How to Get Ghibli Museum Tickets From the US: The Monthly Sale Day, Lawson's Site, and What to Have Open Before It Starts

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Last checked 2026-11-01. Rules and prices change — always confirm on the official pages linked below.

The monthly sale day

The Ghibli Museum states that "Tickets become available for purchase at 10 a.m. (JST) on the 10th of each month for the subsequent month." Its own example: tickets for February 1 through February 28 go on sale at 10 a.m. JST on January 10.

If the museum keeps the rule as published, the sale days for the next few months look like this:

What 10 a.m. JST is in the US

In the US, the sale starts in the afternoon or evening of the 9th, the day before. Japan doesn't change its clocks, but the US does, so the US time shifts by an hour with daylight saving time:

*US daylight time starts on the second Sunday in March, so a March 10 sale can fall on either side; in 2027 it's still standard time. Most of Arizona stays on standard time all year. Before sale day, confirm in a time-zone converter: enter 10:00 JST on the sale date and your city, and set your alarm in your own time.

Is it already too late?

If the 10th of the month before your visit hasn't come yet, you haven't missed anything. If it has passed, your month is already on sale; check availability on Lawson's English page below.

Where to buy: the official routes

The Ghibli Museum says that "No reservation or ticket purchase can be made at the Museum," so you can't walk up and buy a ticket on the day.

For visitors buying from overseas, the museum lists two methods:

1. Sales Online by LAWSON TICKET. Open Lawson's English page for November 2026 admissions onward: https://l-tike.com/st1/ghibli-en-2. The museum's own link may still lead to the older page.
2. Special Bus Tour by Sunrise Tours JTB. JTB's Ghibli tour page describes "special entry to the advance-reservation-only Ghibli Museum," with a 2.5-hour stay.

Use that Lawson page, not a search result or an ad. The museum also states: "Ticket purchase for resale is not allowed." We don't link to resale sites or buying services.

What to decide and have open before 10 a.m. JST

Your date, plus a backup or two. Tickets are "valid only for the specified date and time of entry," according to the Ghibli Museum. Pick your first-choice day and one or two others that would also work.

Your entry time. The museum's Japanese ticket page lists seven entry times, one every hour: 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00 and 16:00. Rank them before the sale. There are "no set exit times."

Who's going, and their ages. Prices on the museum's English page depend on age:

Dollar figures are approximate, at the Federal Reserve's rate of 156.87 yen per dollar (Oct. 23, 2026).

The Japanese ticket page adds that children under 4 are free and don't need a reservation. For a couple, that's two adult tickets at ¥1,000 each.

Lawson's rules. From the notes on Lawson's earlier English page (source) and its ticket terms (source):

• Payment: credit card only. Have a second card ready.
• Limit: six tickets per person.
• No changes: no refunds after reservation; the terms rule out changes and cancellations for any reason. If the event is called off, refunds depend on the organizer, and fees and travel costs aren't repaid.
• On the day: bring a printout of your My Page details with the barcode, plus the group leader's passport. Your group enters together.

On sale day, in order

1. Open Lawson's English page for November 2026 admissions onward: https://l-tike.com/st1/ghibli-en-2.
2. The museum only gives the start time: 10 a.m. JST. Our suggestion: have the Lawson page open by 9:30 a.m. JST (7:30 p.m. Eastern / 4:30 p.m. Pacific the day before in standard time; 8:30 p.m. / 5:30 p.m. in daylight time), so you're through any agreement page with your card in hand when sales open. It's not an official rule.
3. Enter your date, entry time and ages, and pay by credit card; keep your backup card in reach.
4. If your first choice is gone, move straight to your ranked backups.
5. Before you pay, check the date and entry time. Lawson gives no refunds after reservation.

If you don't get tickets

• Look at the JTB route. The bus tour is the other overseas route the museum names. JTB's tour page includes special entry to the museum, which is advance-reservation only. It doesn't show price or sale timing; as a last step, ask JTB about your month.
• Don't swap in Ghibli Park by mistake. It's a separate place in Aichi. Ghibli Park says its passes go on sale "two months in advance, on the 10th at 2 p.m. (Japan time)"; its January 2027 tickets go on sale November 10, 2026, at 2 p.m. Same day of the month, different time and month.

What to do now

1. Find your visit month in the table above and note the sale date.
2. Find your time zone in the US time table, confirm it in a converter, and set an alarm for the evening before.
3. Pick your date, backups, ranked entry times and ticket count by age.
4. A few days ahead, confirm the sale rule on the museum's page, then read Lawson's rules.