been done by the famed animation house since it's founding in 1985. we took a train out to the Tokyo suburb of Mitaka, our friend Hideki guided us through a park and to the museum. the whole thing is made for kids, but not in a condescending way...more in a "kids understand more than the rest of us" kind of way. it's also a tribute to the science and art of hand-done animation. oh and there's a giant Cat-bus.
walking through the park back to the subway, got text from Hideki's wife Yuki who was watching the Grammys at their house in Tokyo, and found out about Arcade Fire's Grammy win. Pretty great day!