Isao Takahata, director of "Grave of the Fireflies," "Anne of Green Gables," and "The Princess Kaguyahime," died on April 5.

Isao Takahata, the director of numerous anime masterpieces including "Grave of the Fireflies," "Heidi, Girl of the Alps," "Anne of Green Gables," and "The Princess Kaguya," passed away on Thursday, April 5, 2018, at a Tokyo hospital. He was 82 years old.

According to sources, the cause of death is not known, but he had been in poor health since last summer.

Mr. Takahata was born in Mie Prefecture in 1935, and went on to study at the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Letters. After graduation, he joined Toei Doga. As an assistant director, he worked on such films as "Ken the Wolf Boy" and "Mo-Rex Ataro. It was during this time that he developed a close friendship with his ally Hayao Miyazaki.
After working for several production companies, including "Heidi, Girl of the Alps," "Conan the Future Boy," "Anne of Green Gables," and "Jalinko Chie," he became a producer of "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. He then became the producer of "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" and participated in the launch of Studio Ghibli, which was established as a result of this film. Since then, he has directed "Grave of the Fireflies," "Omohide Poroporo," "Hohokekyo: My Neighbor Yamada-kun," and "The Princess Kaguya" at the Studio Ghibli.

His popularity and success have spread around the world, and he was involved in the production of the Japan-France-Belgium co-production "Red Turtle: The Story of an Island" as artistic producer, and was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters in 2015.

As a memorial project, Akiba Research Institute has started an official poll " Isao Takahata's Favorite Film ". We hope you will participate in the poll in memory of Isao Takahata's works.