What better place to carry your train pass than inside No Face’s Spirited Away train ride?
In Japan, the vast majority of transactions involve either coins or a card. Yen coins go all the way up to 500 yen (US$3.15) in denomination, so it’s inevitable that you’re going to accumulate a handful of change if you’re using cash to buy things or pay for meals, and rechargeable train pass cards like Suica can also be used for purchases at shops and restaurants.
So if you’re traveling in Japan, a card or coin case is a handy thing to have, and a Ghibli anime case is a handy thing to have that’s also awesome.
Studio Ghibli specialty shopDonguri Kyowakoku has designed a series of combination coin/card cases featuring artifacts and characters from some of their most beloved animated films. Starting things off is this embroidered trio of No Face, Boh, and Yu-Birdtaking a ride on the train seen in Spirited Away.
The reverse side of the case features the film’s name and an understated illustration, and when you open up the zipper, and you’ll find two compartments inside, allowing a layer of organization for different types of coins or cards.
Other charming details include Boh and Yu-Bird taking a nap on the extendable strap’s connecting-piece reel and a caterpillar-shaped zipper pull.
An especially clever design point is that the windows on the train are actually see-through, adding to the illusion that the characters are actually passing by scenery outside their train carriage.
▼ Though Boh and Yu-Bird are kind of in the emperor of Japan’s seat.
Next up we have another Ghibli character depicted in his most memorable setting: Calcifer peeking out from a cast-iron frying pan.
TheHowl’s Moving Castle fire spirit is in the middle of cooking up the hearty breakfast seen in the movie, one of the most mouthwatering of all Ghibli meals. Fittingly, the zipper pull for this pouch is shaped like a spoon, while the strap-connecting piece is a recreation of the multicolored dial next to the castle’s front door that allows the dwelling’s entrance to magically connect to different locations.
The Calcifer pouch is the only one we’re looking at today with only a single shared interior section, so we’re back to two compartments for the My Neighbor Totoro case.
Instead of being shaped like the cuddly studio mascot himself, this pouch is modeled after the container of caramels that sisters Mei and Satsuki share some snacks from early in the movie while they ride in the back of the moving truck on their way to their new home in the most idyllic of Ghibli countrysides.
You do get some Totoro embroidery on the front of the pouch, though, and hanging out around back, as well as on the strap connector, are a bunch ofSoot Sprites…
…and the zipper pull this time is caramel-shaped.
And finally, while it may not be candy-related, the fourth pouch is also very sweet…
…since it’s modeled onthe party invitation that Tombo gives to enterprising witch Kiki in Kiki’s Delivery Service.
As is often the case with Kiki’s merchandise, black cat Jiji is more prominently featured that the titular protagonist herself, though Kiki’s likeness, of a sort, does still appear on the reel and zipper pull.
Though there’s a lot of variety in the designs, they’re all identically priced at 3,190 yen (US$20). Though the Whisper of the Heart book-design pouch seen at the very start of this article is still out of stock, all of the others have recently been restocked and are available through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store here.
