Photo: Trajoneta / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Hiromasa Yonebayashi is the kind of filmmaker who lets you forget there's a director behind the camera at all — which I mean as the highest compliment. He came up as an animator at Ghibli, drawing frame by frame, and you can feel that hands-on background in every quiet corner of his films. Arrietty and Marnie aren't bombastic adventure stories; they're patient, intimate, almost whispered — small protagonists navigating enormous emotional worlds. There's something very specific about a craftsman who trains his eye on tiny gestures and interior lives rather than spectacle. He studied fine art in Kanazawa and it shows: the guy thinks in images, in texture, in what a room looks like when nobody's watching. I find myself genuinely fond of directors like this — the ones who never seem to be showing off, just doing the work until the work glows.
Overview
Hiromasa Yonebayashi is a Japanese animator and film director born on July 10, 1973, in Nonoichi, Ishikawa Prefecture. He studied at Kanazawa College of Art before building his career as an animator and animation director. He is best known for directing the Studio Ghibli films The Borrower Arrietty and When Marnie Was There, both of which center on the inner lives of young protagonists. His work earned him the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year in 2011 and the Japan Film Critics Award for Best Animation Director in 2015.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Hiromasa Yonebayashi
- Name (Japanese)
- 米林宏昌
- Reading
- よねばやし ひろまさ
- Born
- July 10, 1973 (age 53)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Ox
- Origin
- Nonoichi, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan
- Occupation
- Animator / Animation Director / Film Director / Film Producer / Screenwriter
2. Background
- University
- Kanazawa College of Art
Awards & achievements
- 2011 – Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year
- 2015 – Japan Film Critics Award for Best Animation Director
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable Work | Imaginary Flying Machines | — | Unknown |
| Notable Work | The Borrower Arrietty | — | Unknown |
| Notable Work | When Marnie Was There | — | Unknown |
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Hiromasa Yonebayashi born?
Born July 10, 1973 (age 53).
Where is Hiromasa Yonebayashi from?
Hiromasa Yonebayashi is from Nonoichi, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.
What does Hiromasa Yonebayashi do?
Hiromasa Yonebayashi works as Animator, Animation Director, Film Director, Film Producer, Screenwriter.
What is Hiromasa Yonebayashi known for?
Notable works include Imaginary Flying Machines, The Borrower Arrietty, When Marnie Was There.
Animator — see all → · More people from Japan →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.