Sakura Saku ga Gotoshi: A Novel About the Beginnings of Japanese Anime

The novel Sakura Saku ga Gotoshi – Animator-tachi no Soseiki, about the beginnings of Japan's animation industry, will be released in Japan on January 29, 2027. The author is animation producer Yoichiro Kugimiya, who realized the book together with contributions from the Studio Ghibli circle. The publication date falls in the year in which Japan looks back on 110 years of animation history.

From the First Manga Films to Its Own Studio

The story centers on the young Seitaro Hanasaki from what is today the city of Usuki in Oita Prefecture. He discovers the animations that were then called "manga films" and tries to make such films himself. Lacking expertise, equipment and established production workflows, he seeks collaborators and develops his own methods. The plot relates his work to social prejudices, natural disasters and Japan's growing militarization.

The publisher Bungeishunju describes the novel as a historically grounded but narratively shaped story about a young generation of animators. It thus does not depict today's digital production, but a time when drawings were transferred to film one by one and material shortages determined the work. The appendix also reprints a section from the 1941 work Kisha Ryoko by Noboru Oshiro on the production of drawn films. Further supplements contain designs and production materials relating to the depicted world.

Contributions from the Studio Ghibli Circle

The illustrations are by Yoshiharu Sato, who among other things worked on My Neighbor Totoro. Toshio Suzuki of Studio Ghibli contributed a text for the book band. According to the publication details, the project was originally conceived as an animation project. The narrative was written with a possible later film adaptation in mind; however, no concrete anime production or cinema release is announced with this.

Other recent publications also explore the making of anime visual worlds. For example, an illustrated volume on Princess Mononoke presents previously unpublished design drawings by Hayao Miyazaki. The Ghibli exhibition in Kyoto, in turn, draws a connection between traditional Japanese pictorial art and contemporary animation.

Publication in Japan

According to the publisher, Sakura Saku ga Gotoshi – Animator-tachi no Soseiki comprises 256 pages and costs ¥1,870 including tax. It is published by Bungeishunju Kikaku Shuppanbu; the ISBN is 978-4-16-009304-1. The title is currently announced as a Japanese book release. A German edition or a date for an anime adaptation is not mentioned in the official publisher information.