Yoshifumi Kondō

Yoshifumi Kondō (近藤 喜文, Kondō Yoshifumi, March 31, 1950 – January 21, 1998) was a Japanese animator who worked for Studio Ghibli in his last years. He was born in Gosen, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. He worked as an animation director on Anne of Green Gables, Sherlock Hound, Kiki's Delivery Service, Only Yesterday and Princess Mononoke. Kondō directed the animated film Whisper of the Heart, and was expected to become one of the top directors at Studio Ghibli, alongside Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and to become their eventual successor.

Yoshifumi Kondō
Born
近藤 喜文

(1950-03-31)31 March 1950
Gosen, Niigata Prefecture, Japan
Died21 January 1998(1998-01-21) (aged 47)
Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan
NationalityJapanese
EducationTokyo Design College, Shin-Ei Animation, Nippon Animation, Telecom Animation Film, Studio Ghibli
Known forAnime
Notable work
Whisper of the Heart (director), Anne of Green Gables, Sherlock Hound, Kiki's Delivery Service, Only Yesterday, Princess Mononoke

Kondō died of aortic dissection[1] – alternately aneurysm[2] – in 1998. His death seems to be the main reason for Hayao Miyazaki's first announcement of retirement in 1998, although Miyazaki later returned to Studio Ghibli.

Brief history

Kondō was born in Gosen, Niigata Prefecture, Japan on March 31, 1950. He entered Niigata Prefectural Muramatsu High School in April, 1965, where he was a member of the art club. His senpai was the future manga artist Kimio Yanagisawa. In April, 1968, he moved to Tokyo after graduating from high school, where he entered Tokyo Design College's animation department. On October 1, 1968, he began working at A Production (formerly Shin'ei Dōga), participating in the production of such shows as Kyojin no Hoshi and Lupin III. Kondo moved to Nippon Animation in June 1978, participating in the production of such shows as Future Boy Conan and Anne of Green Gables.

In 1978, he co-authored a textbook for beginning animators titled Animation Book (アニメーションの本 Animēshon no Hon). He moved to Telecom Animation Film on December 16, 1980, where he worked as the character designer for Sherlock Hound. On March 16, 1985, Kondō resigned from his position at Telecom Animation Film, and was hospitalized from June through August for a type of pneumonia (自然気胸 shizen kikyō). He became a contract worker for Nippon Animation afterwards and moved to Studio Ghibli in January, 1987. In 1995, he made his directorial debut with the film Whisper of the Heart. On January 21, 1998, he died suddenly of an aortic dissection in the Tachikawa City Hospital in Tokyo at age 47. Doctors said that the aneurysm had been brought on by overwork.[3]

Filmography

Listed in chronological order.

1960s and 1970s
  • Star of the Giants (March 30, 1968 through September 18, 1971) (in-between animation, key animation)
  • Lupin III (October 24, 1971 through March 26, 1972) (opening key animation, key animation)
  • Dokonjou Gaeru (October 7, 1972 through September 28, 1974) (key animation, animation director)
  • Panda! Go, Panda! (December 17, 1972) (key animation)
  • Panda! Go, Panda!: The Rainy-day Circus (March 17, 1973) (key animation)
  • Hajime Ningen Gyātoruzu (October 5, 1974 through March 27, 1976) (key animation)
  • Ganba no Bouken (April 7, 1975 through September 29, 1975) (key animation)
  • Ganso Tensai Bakabon (October 6, 1975 through September 26, 1977) (key animation)
  • Manga Sekai Mukashi Banashi (October 7, 1976 through March 28, 1979) (production, character design, key animation, backgrounds)
  • Sougen no Ko Tenguri (1977) (key animation)
  • Ore ha Teppai (September 12, 1977 through March 27, 1978) (continuity, key animation)
  • Future Boy Conan (April 4, 1978 through October 31, 1978) (key animation)
  • Anne of Green Gables (January 7, 1979 through December 30, 1979) (key animation, animation director, character designer)

1980s

1990s

Bibliography
  • Animage Tokubetsu Guidebook: Omohide Poro Poro Roman Album (August 1991, 4197210809)
  • Animation no Hon: Ugoku E wo Egaku Kiso Chishiki to Sakuga no Jissai (January 1978, ISBN 4-7726-0079-5)
  • Animētā Kondō Yoshifumi (September 7, 2003, Niigata Nippō newspaper)
  • Futo Furikaeru to (March 31, 1998, ISBN 4-19-860832-6)
  • Kondō Yoshifumi no Shigoto: Dōga de Hyōgen Dekiru Koto (June 29, 2001, no ISBN, edited by Masashi Andō)
  • Kondō Yoshifumi-san Tsuitō Bunshū: Kondō-san no Ita Fūkei (no ISBN, published by the Takahata · Miyazaki Sakuhin Kenkyūjo)
  • Nihon no Animēshon wo Kizuita Hitobito (January 2001, ISBN 4-948755-78-8, by Seiji Kanō)

References
  1. Miyazaki, Hayao; Takahata, Isao (8 February 1998). STUDIO GHIBLI (in Japanese) https://web.archive.org/web/19980208051258/http://www.ntv.co.jp/ghibli/fuho.html. Archived from the original on 1998-02-08. Retrieved 12 September 2019. 弊社、近藤喜文（こんどうよしふみ　享年47才）が、解離性大動脈瘤のため、1月21日（水）午前4時25分永眠いたしました。 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "Kondo - passing." Archived 2014-11-28 at the Wayback Machine Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
  3. Collin, Robbie. "Goodbye Studio Ghibli, your genius will endure", "The Telegraph", 4 August 2014. Retrieved on 20 February 2019.
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