Interview with Hirokatsu Kihara at Fanime 2024

So I mean, everyone is just so passionate. Like, I actually… We’re just coming back from a big panel that we just did. The room was absolutely packed. There was not a single free seat available. We just had a fantastic time. It was fun. Yeah, everyone was a really big fan of the panel.

Kiki’s Delivery Service. So this year is actually the 35th anniversary of Kiki’s Delivery Service. That was the topic of the panel.

So, you know, last year I was also here and then we were celebrating the 35th anniversary of My Neighbor Totoro, which is very exciting.

Next year is going to be the 40th anniversary of Studio Ghibli. So I’m very excited about that and I’m hoping that I can come back and talk about that. If all goes well and everything works out, I’m hoping to be back on stage talking about that.

I think the one that stood out the most for me was that somebody asked me, “So what is Miyazaki really like?”

What really struck me, and what I really learned about this, is that even someone who’s so well–known and famous all around the world… There are things about them that people don’t know that they want to know. And so it really struck me that even someone as well-known as him has people who want to know him even more.

No one can really know the real you, sometimes.

I think if anything, if I could say the one thing that I think I learned from him the most is that everyone has some sort of genius inside of them, some sort of a spark. And if you can give that spark a chance, people can do amazing things. So, when I was 25 years old, I joined the company to work on “Laputa.” And so, even though I only worked there for one year, Miyazaki said to me, you have what it takes to be a leader.

The following year, I was made the chief person there at the office. I think that’s pretty rare. Like, normally you wouldn’t just take some, you know, fresh-faced, 28-year-old with very little experience and put them in charge of an entire animation studio. That’s not something that ever happens.

I’m not joking when I say this. The thing that I think was most challenging for me was that even though I’d been made the person who’s in charge of everything for this studio, even though I’m the one with the least experience and the least animation industry experience, and I’m the youngest person there, I really had to struggle with and juggle that.

As the person who was put in charge of this space over those who had much more experience and were older than I was…. It’s like, imagine you turned to a middle schooler and put them in charge of a company, just like that. You would never do that, right? Like, that would probably lead to some problems, I think. So it’s kind of like that.

I mean, I think in an ideal world here, I fully agree with you. I totally agree that people, new people can also bring a fresh perspective. But I also, I have to say that I think, in reality, you know, no one puts someone who’s so inexperienced in charge of, like, when you’re talking about organizations and companies, you’re not gonna find someone who’s so inexperienced at the very top of that ladder.

Like, you know, the movie’s not even like a third done and I’m over here making final decisions on how this thing goes, for example.

So, for example, the people who are making the film and the people who are showing the film, like the movie theaters and stuff, those are totally separate companies, right? And so, you know, we were actually in a huge crunch at the time, and we only had a few months left before the movie had to be released in theaters. And so we were really wondering, you know, “Are we gonna be able to do this even like this, the group being what it is with me at the head and, you know, all these people behind me, like, can we really do this?”

Honestly, looking at the pace that we had been going, going up to that point, there was no way we were gonna be able to finish on time at all. And so it just took intense focus and intense hard work, and we just really buckled down and we got it done. And we would be talking to other, you know, animation studios and people in the industry. And every one of them were saying, “Where’s no way you’re gonna finish this in time. Why are you killing yourself trying to get this done?”

And even with all of that, all of those people saying those things, we got it done.

So this, for example, like this interview, you know, like would be told, get this out, you know, get this printed and done in three hours. It would be like that.

Um, very, very, very, very, very, very hard. Yeah. So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so busy!

So, the entire time that I was working for the studio, I did not take a single day of vacation. So even, for example, you know, of course, Sundays are typically a day off. But even on those days, even if I wasn’t at the office, I was doing all of the prep work, like making sure I had all of my tools, making sure that I had everything I needed, cleaning up my space so that I was working in a clean space and all of the prep work that goes into it so that I could get started first thing Monday morning.

And so, yes, okay. Technically Sunday is a day off. So at night, we would all get together on Sunday. And, you know, even if we were working late into the night like that, we were all really united by that single purpose of “We gotta get this movie done.” Probably wouldn’t really pass muster in today’s day and age, I think.

I think at the time we’re just sort of telling ourselves, “Okay. As soon as the film is done, we can rest. We can rest. Once it’s done, we can rest.”

So, you know, like when we were finally done, I think we probably all could have just taken a whole week off if we wanted to, but nobody said anything. Mm. Really just that schedule was pretty brutal. I remember at one point, I think I got home at like 6:00 PM and then I think I was like, “Finally. I’m home.” And then just sort of collapsed and fell asleep right in the doorway.

Then right as I was sleeping there on the floor, all of a sudden the phone rang and I looked at my watch and only five minutes had passed. And then I was thinking, “Who could this possibly be?”

I answered the phone and the first thing I hear is, “What the heck have you been doing this whole time?”

I’d only been home for five minutes. And then when I looked, I, and so they said, “No, look at your watch.”

I looked at my watch and five minutes had passed… Except it was five minutes later the following day. I had fallen asleep in my doorway for 24 hours and five minutes.

Didn’t eat, didn’t use the bathroom, didn’t change my clothes. Just right there, 24 full hours.

Completely. All of us were really young back then, like, of course, I said, you know, I was 28, but even Mr. Miyazaki was also very young back then. I think that’s why we were able to do this crazy thing. We were so young. Maybe people nowadays might not be able to do that.

So I think one of the things that Mr. Miyazaki and I both share that I think is very important is that we both very strongly believe that no matter how hard you work, you really should not, and must not, separate yourself from the rest of society and from the rest of the world.

And so even if, you know, we’ve been working all day, even if we only had five minutes, we wanna make sure we do things, like pick up a newspaper, give it a glance, and sort of see what’s happened that day.

So, you know, it doesn’t matter what time I got home or whatever, I would always make sure that I would at least read the newspaper.

For example, I mean, at the time there was no internet, right? And I mean, the next day, Mr. Miyazaki would ask me what did I think about, you know, yesterday’s news and stuff from the government and that sort of thing. And so anyone who would not be able to answer those sorts of questions would not be kept on to work on the next project. So, it really was important that they kept themselves connected.

And so I actually really appreciated that, that I was able to do that even while I was working with him, because it really did keep me connected to the world, even as I was working with Mr. Miyazaki.

So actually, Mr. Miyazaki is a huge reader. There were many times where he complimented me for always reading and having books around. And I really do strongly believe that anyone who was not well-informed and well-read would not have survived or lasted at Studio Ghibli.

I truly believe that anyone who’s trying to make a work or something that will be out in the world, if that person doesn’t know about the world, they’re doing it wrong. There’s just no way for that to work.

I definitely agree with that point. I think another reason why people connect so strongly to these movies is that, at the core, there are very simple themes that are in them that anyone can really relate to.

I mean, if you look at the earliest three, when you have movies like “Laputa”, you know, the base theme is really showing the bravery of a young boy and girl who are just doing their best.

And then, you know, for “Totoro”, the main theme is about communicating with the unknown and what that can look like, and the things that we have to do or that we can do to be able to communicate with things that we don’t understand.

And then for “Kiki”, it’s the story of a young girl who’s just trying to grow up and become independent.

So if you really narrow it down to the base and most simplest of themes, the themes of bravery, communication, and, you know, independence are some of the things that are very global and very relatable to everybody. And then if you think about it, you know, movies, especially movies like “Totoro“ and “Kiki“, there’s no enemy that they’re fighting, right? There’s no big bad, there’s no huge conflict like that that’s driving the plot. And even so, we were able to make an amazing movie that really resonated with people. And I think that that’s amazing, but it’s also quite challenging. And I think that that’s one of the reasons why those movies connect with people is because, fundamentally, they’re just very simple movies with simple themes.

I think that people fundamentally, the thing they fear most is being alone, loneliness.

I think if we look at a lot of the main characters from these movies, there’s something that they all share.

So, you know, look at Nausicaä, you look at Pazu, you look at Satsuki and her little sister Mei, where we look at Kiki, they all are trying to say that they have to figure something out. They’re all working towards making a discovery. And they also see that maybe they’re not gonna get any help in this situation. So they have to figure it out on their own.

And that can be challenging, and it can be scary. It can be difficult sometimes and other people won’t help you. Sometimes, other people will even make it harder for you. But I think in the end, this is a message that I think still resonates even today, is giving people that message that sometimes you have to do things by yourself, but really, you CAN do it by yourself.

You actually have the ability to do it, and you just have to keep walking toward the light. And if you continue to believe in yourself, and you don’t doubt in yourself, you can accomplish so much.

This is maybe something that people who live in big cities, for example, where there are so many people, maybe you don’t notice it as much, but I actually think it’s one of the reasons why this happens, is that humans fundamentally fear loneliness.

They fear solitude, they fear being alone. And so that really drives a lot of what they do.

It sort of becomes the impetus behind the feeling of like, “Okay, then I wanna become famous, or I want to be around other people. I want them to please see me. Like, look at me and acknowledge me and notice me.” I think that that really sort of, that fear of not being noticed, of not being seen really drives a lot of people to do these sorts of things. And it’s, the problem is that no matter how much stuff you have or how much money you have, it won’t help you because this is a problem of the heart.

This is something that you have to deal with on the inside. You have to sort of be able to look inside yourself and say, “What can I do in this situation?”

Other people or things outside of you can’t do anything about it, and it’s something that you even see at the global scale where, you know, it’s the same reason why, for example, one government doesn’t recognize another country’s existence or something like that.

It’s still the same. The source is still the same of that fear of not being seen, of not being acknowledged, and of not being, you know, regarded by other people.

And so, I think that that’s why these movies do resonate with people and not, you know, crossing boundaries, crossing cultures, crossing languages is because those feelings are so deeply human. So, I mean, I think if you think of it another way, if we had had the internet back then, I truly believe that movies like Laputa and Toro and Kiki would not exist.

I apologize. I know, I think I spoke about some really kind of complicated topics.

So recently, one of the things that I’ve been doing is I’m actually aiming to walk 50 kilometers a week. So I’ve been doing a lot of walking while listening to music. And I am at 49 kilometers now.

I check my distance with it.

So I think about things, and I think about people, and I plan, and I do all sorts of things as I’m doing those walks.

I think that there are a lot of things that you can’t even really think of unless you, yourself, really put yourself out there. And of course, I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with just listening to music. I think that’s great.

I do think that if, as you’re doing these things, as you’re out walking or whatever, and you’re having these thoughts. and you’re thinking about these things, then on the off chance that something happens, or you are met with a situation, you could say, I’ve already thought about this and I already had the answer.

I think the best way to live is that when you’re by yourself, you do things that you can only do and enjoy when you’re by yourself. And that when you’re with other people, you do things that you can only do and only enjoy when you are with other people. I think that’s the best way to live.

And just as an FYI, I actually don’t do anything on the internet.

So, if someone were to tell me, “If you were to create your own city, what would you do?”

I wouldn’t really think about infrastructure or anything like that. My first thought would be “No Internet.” I mean, is there something wrong with phones and letters?