Tiny Tassie Town Gets A Kick Out Of Kiki

A tiny Tasmanian town once known for its female factory has become a magnet for anime fans around the world because of its apparent connection with a witch.

Ross, the town with a population of just over 400 and located just over 100 kilometers north of the Tasmanian capital of Hobart, attracts Studio Ghibli anime fans globally, particularly from Japan.

The town’s bread shop is said to be the real-life inspiration for the Gütiokipänja Bakery where Kiki, the young witch titular character of Kiki’s Delivery Service, is said to base her business in the 1989 Studio Ghibli hit.

The Ross Village Inn has set up an attic space to mimic the attic room where Kiki lives above the bakery in the movie, which fans can visit and write in a guestbook.

Pilgrims make the trek to the bakery to pay homage to Kiki.

Studio Ghibli has never acknowledged the bakery to be the inspiration for their movie, which tells the tale of a young witch who moves to a small town and delivers baked goods via a flying broomstick. To the untrained eye, like mine, it’s a bit hard to see the resemblance, actually.

The bakery contains pictures and memorabilia related to Kiki’s Delivery Service, and many guests take photos dressed up or holding Kiki-style props.

Hundreds of people visit the Ross Village Bakery every day. It offers local Tasmanian baked goods like scallop pies, meat pies, vanilla slices, and bread baked in the old oven.

Ross had been a convict town in colonial days and was known for its female factory, as the women’s prisons of the time were called.

Kiki’s Delivery Service: Japanese anime fans flock to Tasmania’s Ross bakery to see little witch’s room