Studio Ghibli Officially Brings Back Spirited Away’s No-Face Piggy Bank in Rare Re-Release
Image by James RichardsonStudio Ghibli has brought one of its most entertaining Spirited Away collectibles back into stock, with an interactive No-Face money box returning to its official merchandise store.
The “Spirited Away No-Face Munching Piggy Bank” recreates the mysterious spirit from Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved animated movie, allowing fans to feed the character coins as he performs an entertaining sequence inspired by the film.
Originally released in 2001, Spirited Away followed ten-year-old Chihiro Ogino after she became trapped in a mysterious spirit world, where she was forced to work at a bathhouse operated by the powerful witch Yubaba to save her parents.
No-Face was introduced as a quiet, masked spirit who became increasingly attached to Chihiro, eventually causing chaos inside the bathhouse after discovering that he could produce gold and use it to demand enormous quantities of food.
The character’s enormous appetite inspired the No-Face Munching Piggy Bank, which first went on sale in 2017 and has received sporadic re-releases in the years since.
The money box depicts No-Face holding a small plate in front of his body, ready to accept coins in place of the extravagant meals served to him during the movie.
Once approximately 30 grams of coins have been placed on the plate, No-Face makes his familiar “Ah” sound before music begins playing and he raises the plate towards his mouth.
The coins disappear into the money box as the character appears to eat them, with the sequence ending in a burp once he has finished his meal.
Both the music and sound effects use audio taken directly from Spirited Away, recreating the atmosphere of No-Face’s memorable eating scenes in the bathhouse.
Standing approximately 21 cm tall, the money box measures 8 cm wide and 16 cm deep, with enough internal space to accommodate approximately twenty ¥500 coins and forty ¥100 coins, depending on how they are arranged.
The mechanism requires two AA batteries, which are sold separately.
No-Face has also inspired other functional Studio Ghibli merchandise, including the recently re-released No-Face Soy Sauce Dispenser, a porcelain kitchen accessory inspired by the character’s attempts to impress Chihiro with gifts of gold.
The original “Spirited Away No-Face Munching Piggy Bank” is now back in stock through Studio Ghibli’s official Donguri Kyowakoku online store in Japan, priced at ¥6,600 (approximately $42 / £31).
Donguri Kyowakoku does not ship internationally, but overseas fans looking to place an order can consider using a Japanese proxy/package-forwarding service to obtain a Japanese shipping address before arranging onward delivery to their home country.
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