Keeping time, anime style.

In recent years, Studio Ghibli has been expanding its series of diorama goods, which bring movie characters and their settings to life in product form. The latest addition to the range is a beautiful “Diorama Hourglass” duo that adds a sense of passing time to the scene with the use of sand timers.

The “My Neighbour Totoro Diorama Hourglass Camphor Tree with Totoro and Friends” is the descriptive title given to the first design, which shows Totoro sitting under a camphor tree while gazing at the leaf on its head.

▼ The diorama measures 100 x 160 x 90 millimetres (4 x 6.3 x 3.5 inches).

The friendly giant is joined by some familiar forest friends, with the blue “Medium Totoro” collecting acorns at the base of the tree, eagerly stuffing them into a sack. This is a nod to the blue Totoro’s appearance in the film, where it can be seen with the acorn-filled sack slung over its shoulder.

Image: Studio Ghibli

The white “Small Totoro” also makes an appearance, perched atop a tree branch above a ladybug, while a couple of Soot Sprites hide out back, in a way that makes it feel like you can almost hear the rustle of the leaves.

The Kiki’s Delivery Service Diorama Hourglass Kokiri’s Laboratory sees black cat Jiji inquisitively peering into the sand timer, atop the desk used by Kiki’s mother, Kokiri, when she mixes up her potions.

▼ The diorama measures 120 x 73 x 85 millimetres.

Both dioramas are designed to capture a slice of daily life from the worlds of the characters, and they each come with a small single-flower vase that can be used interchangeably with the hourglass, so you can switch up the look to your liking.

▼ With flowers on the table in this diorama, a real-life blossom in the test tube stand will help to blur the boundaries between anime and reality.

Each hourglass measures out approximately three minutes of time, giving you enough time to poach an egg while admiring the beautifully designed scene from all angles. The dioramas are priced at 9,680 yen (US$64.44) each and can be purchased at Donguri Kyowakoku stores and online from 7 December.

Source, images: Press release
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