For six months, the Ghibli Museum has been closed after it shut down in late February to stem the coronavirus. Now, it seems the park is ready to reopen after holding a test run in late July, and that means guests will have to abide by social distancing rules.
The Ghibli Museum has released a video for fans showing off its new safety measures, and one of them is an on-call cleaning crew. The people will be tasked with cleaning surfaces regularly with alcohol both indoors and outdoors.
Of course, some parts of the museum are hard to limit. One of these is the giant Catbus that children love to climb over and play on. To help mitigate any coronavirus spread, the museum has limited the Catbus area to six kids at a time for five minutes only. The big plush will be cleaned thoroughly between groups, but the museum warns these steps may change later on, as the video ends with the words “Trial and error still continues“.
The other big shift will happen in the Saturn Theater. The in-home cinema normally seats about 80 people, but that number will be halved at a minimum. Guests will need to sit one seat apart, and they will have their temperatures screened before entering.
The official website sums up the countermeasures in place at the Ghibli Museum. Countermeasures listed are:
- The building will be regularly cleaned and sterilised
- The building will be thoroughly ventilated
- Staff will have their temperature taken upon arriving at work, will wear masks during their shift and take care to wash their hands and sterilise their fingers
- Acrylic panels will be set up at the reception desk, cash registers and restaurant. Trays will be used to give and receive money (when making a purchase)
The museum has some requests for visitors too.
- Please wear a mask
- Please cooperate with hand-washing and hand sterilisation
- Temperatures will be taken before entering. Please refrain from visiting if you are unwell
Visitors with a temperature of 37.5 degrees Celsius (99.5 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher will be refused admission, and the museum asks that people who suspect or know they have been in contact with a person who tested positive for the virus refrain from visiting.
Access to shops and the exhibition room may be restricted due to congestion and customers will be asked to keep space between each other while waiting in line. Paper towels are not supplied in restrooms so visitors are asked to bring their own handkerchiefs or small hand towels (a common practice in Japan even before the pandemic) and bring their own water bottles to rehydrate.
Business hours may change suddenly without notice so visitors are asked to check the website before visiting. There are definitely a lot of new things to keep in mind with this new normal at the Ghibli Museum, but it’s nice to know they’re doing everything they can to keep staff and visitors safe, because it’s been far too long since our last visit.
Source: Ghibli Museum