About 600 children and adults lined up in the rain in order to be the first to visit the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka, which was opened by Studio Ghibli on October 1 in Tokyo. The museum is the latest project by movie director Hayao Miyazaki, one of the leaders of Studio Ghibli. He is famous worldwide for his animated films like Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Princess Mononoke (1997), and this summer's Spirited Away, which beat Titanic to become the best selling movie of all time in Japan.

Miyazaki brings his cartoons to life in the museum and introduces children to the world of animated movies. This world starts when you are greeted at the front gate by a large furry Totoro and some little black Dustbunnies, characters from the movie My Neighbor Totoro (1988).

After going into the building you collect your entry tickets (which you have to reserve at a convenience store before going). The tickets in this museum are unique in that each one is an actual piece of film from one of the Ghibli movies.

With your ticket in hand you enter a big room reaching up three stories to the top of the museum and lit from above by a beautiful glass dome in the center of the ceiling. From the second-floor walkway that spans the room above you, to the fancy elevator and the spiral staircase inviting you to climb it, you can tell this is no ordinary museum.

Wandering through it you're bound to get lost in the world of animation. The walls of one cluttered room are covered with rough sketches that animators make when they first start working on a movie. You get to see how an animated movie is made, going into another room where film cells, staff memos, and other things from the making of the movie Spirited Away lay about. In the end you feel just like one of the team working on the movie.

Miyazaki's goal was "to turn the idea of a museum on its head." Here are some of the rules that you should carefully follow at the Ghibli museum:

• Don't worry about going the wrong way in this maze of a museum. You are encouraged to wander freely and experience it in any order you please.
• Don't worry about being quiet while you wander either. Miyazaki says, "I hope kids will make a lot of noise in here."
• Don't worry about seeing signs saying, "Do Not Touch!" Children can even climb onto and into exhibits like the "cat-bus," from the movie My Neighbor Totoro.

Photos: (Top) The Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro; (Above) A furry Totoyo greets visitors. (Ghibli Museum) No reproduction without permission.