Studio Ghibli opens up it's first official My Neighbor Totoro Restaurant in Thailand 2018.

As Studio Ghibli is set to open up an official theme park in Nagoya in 2022, and their Tokyo-based museum currently hosts all sorts of amazing exhibits, you might expect that the first official restaurant of the beloved animation studio would be located in Japan, but it's actually set to open up in Thailand at the end of the month.

Officially licensed by Studio Ghibli, May’s Garden House Restaurant is set to have its grand opening at the end of May in Sukhumvit, Bangkok, after using a pre-opening period from April 16th to solicit feedback on its menu and offerings from guests. The restaurant will carry a theme and decor inspired by the charming world and forest of the popular film My Neighbor Totoro.

But what may stand out more than the aesthetic theme of the restaurant is the touching tale of how it came to be. As reported on a Ghibli-themed radio segment, when visiting Thailand, Studio Ghibli co-founder and producer Toshio Suzuki ended up in the rustic village of Pak Thong Chai, which he says struck him with a nostalgic feeling for the Japanese countryside, much like the one featured in My Neighbor Totoro. There, he met a local woman called Kanyada, who he nicknamed "May". As a native of Nagoya, famous for its chicken wings, Suzuki fell in love with the wings May made and sold out of her tiny shop. Yet because the shop lacked customers, she had decided to close up the business she used to support herself.

Moved by her troubling situation, Suzuki decided that the flavor of Kanyada's delicious wings would be better appreciated in the hustle and bustle of a major city, so he spearheaded the project to open “May’s Garden House Restaurant” in Bangkok. Combining the nostalgic Totoroish-aesthetic of her hometown, Studio Ghibli and food fans can enjoy her chicken wings in the company of a giant Totoro!

Suzuki even designed two new restaurant-exclusive characters, Colko and Peeko, for the venture.

And they love May's chicken wings!

Fluffy Minitotoro Steamed Buns In Caramel Sauce

Nekobus Has Come To Town

May's Hat

A Gift From Totoro

Totoro In The Rain

Sleeping Totoro

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