Japan's Ghibli Museum threatened by COVID-era shortfall in reserve

TOKYO -- Concern is growing over the Ghibli Museum in the Tokyo city of Mitaka. Visitors to the animated film museum are returning after their numbers sharply plunged amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but its reserve funds remain substantially depleted. Whether the elaborate museum can sufficiently cover its operational and maintenance costs is coming under question.

The museum is extensively soliciting donations. A network of support for it is not expanding, however, under the shadow of the thriving Ghibli Park, a theme park that opened in November in the Aichi prefecture city of Nagakute.