Hosoda Mamoru

HOSODA Mamoru (1967, Japan) is a filmmaker and animator. He majored in oil painting at the Kanazawa College of Art. After seeing The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), the first film directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli, he was inspired to start a career in animation. After graduation, Hosoda submitted a short film to Toei Animation and was accepted to work in animation. He worked his way up and made several short films, including the first two Digimon Adventure films (1999, 2000). He then worked at Studio Ghibli but left to return to Toei due to creative differences. From 2005 to 2011, he worked at the animation studio Madhouse, where he received critical acclaim for his films The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) and Summer Wars (2009), both of which won the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year. In 2011, Hosoda left Madhouse to establish his own animation studio, Studio Chizu. For his eighth film, Mirai (2018), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. His film Belle (2021) had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. His latest film Hateshinaki Scarlet (2025) premiered out of competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival.

Filmography

(selection) Digimon Adventure (1999, short), GeGeGe no Kitarō/Kitarō’s Ghost Train (1999, short), Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! (2000, short), Superflat Monogram (2003, short), One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island (2005), The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006), Summer Wars (2009), Digimon Adventure 3D: Digimon Grand Prix! (2009), Wolf Children (2012), The Boy and the Beast (2015), Mirai (2018), Belle (2021), Hateshinaki Scarlet (2025)

More info: Wikipedia, Hosoda Mamoru