Takahata Isao (passed away in 2018) was a famous director whose works include animation movies "The Tale of The Princess Kaguya" and "Grave of the Fireflies". Now, his large-scale retrospective exhibition "TAKAHATA ISAO: A LEGEND IN JAPANESE ANIMATION" is being held at Fukuoka Art Museum, until 18th July 2021. With the cooperation of Studio Ghibli, more than 1000 items such as storyboards and cels are exhibited, including unreleased items! You will discover Mr. Takahata's philosophy of creativity from the decorations and displays.

What comes into sight after entering the venue was the proposal for TV anime series "DORAEMON" and exhibits for "LUPIN THE THIRD" (anime series co-directed with Miyazaki Hayao, co-founder of Studio Ghibli), it was surprising to realize that Takahata's works are actually more than expected. There are so many valuable exhibits that we don't usually see, such as the meticulously written production notes, and the notes sharing his worldview with his colleagues. Unlike directors who used to be animators, Takahata's way of producing anime movies shows his difference as being "a director who doesn't draw" and continues to pique your curiosity!

"Grave of the Fireflies" was created at the time when the Japanese tradition and customs and the reality of the common people's lives used to be the main concern. What you will find at its exhibition area are the display of the colour coordination of the characters and images. "We adopted soft neutral colours that are usually not used in animation, and used brown instead of black so that the outline fits in the background," said Tanaka from Studio Ghibli. The challenge on new drawing style is especially obvious in "The Tale of The Princess Kaguya", as it is said to have used more than 50 pencil drawing images in a scene of about 2 seconds, in order to express the changes of facial expression in detail! Takahata created every scene painstakingly to depict people's thoughts, everyday life, as well as the reality of a certain era. This spectacular exhibition is definitely what you should not miss♪

There are limited card sets for the event, stationery, T-shirts, and lots of items! You can also get many HEIDI items here♪ (*Only open for exhibition visitors)




A perfect spot for taking photos!