Totoro no Mori is a wildlife preserve located in the Sayama Hills, about 25 miles from Tokyo.
This area of forests and wildlife served as the inspiration behind the movie, “My Neighbor Totoro.” Because it was in danger of being destroyed due to urbanization, deforestation, and illegal dumping, in April 1990, the National Trust of Totoro no Furosato was founded to protect the Sayama Hills.
Film director Hayao Miyazaki, among others, donated a large sum of money to purchase and preserve this land. In this forest, you will find hiking trails, (map here: http://www.totoro.or.jp/intro/stroll_guide/index.html) as well as a traditional Japanese house that is over 100 years old, called Kurosuke’s house.
Inside of Kurosuke’s house, you can find a giant Totoro seated out in the front, as well as soot sprites scattered throughout the corners of the home. You can also purchase Totoro themed goods, whose proceeds go towards protecting the Sayama Hills. Some of these items are only available at the shop or can be purchased online through the website of Totoro no Mori. The nice thing about this house is that you are free to take photos and videos, unlike at the Studio Ghibli museum in Mitaka. The downside is that it will take about 2 hours to get here from Central Tokyo. For true Totoro fans, this place is not to be missed! Plan for an entire day and make sure to check and double check hours of operation. It’s easy to get lost, but that’s part of the fun 🙂
If you plan on visiting Kurosuke’s house, make sure to check the opening hours and days on the website. While there is no official parking lot for Kurosuke’s house, you can find an unaffiliated free parking lot along the main street which leads to Kurosuke’s house.
I visited with my family. We ended up driving to the site, and parked nearby. Afterwards, we went on a hike to find this Totoro bush (turns out it was just a bush shaped like Totoro in someone’s front yard!) It is quite near the Sayama Lake. The maps for the hiking trails were only available in Japanese, and since we had our kids with us, we decided to take the easy route and hang out near the lake, which has a paved walkway. We found some picnic tables to eat the Totoro bento that I had prepared for our family. There are not a lot of restaurants in the area, although I do believe there is a cafe next to Kurosuke’s House.
Kurosuke’s House
3 Chome-1169-1 Mikajima,
Tokorozawa-shi, Saitama-ken 359-1164
http://www.totoro.or.jp/kurosuke (Japanese only)