#Ghibli Museum Crowdfunds More Than Double Asking Amount in 5 Days

On July 15, the previously reported Ghibli Museum fundraiser on the Japanese government’s Furusato Nozei program, also known as the “Hometown Tax system”, went live on the Furusato Choice website and within ten minutes made their goal of 10 million yen (US$91,392) and within just a few days, have already doubled the amount that was asked for.

Mitaka City, where the museum lives, set up the fundraiser to help the struggling Ghibli Museum during the COVID-19 crisis and raise funds for the museum to aid in reconstruction and repairs. A report from Mitaka City stated that the Ghibli Museum has seen a decrease in revenue since COVID started due to shutdowns and limitations. Because of this lack of revenue, the museum has been unable to keep up its preservation and repairs. 

The city had planned for 8,340,000 yen (US$76,438) of the 10 million to be given over the museum for operational support and repairs and 1,660,000 yen (US$15,214) for office expenses and salaries. Since the crowdfunding campaign has raised, as of writing, over 22.5 million yen (US$205 million), the excess donations will be handed over to The Tokuma Memorial Cultural Foundation for Animation, the parent organization that oversees the museum and is headed by Hayao Miyazaki himself. Donators over 5,000 yen will receive a “thank you” postcard from the organization.

(Photo: Daryl Harding)

Nearly 3,000 people across Japan have donated in the first 5 days of the campaign – it’s not open to international fans of the studio – with the goal amount at around 225%, with another 196 days to go. One has to wonder how further the campaign will reach!

Source: Oricon

Copyrights:

© 1988 Studio Ghibli

© 2004 Studio Ghibli・NDDMT

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Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.