Aichi Expo Memorial Park (Morikoro Park)

While we were at Ghibli Park, we walked through most of the area—it’s huge! Coincidentally, there was a Keychain Festival happening that day, with tons of booths and food trucks set up, which made the visit even more fun.

I fell in love with this park the moment I came here because such is totally non-existent in Singapore with its expansive ground, clean space, clear blue sky, and clean, fresh air. And it's FREE! OMG. Unbelievable. If I could give this place more than a five-star rating, I'll gladly love to. There weren't that many people here when I came, and I just felt so calm and relaxed. I could feel all the tension in my muscles slowly loosening away as I breathed in deeply with my eyes closed. My soul felt soothed as I took in the nature scenery. There was no jarring noise from inconsiderate city people. Everywhere I looked, it was just peace and calm. I think I could stay here forever. In fact, I came here three times. Yes, three times during my 2 weeks' stay in Nagoya. And I still do not feel that it is enough. Because I came here during their annual Aichi Prefecture week (my Japanese friend was the one who gave me the heads up), I managed to ride their bicycle for free. The usual cost, if I remember correctly, is 100 yen. I was flabbergasted when I looked at their price list. What?! Only 100 yen??? In Singapore, it will be at least $10 per hour, and you still have to put a deposit of $50. In Singapore, it is all about money, but in Japan, it is amazingly cheap, and there's no deposit required. Their staff was also friendly and explained to me how long it will take and the route that I will go through. When they saw that I had a kid with me, they immediately asked if she cycles in Singapore and how often does she cycle to make sure that she does not get into an accident. I told the male staff that yes, my child cycles in Singapore, and she does so regularly. Of course, they observed her when my child got on to make sure that what I said was true, haha. Nah, it's part of their job. On average, one round takes about half an hour, but we took longer because we stopped to enjoy the view several times, to rest a little and to pick up donguri, haha. We returned our bicycle with about 10 minutes before they started to close. There is no locker at this bicycle shop for you to store your stuff. There's only a wooden shelf. So I put my bags there and he passed me a piece of paper for me to write my name. Then he pasted it on one of my bags. There were only one or two other groups of people who deposited their bags there when I came on a weekday. I felt as if I had the whole cycling course to myself. I could do speed cycling if I wanted to, but I had to be very careful because there were curved slopes that were clearly marked on the map that he showed us at the beginning. The slopes weren't that steep, so it was a breeze. I forgot to add that even though I managed to rent the bicycle for free, the bicycle that I got was not an old rickety one, but a spanking clean one. Here's an extra brownie point for Japan! Oh, there is 1 more point I forgot to add. They gave us a beautifully bloomed pine cone as a souvenir. When they saw that my child was fascinated with it, they generously gave us a handful more and told us to keep them. I also rode their Ferris wheel, which was located at one end of the commemorative park. But please do not get off at the station that you do to go to Ghibli Park. Instead, get off one station earlier because it's much nearer. There was nobody when I went and so I felt as if I had the whole Ferris wheel to myself. There's a little amusement park right at the bottom of the ferris wheel. Most of the outdoor rides operated by staff were closed and my child could only ride those that were coins operated. There is an excavator ride that allows you to dig for acrylic jewels. My child loved it so much, she rode it 3 times. She collected a lot of "jewels". I think this is more fun than a normal excavator ride. I highly recommend Aichi Commemorative Expo Park.

Such a lovely park! So large! Even without visiting Ghibli Park, I was so happy to explore other area of the expansive park. Will surely be back to enjoy it some more 💚

Loved visiting Studio Ghibli Park in Nagoya city and I highly recommend visiting it if you are Miyazaki's animation fan! The whole park will take you around 4-6 hours to go through and maybe 6-8 hours if you are very thorough about checking out every exhibit and every shop and wait in lines. Warning! The line to take a photo the No-face man on the train was almost not worth it, it was too long! Also, I highly recommend buying tickets in advance from the official Japanese website and NOT from Klook because it will give access to ALL exhibits. I also recommend getting there at the time of opening which is 9:00 because it gets busy very fast and you don't want to wait in lines! Otherwise, it was super fun place with lots of picturesque scenes and tons of souvenirs to buy for a good price!

Very huge open park. The landscape are magnificent and the plants and flowers are very beautiful. The trail to Dondoko Forrest is my favorite. Love some trail hike and some trees. The Ghibli touch is just an icing on the cake. I just wish there are more trinkets of their characters all over the part though. Good place to relax and have a walk.