Yoshiaki Nishimura

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Yoshiaki Nishimura is a Japanese lead film producer, formerly of Studio Ghibli and founder of Studio Ponoc. On Sunday, the 1st of September 2013, Hayao Miyazaki stood before reporters in Venice to confirm his retirement. He said: "I know I've said I would retire many times in the past. Many of you must think, 'Once again.' But this time I am quite serious." Nishimura earned two Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature: in 2014 for The Tale of Princess Kaguya, in 2015 for When Marnie Was There. Miyazaki's announcement left open a question no press conference could answer that day: who would carry Studio Ghibli forward. And what would its next producer choose to build?

• 2. Suzuki Steps Aside

  ›

  In March 2014, Toshio Suzuki retired as producer and took on a newly created role, general manager, opening the producer's chair for Nishimura to fill. Suzuki did not stay quiet for long. On the 3rd of August 2014, Suzuki told the press that Studio Ghibli would take a "brief pause" to re-evaluate and restructure after Miyazaki's retirement. He added that he had concerns about where the company would go. Reporters and fans took that as a sign the studio might never make another feature film.

  On the 7th of November 2014, Miyazaki pushed back. He said: "That was not my intention, though. All I did was announce that I would be retiring and not making any more features." Whatever the future held for Ghibli, it was Nishimura, not Suzuki, who would decide the next move as producer.

• 3. Founding Studio Ponoc

  ›

  In April 2015, Nishimura left Ghibli together with several colleagues, including director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, to start a new company. The new venture, Studio Ponoc, took on Mary and the Witch's Flower as its first project, released in 2017.

  Ponoc's output continued with Modest Heroes in 2018 and Tomorrow's Leaves in 2021. By 2023, Nishimura's credits included co-producing The Boy and the Heron and producing The Imaginary. That filmography stretched back to 2004, when he first worked on Howl's Moving Castle. One entry in that same filmography sits apart from the rest: The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, a 2013 documentary rather than an animated feature.