Some Nostalgic Place: The Films of Isao Takahata
July 2–August 28, 2026
A cofounder of Studio Ghibli, director Isao Takahata (1935–2018) pushed feature animation into uncharted territories, making films using a variety of techniques but always with reverence for both the natural world and the present-tense, unremarked-upon moments in life.
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Isao Takahata: The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, 2013 © 2013 Isao Takahata, Riko Sakaguchi/Studio Ghibli, NDHDMTK
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Isao Takahata: Grave of the Fireflies, 1988 © Akiyuki Nosaka/Shinchosha, 1988
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Isao Takahata: Only Yesterday, 1991 © Hotaru Okamoto, Yuko Tone/Isao Takahata/Studio Ghibli, NH
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Isao Takahata: Gauche the Cellist, 1982
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Isao Takahata: The Story of Yanagawa Waterways, 1987
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Isao Takahata: Pom Poko, 1994 © 1994 Isao Takahata/Studio Ghibli, NH
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Only Yesterday
Isao Takahata
Japan, 1991Thursday, July 2, 7 PMView DetailsIsao Takahata utilized Studio Ghibli’s jewel-like color and superb command of technique to show the infinite value of an ordinary life lived in ordinary times, as his protagonist, Taeko, visits the countryside to commune with the ghost of her childhood.
Only Yesterday
Isao Takahata
Japan, 1991Sunday, July 5, 4 PMView DetailsIsao Takahata utilized Studio Ghibli’s jewel-like color and superb command of technique to show the infinite value of an ordinary life lived in ordinary times, as his protagonist, Taeko, visits the countryside to commune with the ghost of her childhood.
Grave of the Fireflies
Isao Takahata
Japan, 1988Saturday, July 11, 1:30 PMView DetailsTwo children struggle for survival in the last days of World War II in Isao Takahata’s haunting film. “It belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times).
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
Isao Takahata
Japan, 2013Saturday, July 18, 3:30 PMView Details“A visionary tour-de-force” (Maggie Lee, Variety), Isao Takahata’s final film is an adaptation of a Japanese folktale about a rapidly aging princess discovered in a stalk of bamboo. With impressionistic watercolor and charcoal animation, the specificity and wonder of the everyday punctuate this classic tale.
Gauche the Cellist
Isao Takahata
Japan, 1982Sunday, July 19, 5 PMView DetailsStressed about an upcoming performance of Beethoven’s Sixth (“Pastoral”) Symphony, a young cellist, Gauche, receives a succession of pesky, haranguing, anthropomorphic animal visitors.
The Story of Yanagawa Waterways
Isao Takahata
Japan, 1987Saturday, July 25, 3 PMView DetailsStudio Ghibli’s only live-action film is Isao Takahata’s contemplative, millennia-spanning documentary look at living with water and sustainability via the picturesque canals, dams, and waterways of Yanagawa, Japan.
My Neighbors the Yamadas
Isao Takahata
Japan, 1999Saturday, August 1, 4 PMView DetailsIsao Takahata adopts a soft watercolor style for this wry, charming sketch of Japanese family life, humorously juxtaposed against the poetry of the seventeenth-century writer Basho.
Pom Poko
Isao Takahata
Japan, 1994Saturday, August 22, 3:30 PMView DetailsIn this modern-day version of the legend of the tanuki, Japan’s mighty (and mighty cute) raccoon-dogs unite to save their forest home from encroaching suburban sprawl.
My Neighbor Totoro
Hayao Miyazaki
Japan, 1988Originally released in 1988 paired with Grave of the Fireflies
Sunday, August 23, 2 PMView DetailsTwo sisters encounter wood sprites, magical trees, and flying “catbuses” in this enchanting tale that has become one of the most beloved family films of all time.
Grave of the Fireflies
Isao Takahata
Japan, 1988Sunday, August 23, 4:30 PMView DetailsTwo children struggle for survival in the last days of World War II in Isao Takahata’s haunting film. “It belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times).
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
Isao Takahata
Japan, 2013Friday, August 28, 4 PMView Details“A visionary tour-de-force” (Maggie Lee, Variety), Isao Takahata’s final film is an adaptation of a Japanese folktale about a rapidly aging princess discovered in a stalk of bamboo. With impressionistic watercolor and charcoal animation, the specificity and wonder of the everyday punctuate this classic tale.