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.
This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.
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)
- Origin
- Nonoichi, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan
- Occupation
- Animator / Animation Director / Film Director / Film Producer / Screenwriter
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Ox
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
3. Works & records
Filmography / notable works
| Category | Title |
|---|---|
| Notable Work | Imaginary Flying Machines |
| Notable Work | The Borrower Arrietty |
| Notable Work | When Marnie Was There |
4. Links
5. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Hiromasa Yonebayashi born?
Hiromasa Yonebayashi was born on July 10, 1973 and is 53 years old.
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.
Where did Hiromasa Yonebayashi study?
Hiromasa Yonebayashi attended Kanazawa College of Art.
What is Hiromasa Yonebayashi known for?
Hiromasa Yonebayashi's notable works include Imaginary Flying Machines, The Borrower Arrietty, When Marnie Was There.
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