Friday Road Show and Ghibli Exhibition

The traveling exhibition "Friday Road Show and Ghibli Exhibition" will make its Saga Prefecture debut. 

Friday Road Show (金曜ロードショー) is a weekly film broadcast that has aired on Nippon TV (NTV) since 1985, having evolved from the earlier Wednesday Road Show, which began in 1972. As its name suggests, it airs on Friday evenings and has long been one of Japan's most-watched film slots.

The programme's relationship with Studio Ghibli stretches back to the very beginning of both. 1985 was the year Studio Ghibli was founded, and NTV broadcast Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984, directed by Hayao Miyazaki) as a special programme that same year. From 1986 onward, Friday Road Show became the primary television home for Studio Ghibli films, broadcasting them more than 200 times to date. For many Japanese viewers, the programme was their first and most formative encounter with Ghibli — watching the same film at the same time as millions of others across the country. From 1997 to 2009, the programme's opening sequence featured an original short film produced by Studio Ghibli, with music by Joe Hisaishi. The programme's character "Friday Uncle" (フライデーおじさん) was conceived by Miyazaki and finished by Whisper of the Heart director Yoshifumi Kondō.

About the Exhibition

The exhibition traces the parallel histories of Friday Road Show and Studio Ghibli, presenting the story of how both became embedded in Japanese cultural memory. Four main sections make up the exhibition.

The first documents the history of Ghibli broadcasts on Friday Road Show through an extensive archive, tracing each film's release and television premiere against the social backdrop of its era — from the Showa period through Heisei and into Reiwa. Storyboards from nearly all Studio Ghibli productions, from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) to Earwig and the Witch (2020), are also on display, offering visitors a look at the production process behind the films.

The second section, the Ghibli Film Poster Studio, is an interactive photo space where visitors can step inside recreations of iconic Ghibli film posters and be photographed in the style of a movie protagonist. Titles represented include Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, The Cat Returns, and Ponyo. An AR experience developed in collaboration with special sponsor au (KDDI), using the free app SATCH X, allows visitors to view the world of The Secret World of Arrietty from the perspective of its miniature protagonist.

The third section features the Ghibli Phantasmagoria Tower, a large-scale installation combining light, glass, and sound. The glasswork was produced by Toyama Glass Sculptural Institute, Toyama Glass Studio, and local artists from Toyama — a city known for its glass craft tradition — under supervision from Studio Ghibli. Light projected through glass objects shaped after Ghibli characters creates an immersive visual environment.

The fourth section recreates the Sea of Corruption from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind using sculptural works by Takayuki Takeya, a sculptor with an international following, alongside other artists. The space features detailed sculptural representations of the Ohmu, dragonflies, and other creatures from the film. A second AR experience in this section, also using SATCH X, allows visitors to encounter the Ohmu through augmented reality at the exhibition site.

The exhibition is closed on Mondays. If a Monday falls on a public holiday, the following weekday will be closed instead. The venue will also be closed for the year-end/New Year period from Tuesday, December 29, 2026 to Friday, January 1, 2027.