“Tonari no Totoro” Hits Screen in China

December 15, 2018

Shanghai--"Tonari no Totoro" (My Neighbor Totoro), directed by Japanese anime giant Hayao Miyazaki and released in Japan 30 years ago, started being screened in cinemas across China on Friday.

This is the first time that any movie produced by Japanese anime powerhouse Studio Ghibli Inc. has been officially distributed in China.

Despite a large number of local fans, Miyazaki works had not been screened in China due chiefly to restrictions on the number of foreign movies that can be released in the country.

With a number of people familiarized with pirated versions of Totoro, comments welcoming the launch of screening were posted on social media.

According to Koji Hoshino, chairman of Studio Ghibli, his company started preparations to release Totoro in China eight years ago.

A corporate executive in her 50s who visited a theater in Shanghai said she had watched Totoro on DVD but came to the theater as it was officially imported.

Nature depicted in the anime reminded her of her childhood, the woman said. Jiji Press