HELP! Who are the Ghibli women filmmakers?

Since I can’t read Japanese, it’s hard for me to identify the women filmmakers at Studio Ghibli throughout the years. Please help me crowdsource the most frequent women contributors behind the scenes.

• The List
• Acknowledgements
• How to respond

While the studio is known for writing complex women characters, they’ve never had a woman director. Most of the studio’s women have roles as visual artists (eg. Yasuda, Futaki, Hisamura, & Kagawa). A few others have produced, edited, and done sound, but that’s about all I can find so far.

Depending on the feedback, I will either write a new post with the results, or more likely update the chart below, crediting those who have helped with this crowdsourcing. Thanks in advance!

The List

Embedded XLSX file includes film credits. Also available as ODS. Basic list of names below.

• Michiyō Yasuda (1939-2016): Color director and indispensable leader
• Eiko Tanaka: Producer and co-founder of Studio 4°C
• Makiko Futaki (1958-2016): Nature scene specialist
• Katsu Hisamura: Background artist and art director
• Megumi Kagawa: Animation
• Naoko Asari: Sound
• Matsubara Rie: Editor
• Shiraishi Akane: Editor

Acknowledgements

• Tristan Ettleman – Initial inspiration for this study, with his podcast: The Complete Catalog. Each episode of Season 1 focuses on a single Ghibli full length film. Ongoing weekly. I was a guest on episode 14: Pom Poko.
• Studio Ghibli: An Industrial History. 2023 book by Rayna Denison. The Chapter “Ghibli’s Worlds of Women” (pp. 73-96) is the initial basis of my chart.

How to respond

• Which women crew members have contributed the most to Ghibli, particularly in recent films? I am not including voice actors.
• Comment on this blog post: below, or on the Fediverse-linked post @jaige@zepfanman.com
• My About page includes e-mail and other options. I’ve also made a post on Bluesky.