Twenty years after the release of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, a major exhibition tracing the creative journey of acclaimed animation filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda is opening at CREATIVE MUSEUM TOKYO in Kyobashi, Tokyo.

©The Creative Origin of Mamoru Hosoda | photo by ©FASHION HEADLINE
Titled The Creative Origin of Mamoru Hosoda, the exhibition is the largest ever dedicated to the director’s work, bringing together more than 300 production materials, including storyboards, layouts, key animation drawings, and background art. Rather than serving as a simple retrospective, the exhibition examines the creative process behind some of Hosoda’s most celebrated films and the origins of his distinctive visual storytelling.

©The Creative Origin of Mamoru Hosoda | photo by ©FASHION HEADLINE

The Film That Marked a Turning Point

Released in 2006, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time became a defining milestone in Hosoda’s career as a filmmaker. Reflecting on the exhibition, Hosoda describes the project as the realization of his long-held desire to create a feature film of his own. Although the film initially opened in just six theaters, its enthusiastic reception became a source of encouragement that would shape the trajectory of his subsequent work.

©The Creative Origin of Mamoru Hosoda | photo by ©FASHION HEADLINE

Through materials from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, and Wolf Children, visitors can explore how Hosoda’s signature cinematic language developed across these landmark productions.

©The Creative Origin of Mamoru Hosoda | photo by ©FASHION HEADLINE

The Craft Behind the Images

At the heart of the exhibition are the production materials that exist behind the finished films. Storyboards filled with directorial notes, layouts that define movement and composition, key animation drawings marked by the traces of pencil lines, and background paintings that establish each film’s atmosphere reveal the extraordinary craftsmanship behind scenes that may last only seconds on screen.

©The Creative Origin of Mamoru Hosoda | photo by ©FASHION HEADLINE

Displayed throughout a vast exhibition space of approximately 1,200 square meters with five-meter-high ceilings, these materials are presented alongside immersive visual installations. Moving between the production process and the finished films offers a new perspective on Hosoda’s approach to animation and cinematic storytelling.

©The Creative Origin of Mamoru Hosoda | photo by ©FASHION HEADLINE

Returning to the Beginning

One of the exhibition’s most distinctive aspects is its exploration of Hosoda’s creative origins before The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

The exhibition features independent animation projects created during his teenage years, live-action films produced while studying at Kanazawa College of Art, oil paintings from his student days, and materials from his early professional career at Toei Animation.

Among the highlights is SILENT (1989), a live-action film Hosoda created while still a university student. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where language has disappeared, the film already hints at themes of communication and human connection that would later become central to many of his works.

By looking beyond his achievements as an animation director, the exhibition presents Hosoda as a creator whose artistic interests span multiple disciplines and media.

Entering the World of OZ

Fans of Summer Wars will find a special attraction in the exhibition’s recreation of the film’s virtual world, OZ.

The area features life-size figures of KING KAZMA and LOVE MACHINE, allowing visitors to experience elements of the film’s universe in physical space.

©The Creative Origin of Mamoru Hosoda | photo by ©FASHION HEADLINE

More than 100 original exhibition-exclusive items will also be available, many inspired by the iconic blue skies that have become synonymous with Hosoda’s films. In addition, an OZ-themed café will offer another way to engage with the atmosphere and imagery of Summer Wars.

©The Creative Origin of Mamoru Hosoda | photo by ©FASHION HEADLINE

By revealing the sketches, revisions, experiments, and creative decisions that exist behind finished films, The Creative Origin of Mamoru Hosoda offers a rare opportunity to rediscover one of Japan’s most influential contemporary filmmakers from an entirely new perspective.