Ghibli Museum launches COVID relief crowdfunding page that's already blown past its goal
The museum is facing financial difficulties due to long periods of closure during the pandemic
After weathering more than a year of COVID-related financial problems, Mitaka, Japan’s Ghibli Museum could have gone under, left to be abandoned and overgrown with lovingly animated shrubbery that illustrates how ephemeral all human industry appears against the natural world’s instinctual urge to subsume our work into itself. Thanks to the launch of a crowdfunding effort, however, it’s been saved, leaving that kind of imagery safely confined to the famed studio’s art.
Anime News Network recently reported that the museum’s crowdfunding page, launched last Friday, has managed to fly past its 10 million yen goal (about $90,000 USD) “in less than 24 hours.” It currently stands at almost 24 million yen, which is 239.7 percent higher than the baseline amount and even more impressive when learning that only residents of Japan are able to donate to the fundraiser, that the lowest amount that can be pledged is 5,000 yen (about $45 USD), and that this is just the first few days of a campaign that will continue running until January 31 of next year.