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Contents
Project Proposal: Airplanes Are Beautiful Dreams/Hayao Miyazali....... 8
WItKOCUICLION Sersercectereeceeeccacescevaccreace Braseeece
ceexusertrarensaertoveetrneeeene 10
Jiro} HOTIKOSHP=sMINtGeM) VOatS Ol oerecceceeccc<caccerscescexsevcencxcervecserseerer 12
Interview: Kitaro Kosaka, Supervising Animator..........:.::secseeeeeeeee 54
The Wind Rises Production Process |.........:::sseseeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeereeees 56
JirolHontkashis MWentyeY@ars: Ol ecsssccsscccessecseweesessexacesscuexsnvescesreeses 58
Interview: Yoji Takeshige, Art DireCtor...........:::ceceseeeeeeeeees reconcile)
The Wind Rises Production Process II........::sssee cueeevaverescostressnss 91
Jiro Horikoshi: Twenty-Two Years OId ........:::csscsscesseeeeeeeeeeesseeeeees 92
Jiro Horikoshi: Twenty-Four Years O1d............::csscccseeeseeeeeeeeeeeeees 106
Jiro Horikoshi: Twenty-Five Years Old...........::cceseseeees seevserecs ex 24
Jiro Horikoshi: Twenty-Six Years OId..........::cscccseesseeseeeesseeeeeeeees 132
Interview: Michiyo Yasuda, Color Designer ............:::cseeceeeeeeeeees 146
The Wind Rises Production Process III........:+2:sceseeeeseeeeeeeeeeeees 147
Jiro Horikoshi: Twenty-Nine Years Old ............:cccscesseeseeeeeeeseeeees 148
Jiro Horikoshi: Thirty Years Old ............:ccssccceseeseeesseeeeeeeeseeeeseeeees 156
Interview: Atsushi Okui, Director of Digital Imaging..............:1e 180
Photography Techniques in The Wind Rises .........0. suvdddessteseecestse 181
The Wind Rises Production Process IV........:.sscssssesesesseeeeeeeeeeees 183
Jiro Horikoshi: Thirty-One Years OId.........::ceccecseecereeeeeeeeeeees 184
Jiro Horikoshi: Forty-Two Years Old.......... Weecsawcasesctassersiceeraviescect 221
Posters and Bannet............ cano-RoFoCCORORECRRRt ocr aeneCHecoCROEc
Tone EeREeEEAEEECE 228
Complete English-Language SCript............:ccsscscsscssesseeseseseeseeeees 233
[SUTIOBS -conensacennreenonnconareenenanneconconceennaonenceroceecnencnce Senses dseusvedssasarssceras 276
GROCIS so ssrecceescvcuecestteererrenerenene Bates
ere eeestceserene oecoer near oochface ncinnce 278
*Jiro's age includes estimates for some parts.
About this book

This collection of concept sketches, concept art, backgrounds, character and
machine designs, and film stills done at the time of the film’s production
follows the story of Studio Ghibli’s animated film The Wind Rises. All concept
sketches and machine designs are by director Hayao Miyazaki; concept art and
backgrounds by the art staff are supervised by art director Yoji Takeshige; and
character design is by supervising animator Kitaro Kosaka. In some cases, part
of the background was drawn on a transparent cel or a separate piece of paper
and overlaid; the former is referred to as a “background + cel book” and the
latter as “background + book.” Line drawings on cels with texture and color
added are called “harmonies.” Airplane designs are based on actual planes
with details and colorings changed and arrangements added by director Hayao
Miyazaki. Images with no other notes are stills from the film.
References
Kaze Tachinu/Utsukushii Mura (The Wind Rises/Beautiful Village, Tatsuo Hori/Shinchosha Publishing)
Reisen no Isan (Heritage of the Zero, Jiro Horikoshi/Kojinsha NF Bunko)
Reisen Sekkeisha ga Kataru Kessakuki no Tanjo
(Birth of a Masterpiece: The Designer Tells the Story of the Zero, Jiro Horikoshi with Masatake
Okumiya/Gakken M Bunko)
Nihonkokuki Daizukan 1910-1945
P1/Jiro and the bird-shaped plane on the roof, from the initial dream sequence. His younger sister Kayo poking her head out from the door was in the (Illustrated Encyclopedia of Japanese Aircraft 1910-1945, Toshihiko Ogawa/Kokushokankokai)
Aeroplani Caproni: Gianni Caproni and His Aircraft 1910-1983
initial concept art, but not in the film. [Concept sketch] (Rosario Abate, Gregory Aleqi, Giorgio Apostolo/Museo Caproni)
P2, 3/The scene where Jiro and Caproni meet in the dream. [Concept sketch] Ketteiban: Nihon no Jokikikansha
(Definitive Edition: Japanese Steam Locomotives, Koichi Miyazaki/Kodansha)
P4, 5/One after another, the planes Caproni is so proud of appear before Jiro, who is deeply moved. [Concept sketch]
Shitetsu no Sharyo 2: Odakyu Dentetsu
P6/Near the train crossing at the station the tiny train passes on the narrow gauge railway, from Jiro’s route to school. [Concept sketch] (Private Railways 2: Odakyu Legends, Iwo lijima, |kuo Oyama, Hisashi Morokawa/Neko Publishing)
Project Proposal by Director Hayao Miyazaki
Airplanes Are Beautiful Dreams
Zero plane designer Jiro Horikoshi and his Italian forerunner
Gianni Caproni are two men pursuing a common aspiration,
bonded by friendship across time and space. The two overcome
numerous failures, devoting themselves to realizing their
boyhood dreams.
In Japan’s Taisho era (1912-1926), a country boy decides to
become an aircraft designer. He dreams of building a plane that
flies like the beautiful wind.
As a young man he goes off to college in Tokyo, becoming an
elite engineer in the huge defense industry. His talent blooms
and he ultimately creates a beautiful airplane, one that will
leave its mark on aviation history—the Mitsubishi A6M1, later
to become the Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter, better known as the
Zero fighter. For three years from 1940, the Zero fighter was the
world’s finest warplane.
From his boyhood to his youth, the years during which our
main character lives are weighed down by a sense of stagnation
more intense than the one hanging over Japan today: the Great
Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression, unemployment,
poverty and tuberculosis, revolutions and fascism, suppression of
free speech, one war after another. Meanwhile, popular culture
flowered; modernism and nihilism, as well as hedonism, were
prevalent. Poets fell prey to illness and death in their journeys.
Our protagonist Jiro engaged in airplane design at a time
when the Empire of Japan was heading to its destruction and
ultimate fall. Yet the intention of this film is not to condemn war,
nor is it about stirring up young Japanese with the excellence of
the Zero fighter. I have no plans to defend our lead character,
such as by saying that he actually wanted to make civilian aircraft.
I want to portray a devoted individual who pursued his dream
head-on. Dreams possess an element of madness, and such poison
must not be concealed. Yearning for something too beautiful can
ruin you. Swaying toward beauty may come at a price. Jiro will be
battered and defeated, his design career cut short. Nonetheless,
Jiro was an individual of preeminent originality and talent. This is
what we will strive to portray in this film.
Hayao Miyazaki The title The Wind Rises comes from a novel of the same name,
Animated film director. Born 1941, Tokyo.
After graduating from Gakushuin University’s written by Tatsuo Hori. Hori took a line from Paul Valéry’s
Faculty of Political Science and Economics poem, “Le vent se léve, il faut tenter de vivre,” and translated it
in 1963, he began work at Toei Doga
(currently Toei Animation). In 1985, he into Japanese: Kaze tachinu, iza ikimeyamo (The wind is rising! We
became a founding member of Studio Ghibli.
Representative works include Nausicaa of the
must try to live). Our film combines Jiro Horikoshi and writer
Valley of the Wind (1984), Castle in the Sky Tatsuo Hori, two actual people of the same era, into one person
(1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess
Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001), as “Jiro,” our central character. It will be an unusual work of
Howl's Moving Castle (2004), and Ponyo
(2008). Spirited Away won the Golden Bear
complete fiction that depicts the youth of the 1930s. Our story
at the 52nd annual Berlin International Film will be woven using the birth of the later-mythicized Zero fighter
Festival and Best Animated Feature at the
75th Academy Awards, and Miyazaki received as our warp, and the meeting and parting of young engineer Jiro
the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at and the beautiful, ill-fated girl Nahoko as our weft. Our good ol’
the 62nd Venice International Film Festival.
In 2012, he was selected as a Person of Caproni, transcending time and place, will be there to add some
Cultural Merit. He was also responsible
for the original concept, planning, and
color to the story’s fabric.
production of the Ghibli Museum, which
opened in Mitaka in 2001, and he serves as
the building's manager.
Characters
Jiro Horikoshi (boyhood to middle age)

The film’s protagonist is deeply dry, wildly enthusiastic, extremely focused,
individualistic, overly self-confident, roiling with realism and idealism, and devoted to
freedom, but also brings an extreme calm and clarity to this mix. Stylish and gallant,
slightly shy, he carries himself lightly and has a politeness that endears him to others.
There is also something about him reminiscent of the poet Michizo Tachihara, who
died young.
He loves the books of Thomas Mann and Hermann Hesse and listens to Schubert. His
peers within the large military supply organization recognize his talents, and as he moves
through life he always has in his heart a burning ambition to build beautiful planes.
Older Gianni Caproni

A creator of airplanes known around the world
and active from the dawn of the Italian aviation
industry until the 1930s, Caproni appears in Jiro’s
dreams as someone who inspires and advises Jiro;
he is also the mouthpiece for Jiro’s interior. This
man does not age.
Nahoko
A beautiful, cheerful girl, she is riding on the same train as Jiro at the time of the
Great Kanto Earthquake. Ten years later, she encounters Jiro again in a fateful
meeting and they fall in love. She is sick with tuberculosis. The girl’s name comes
from Tatsuo Hori’s masterwork, Nahoko.
Notes on the Film’s Look

I want to paint Japan’s verdant landscape from the Taisho era to the early Showa era with utmost beauty. The skies then
were still clear with lofty white clouds. Water flowed clearly. No litter was to be found in the countryside. On the other
hand, poverty was widespread in the cities. I don’t want to obscure architecture by using sepia tones; thus we will be
bold with East Asian colors of modernism. Roads are bumpy and uneven. Shop signs and billboards line up chaotically.
Jumbles of wooden utility poles are everywhere.
This film needs to be a kind of biography of the protagonist’s boyhood, youth, and middle years, but a designer’s
daily life would most likely be quite uneventful. Thus, bold cuts and jumps in time are inevitable, while minimizing the
audience’s confusion. The film probably will be an interweaving of three types of imagery:
Daily life scenes will be an accumulation of quiet and plain moments.
The dream sequences will be much more free and sensual: swaying time and weather, rolling terrains, and flying
objects floating with ease. The dreams will embody the obsessive singular focus of Caproni and Jiro.
Technical explanations and meetings will be caricatured. I have no interest in showcasing facts and trivia about
aviation technology, but when needed, they will be presented in a bold, cartoony style. The malady of this type of
cinematic work is too many meeting scenes, with individual fates decided in the meeting room. Our work will not have
any such scenes. Meetings will be depicted only when absolutely necessary, as cartoons and without dialogue. Our
attention will be directed toward the portrayal of people.
I want to create something that is realistic,
fantastic,
at times caricatured,
but as a whole, a beautiful film.
Ip> & BE
BOTS, £,¢6 Bab] TA
January 10, 2011 Hayao Miyazaki
Translation for Project Proposal by Director Hayao Miyazaki and Notes on the Film’s Look: Rieko Izutsu-Vajirasarn
Introduction The Wind Rises is Studio Ghibli’s eighteenth animated theatrical
feature and director Hayao Miyazaki’s first effort in five years,
since 2008's Ponyo.
The film depicts the life of aircraft designer and engineer
Jiro Horikoshi from the age of thirteen to the age of forty—
two. It takes as its background the thirty tumultuous years
from 1916 to 1945, including World War I, the Great Kanto
Earthquake, the Great Depression, the Manchurian Incident,
and then World War II.
The protagonist, Jiro Horikoshi, is a character combining
the essences of the designer and engineer Jiro Horikoshi—
creator of the Zero (Type 0 Carrier Fighter), a famous machine
that later made its mark in the history of aviation—and Tatsuo
Hori, a man of letters who lived at the same time. Although
this protagonist has many experiences and ends up in pieces
in the story, which incorporates that of the Tatsuo Hori novel
The Wind Rises, the film portrays a character who tries to live
each day as though it were a precious gift. This is the first time
a Studio Ghibli animated theatrical feature has modeled a
character after real people.
But it is not only real people in the film; characters from
the novel and characters Hayao Miyazaki created for the film
also appear for charming scenes in a film that allows these
fictional characters to share the stage with real people.
Nahoko, the love ofJiro’s life whom he meets during the
Great Kanto Earthquake, is the heroine from Tatsuo Hori’s
novels The Wind Rises and Nahoko. She is depicted as a woman
who lives a short, beautiful life.
Caproni, who occasionally appears in Jiro’s dreams to
motivate and listen to him, is modeled after the real-life Gianni
Caproni, the Italian aeronautical engineer who was active
before and after World War I.
Castorp, who plays the role of cupid in uniting Jiro and
Nahoko, borrows his name from Hans Castorp, the protagonist
of The Magic Mountain, the well-known work by German writer
Thomas Mann. Castorp’s face and voice performance are
from the real-life Steve Alpert, who worked in Studio Ghibli’s
overseas operations. He is a most unique character, a blend of
fact and fiction.
Production for The Wind Rises started in 2008, with Hayao

Miyazaki conceiving of a manga with Zero designer Jiro
Horikoshi as the protagonist. The manga was serialized in the
monthly magazine Model Graphix (Dainipponkaiga) in 2009
under the title The Wind Rises, with a total of nine chapters,
from April until January 2010.
In the summer of 2010, producer Toshio Suzuki proposed
that this manga be made into a film as a new production for
a theatrical release, but Hayao Miyazaki opposed the idea,
saying that the manga reflected his own personal tastes and
wasn’t suitable for adaptation into a movie. However, after
several conversations with Suzuki, he refined and rewrote the
material toward adaptation into a film, and the production was
approved on December 28.
“The Wind Rises: Interim Report,” issued immediately
before this decision on December 21, shows the directionality
for setting up production:
10
Mix Jiro Horikoshi and Tatsuo Hori to portray a completely A Tribute to
fictional youth in the 1930s with the warp of the birth of
the legendary Zero and the weft of the young engineer Jiro
Jiro Horikoshi
and his meeting with and separation from the beautiful, and Tatsuo Hori
unfortunate girl Nahoko .
The real Horikoshi appears to have been a balanced,
gifted man with a certain charisma as a member of his
organization, but in this film, I’d like to make a character
with a more complex personality...
The story begins with the fateful meeting of this
Jiro and a girl. His love for the girl is both sweet and, at
the same time, cursed by the earthquake, causing Jiro to
suffer. The girl is afflicted with the untreatable disease
tuberculosis. All of Jiro’s passion, effort, and devotion
cannot save her from this terrible illness; there exists an
) Rar nat
Provided by Fujioka Historical Museum
uncrossable chasm between those who will live and those
Jiro Horikoshi
who will die. The designer of cutting-edge fighter planes Born in Gunma in 1903, Horikoshi entered
does not even have anywhere near enough time just to the Aviation Division in the Department of
Engineering at Tokyo Imperial University after
enjoy life with the girl. Perhaps right from the start, they graduating from Daiichi High School. Graduating
from both high school and university at the head
are unable to live together... of his class, he then went to work at Mitsubishi
It’s the story of young people doing everything they Internal Combustion Engine Company (currently
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) and was involved in
can to live in the 1930s, an era of recession, unemployment, the design of fighter planes. In 1932, at the age
of 29, he designed the Mitsubishi 1MF10 fighter.
hedonism and nihilism, war, disease, poverty, modernism In 1934, he was responsible for the prototype
and backlash, a march toward the ruin of a stumbling and design for the Mitsubishi B4M1 carrier attack
plane, the pinnacle of aeronautic performance
falling empire. in the world at the time. He later designed the
Mitsubishi ASM, A6M2 Type O Model 21, A6M5
Can we even make an animated film like this... Type 0 Model 52, A6M5 Type O Model 54, J2M
Raiden, and A7M Reppu, among others. After
the war, he was also involved in designing the
At the end of the report, two directions toward a film YS-11 civilian craft. Following his retirement
from Mitsubishi, he worked as a lecturer at
adaptation were noted. The first followed the flow of the the Institute of Space and Aeronautics at the
University of Tokyo, as a professor at the National
manga, featuring Caproni, leaping through space and time, Defense Academy, and a professor at Nihon
and exaggerating the portrayal of the airplanes in the style of University. He passed away in 1982 at the age
of 78. His writings include Eagles of Mitsubishi:
an animated film. The second was a more serious creation, The Story of the Zero Fighter (Kadokawa Shoten)
and Reisen no /san (Kojinsha NF Bunko).
in which Caproni did not appear, depicting Jiro and Nahoko
falling in love, a heavy melodrama colored by Tatsuo Hori.
These two directions were like water and oil, making a fusion
impossible, and tell the story of how Hayao Miyazaki struggled,
pressed for a final choice on which way the film would go.
Miyazaki chose the former, and the project proposal
(printed on pages 8 and 9) was completed in January 2011. He
began drawing the storyboards. Part A, corresponding to about
one-fourth of the total film, was completed in May of that
same year. The day after he finished drawing the Great Kanto
Earthquake scene in the middle of writing part A, the 3/11
Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck. Provided by the Museum of Modern Japanese Literature
The main staff on the film consisted of supervising

Tatsuo Hori
animator Kitaro Kosaka, who worked on “Mr. Dough and
Born in Tokyo in 1904, he faced the Great Kanto
the Egg Princess” (created, written, and directed by Hayao Earthquake and lost his mother when he was
18 and still a student at Daiichi High School.
Miyazaki), an animated short for the Ghibli Museum in 2010; While attending Tokyo Imperial University in the
art director Yoji Takeshige; color designer Michiyo Yasuda; Japanese Literature Department, he was involved
with small literary journals and exchanged ideas
and Atsushi Okui as director of photography; with Joe Hisaishi with Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Saisei Murou,
Shigeharu Nakano, Tsurujiro Kubokawa, Hideo
joining the crew again for the music. Kobayashi, and Tatsuo Nagai. In 1930, at the
age of 25, he published his first work, The Holy
The storyboards were completed in January 2013. In May Family. He suffered from tuberculosis and often
of the same year, the animation and artwork was complete. received treatment at Karuizawa. In 1933, he met
Ayako Yano there, whom he married the following
The final number of shots was 1,450, with 161,545 frames of year. Although they were both hospitalized at a
treatment center in Fujimikogen, Ayako died in
animation, for a running time of 126:35:14. The film then the winter of 1935. Hori wrote the novel The
had its first preview screening on June 19 and was released in Wind Rises based on this experience. In 1937, he
married Tae Kato. The Wind Rises and Diary of a
theaters across Japan on July 20. Mayfly were published the same year, followed by
Nahoko in 1941. Just before the end of World War
Il, his tuberculosis took a turn for the worse. After
the war, he continued to fight his illness, passing
away in 1953 at the age of 48.
11
Jiro Horikoshi: Thirteen Years Old
The Taisho era. Jiro Horikoshi, born into a wealthy family in the country and spending his emotional boyhood days
longing to ride in an airplane, meets the famed Italian airplane creator, Gianni Caproni, in his dreams. “Airplanes
are beautiful dreams!” Caproni’s words make a deep impression on Jiro, and he sets his heart on work that will give
shape to his dreams—he decides to become an airplane designer.
Horikoshi house, rooftop
P12-13/One morning in summer. The silhouette of the Horikoshi home rises up in the faint light in the rolling fog.
1/Seen through open storm shutters, the inside of the house is still quietly asleep. [Background]
2/The top of the roof Jiro climbs onto in his dream. [Background]
3/The rooftop scene he wishes to see. The mountains in the distance are lit by the morning sun. [Background]
Since there are many scenes with sky and clouds in The Wind Rises, | focused my efforts on having as much
variation as possible. Despite the fact that clouds look different to everyone, in the end, you do tend to be limited
by the possible shapes. | decided to set the tone, taking into consideration the feel and time of each place, after
which | left it to the judgment of the art staff and had them draw as many different cloud and sky backgrounds
as possible. As a theme for us, Miyazaki often talked about the fact that he wanted to bring out a feeling of layers
in a sea of clouds, with clouds one on top of another, or conversely, a comfortable feeling of liberation with just
light clouds floating by in the sky at Karuizawa. Although it wasn't a particularly new experiment, we added an
indigo paint (poster color) we don’t normally use, a deep blue color, for shadow areas and the color of the ocean. |
thought that by adding indigo, with its slightly dull feel, instead of a vibrant blue like cobalt or cerulean, we might
be able to get a Japanese kind of coloring, and | was conscious of this as | used it.
-Art Director: Yoji Takeshige
14
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Dream bird
1/The beginning scene in which Jiro takes off in a bird-shaped plane in his dream. [Storyboard by director Hayao Miyazaki]
2-8/Climbing up onto the roof in his nobakama pants, Jiro gets into the cockpit and starts the engine. The bird-shaped plane soars
lightly in the sky, the wind under its wings.
16
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From country to town
1/The scenery of the country spreads out below the bird-shaped plane flying nimbly above. [Background]
2/River running between paddy fields. The bird-shaped plane descends to skim the water surface. [Background + cel book]
3/The bird-shaped plane slips under a bridge with people and cows coming and going on it, then rises into the sky again. [Background]
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1/The town the bird-shaped plane flies above, along the river with a cotton mill. [Background + cel book]
2/The women workers from the cotton mill look up.
3/The scene looking down from the bird-shaped plane. Smoke comes up from the cotton mill stacks. [Background]
Jiro Horikoshi
The film's protagonist, a boy who longs to become an airplane pilot, is very dedicated to his studies, excellent at judo, and has a sense of
justice that won't allow him to look the other way when someone is being picked on. The character is a fusion of Jiro Horikoshi, a designer and
engineer who supported the Japanese aviation industry both before and after the war, and Tatsuo Hori, a writer who lived at the same time.
1/Rough sketches of Jiro in his boyhood (Grade 6) and his family. [Concept sketches]
2, 3/Collection of young Jiro’s facial expressions and his pilot style with nobakama pants and gaiters. [Character design]
Since people of this time had to work very hard just to live, | took this serious attitude into basic consideration and made the characters so
that they wouldn’t have a weak feel to them. Jiro Horikoshi wore glasses, so | made his glasses very conspicuous. I'd also heard that Miyazaki
himself has a complex about not being able to see without his lenses, so | made the glasses with this sort of thing in mind as well. Since you
end up with a pair of symbolic circles stuck on there if you just draw the glasses as is, | gave the lenses some shadow during animation with
the intention of bringing out their physicality.
—Supervising Animator: Kitaro Kosaka
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Bird-shaped plane
The streamlined machine with completely variable wings that Jiro sees in his dream. The start switch is made of Bakelite,
the latest thing at the time. Flight feathers are attached to the ends of the wings.
1, 2/Rough sketches of the bird-shaped plane with details of the wheels and the propeller drawn in. [Concept sketches]
3/Jiro waving to the women workers from the bird-shaped plane.
4/Details of the engine, etc. [Machine design]
24
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5/Jiro, the dashing pilot.

6/The wings are adjusted using a wheel on the side of the plane body.
7/Riding the air currents higher.
8/The bird-shaped plane flying above the paddies lit up by the morning light.
9/The bird-shaped plane flying toward town following the stream.
26
Airship
The airship that appears in Jiro’s dream is an original design proposed by Miyazaki. In the storyboards,
he made a note for a “fantastical Zeppelin,” and the front of the ship bears a German/Prussian iron
cross. The Zeppelin-shaped airship was originally developed by the German count Ferdinand von
Zeppelin. The Zeppelin LZ 1, a large, rigid airship with an aluminum frame, was completed in June
1900. Although at the time the objective for the airship was to transport large numbers of travelers,
with the start of World War | in 1914, it was used as a cutting-edge weapon. One hundred and twenty
were produced during the war.
Bomb bugs
Fantastic creatures ride on the explosive weapons
hanging from the airship on wires like the sticky strings
of natto beans. Jiro’s bird-shaped plane collides with the
bug bombs and ends up in pieces.
27
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Taisho era views

1/Jiro’s road to school. There is a cotton mill and a wharf along the river, and boats carrying goods move up and down the river. [Concept sketch]
2/Jiro and others wait for the tiny train to pass at the crossing at a narrow-gauge railway station. The train has one passenger car and one freight car.
3/Some of the people crossing the bridge are students at the same school as Jiro. This is the usual morning scene.
Noboru Yoshida was mainly responsible for the backgrounds of the scenes of Jiro’s boyhood, such as when he goes to school, when he takes on the
bad kids by the river, or when he climbs in his bird-shaped plane in his dream and flies above the factory. He’s really good at drawing warm views, so
| basically just left it to him. You could say | was working on the opposite end of the spectrum, on something brutal, the areas that were burnt out and
the mountains of bricks left after the earthquake. | had no intention of making anything that felt too scary, but some of it was hard for me to draw as |
remembered what I’d seen as a volunteer in Tohoku after the earthquake and tsunami there.
Art Director: Yoji Takeshige
Miyazaki explained to us that the boats and things that appear in these scenes had all been used for ages, so they were sort of blackened and beat up.
| used duller colors than we would have normally for the wood of the wooden boats. | did these scenes thinking it would be great if these vehicles and
boats could be a part of the background, if they could somehow blend into this luxurious scenery.
—Color Designer: Michiyo Yoshida
28
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Fit4
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L\A
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Jiro’s elementary school

1/Afternoon in a tranquil town. The school Jiro attends is down a street lined with shops. [Background]
2/The hallway after school. [Background]
30 31
cc Kg
Jiro’s elementary school

1/The entrance of the teachers’ room where Jiro goes to borrow a
magazine. [Background]
2/The foreign aviation magazine the young teacher hands over to
Jiro. It contains an article on Caproni, whom Jiro holds in esteem.
3/“May | borrow it?” “Of course, but it’s in English.” “That’s okay.
| have a dictionary.” “All right, give it a try.”
Riverbank
P33-1/The road home along the embankment. Jiro sees Takayama from his class and two other thugs tangling
with a student from a lower grade. [Background]
P33-2/The grassy embankment Jiro runs down to try and help the younger student. [Background]
3/One angle of the embankment where sacks of charcoal are piled up and Jiro comes in to stop the thugs.
[Background]
4/The embankment that serves as the road to school for Jiro and other students. [Background]
5/The bank of the river bathed in afternoon light. Jiro’s house can be seen on the other side. [Concept art]
6/A scene, quiet like a dream. A riverboat with its sails up drifts slowly forward.
35
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Jiro’s house
1/View of the Horikoshi home and surroundings from a distance. [Concept sketch]
2/Kayo, Jiro's younger sister, and the housekeeper/babysitter O-Kiyo, welcoming Jiro home from
school. [Concept sketch]
3/The Horikoshi garden with stone lamps and plants. Jiro passes down the hallway with a plate of
snacks and goes up to the second floor. [Background]
For the views of the Taisho era to the beginning of the Showa era, we watched old movies, and the
art staff went on sketching trips to Uchiko and Ozu in Ehime Prefecture, where there are still a lot
of buildings from the Meiji era, all of which we used for reference. The place Jiro actually spent his
youth is in Gunma Prefecture, but the house that shows up in the film reflects the concept of the
house in Tochigi Prefecture from which Miyazaki entered the world. Also, the house my own mother
was raised in is in Shinonoi in Nagano Prefecture—her father was apparently the village headman—
and | remembered the large stones and pond in the garden when | went there as a child when | was
deciding on the coloring for Jiro’s family home.
—Art Director: Yoji Takeshige
37
Garden, second floor
1/The dried-up pond where Kayo was playing house. Small stones blanket the bottom. [Background]
2/Jiro goes to his mother’s room and tells a transparent lie: “Oh, | slipped and fell.” [Background]
3/Jiro’s room on the second floor. Jiro starts to read his borrowed magazine while looking up English
words in the dictionary, and Kayo squirms around him, wanting to play. [Background + book]
38
: a
-_ —_
a
40
Jiro’s sister, seven years younger. She adores Jiro and calls him “big brother.”
1/Jiro and Kayo, close siblings. [Concept sketches]

2/Kayo and the maid O-Kiyo. [Character design]
3/Kayo, looking at a photo of Caproni and innocently pointing and saying he has a strange mustache.
Right from the start, | was thinking white fabric with a navy design for the kimono when Jiro is a child. The cross pattern on the
white cotton/linen blend came from remembering that my father wore a summer kimono with that pattern when | was a child.
For Kayo, given her personality, | knew it had to be red, and | matched that with a yellow and blue pattern. It takes more time to
do kimono with patterns, but from the point of view of color coordination, it’s harder to decide on just one color. | always end up
feeling like | could do better, so no matter what it is, having lots of colors makes it easier to strike a balance and make a decision.
—Color Designer: Michiyo Yasuda
41
Jiro’s mother
A beautiful woman noted to be “a graceful person”
in the storyboards. She is a gentle mother who sees
through the lie Jiro tells to hide the fact that he was
in a fight, and smilingly forgives him.
1/An elegant figure like a symbol of the halcyon days

in Japan. [Character design]
2/Even seeing Jiro covered in scrapes, she is
unperturbed: “You look quite the hero.”
3/Mother warmly watching over Jiro when he wakes
from a dream.
42
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Caproni
A brilliant airplane designer Jiro looks up to. He meets Jiro through dreams
and guides him in life. The character is modeled after the actual man, Count
Giovanni Battista “Gianni” Caproni (1886-1957). He was the founder of the
Caproni company, which produced Italy’s first practical aircraft in 1911, and
he supplied many bombers and transport planes to the allied nations during
World War |. Later, the company began producing automobile and ship
engines as well, but these were left behind after World War Il. Caproni was a
visionary pioneer who dreamed of an era when large numbers of passengers
would be transported in enormous planes.
P43-1/Rough sketches of “Uncle Caproni,” as Miyazaki fondly referred to

him. [Concept sketches]
2/Collection of Caproni facial expressions. [Character design]
3/Article in the magazine Jiro looks at.
A/The dreams of a Japanese boy who loves planes and an Italian design
genius are connected, and the two meet by chance in the field Caproni calls
“our kingdom.”
5, 6/Caproni, relating his dream of a large passenger plane, offers
encouragement to Jiro, who worries he won't be able to be a pilot because of
his nearsightedness.
7/“Airplanes are not tools for war. They are not for making money. Airplanes
are beautiful dreams. Engineers turn dreams into reality.” Caproni’s words
decide Jiro's future.
Miyazaki drew Caproni in his concept sketches, so we pulled him together in

a way that didn’t wreck the mood created by these images. For this film, as
you move along in the second half, things become more realistic, but since
Caproni is depicted in the first half, he ends up being a cartoonish character.
He also plays the role of the fool.
Supervising Animator: Kitaro Kosaka
44
In the dream
1/The starry sky Jiro, wanting improved vision however slight, looks up at with Kayo on the roof. This is connected
with the tips of the clouds in the dream. [Concept art + cel book]
2/The sea of clouds spreading out in Caproni’s dream kingdom. [Background]
3/Lake thought to be Lake Maggiore seen from the wing of the Ca.48 where Jiro and Caproni talk. [Background]
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Caproni’s bomber
The planes here were drawn based on the Ca.3 biplane bomber and the Ca.4
triplane bomber designed by Count Gianni Caproni.
1-4/A group of bombers approaches Jiro standing in the field in his dream.
5, 6/Overall diagram and details [Machine design]
48 49
y___ TRA ISPORT]
Caproni’s triplane
This plane was modeled after the triplane that was active
as the main machine after World War | for Caproni, who
was operating a civilian aviation company. In 1919,
the plane crashed in an accident near Verona, Italy.
Seventeen people were killed, and it was reported as
Italy's first aviation accident.
1-4/In Jiro’s dream, he rides in the plane with Caproni.

The cabin is luxuriously ornate.
50
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Caproni’s large
flying boat
_ The flying
boat is based on the Ca.60, a
large flying boat built by Caproni in 1919. It
featured a wingspan of approximately thirty
meters, and eight Liberty engines.
fe Nee
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| P51-1, 2/Large flying boat drawn by Miyazaki.
_ [Concept sketches] |
3, 4/Overall diagram and details of large flying
ee |
boat. [Machine design] ie
52 53
Born in 1962 in Yokohama, Kosaka joined Oh! Production after
Interview graduating from high school and has been active as an animator ever
Kitaro Kosaka
since. He began working as a freelancer in 1986. For Studio Ghibli, he
did key frame for Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind ('84) and Castle in
the Sky (’86), among others. He was a supervising animator on Whisper
Supervising Animator of the Heart ('95), Princess Mononoke ('97), Spirited Away ('01),
Howl's Moving Castle ('04), From Up on Poppy Hill ('11), and the Ghibli
Museum original short “Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess” ('10). He
This was a job for which | felt a strong adherence was also an assistant supervising animator on Ponyo ('08). Additionally,
he directed the Madhouse films Nasu: Summer in Andalusia ('03) and
to the idea of bringing the pictures to life. Nasu: A Migratory Bird with Suitcase ('07).
I finished work on “Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess” (an original get “Why would anyone be happy to be served something that looks
animated short for the Ghibli Museum) with art director Takeshige so unappetizing!” and you’re forced to do it over; this happens too.
(Yoji), and then I helped out a bit on From Up on Poppy Hill; it was As one of the main features of The Wind Rises, we have a lot of
around spring of 2011 when I was approached about taking part characters wearing kimono. We held kimono-drawing sessions for
in The Wind Rises. For a while, I was designing the characters in the young animators who normally don’t wear kimono, and we
parallel with doing animation for From Up on Poppy Hiil. even had a kimono teacher come in and talk to us. But in terms
In creating the characters, I often referred to Miyazaki’s of how to actually draw them, we also had the kimono envisioned
concept sketches, though he didn’t actually paint that many for ‘this by Miyazaki, so there are a few variations from actual kimono. He
film. But I also had the original work serialized in the magazine prefers kimono with puffed up sleeves, and if we drew something
(Model Graphix), and since the story followed the manga to a certain that didn’t have them, he’d tell us, “That’s wrong!” and we’d have
extent, I used that as a reference as well. I basically made the to do them again. [laughs]
characters by giving the pig-nosed ones human faces. Still, all we’ve learned about and seen in terms of wearing
I’ve worked on countless Ghibli productions, but this film kimono is from formal occasions (New Year’s, coming of age
was the first time I was working alone as the supervising animator ceremony, etc.), so that’s probably different from how they wore
on a feature film directed by Miyazaki. That said, in terms of the their kimono at the time—as everyday clothing. Miyazaki knows this
work, there was no change from the films I was involved with as period himself, so I felt we needed to focus on his impressions from
a supervising animator assistant, in that the focus of my work was that time. Just because it’s the correct way of wearing the kimono
organizing the key frames after they had been checked by Miyazaki. doesn’t mean that it’s going to work here.
It’s always like this for films Miyazaki directs—there’s essentially This idea wasn’t just limited to the kimono; I think all of the
nothing like a stage where we have advance meetings to discuss key animators had their fair share of struggles while working.
the film’s aim and intention. If we had a clear explanation of the Miyazaki himself is the type to gradually change his thinking as
drama, like the theme is this and the protagonist thinks like this, the work moves forward, so it was definitely hard to follow along
it might make the work easier, but the way we do it instead is to with that, and then you get told “one more time” for a shot you’ve
seek out the persuasiveness of an image that makes the viewer feel really poured yourself
into just because of the thickness of the lines.
something in each scene or shot. They’re really the tiniest of differences, and when they finally end
This also changes depending on how the key frames turn out. up as trace lines on the cel, they’re even more homogenous than
For instance, there’s a scene where Jiro’s depressed, and if you pencil lines, but even so, you have to bring it to the point where
think about it normally, he should be sort of trudging along, but they don’t lose their expressiveness. This job made me feel that
the way the keys turned out, he’s walking with a fair bit of energy. desire not to shave away anything that might have the smallest thing
So I end up thinking that maybe this is a bit off from what we were to say, that made me feel a strong adherence to the idea of bringing
intending, and then Miyazaki says, “No, the shot is good. We'll go the pictures to life, even for differences so small most people
with this.” Our priority is the feeling the picture (key frame) has wouldn’t even be able to tell.
sometimes, the persuasiveness of it. Maybe this is an extreme argument, but I wonder if the essential
The story flows in chronological order, but doesn’t actually nature of Miyazaki’s directorial work is that it’s the depiction—not
depict things like how the protagonist Jiro grows after meeting the story—that’s everything. In this sense, Miyazaki continues to be
Nahoko. Instead of structure and movement taking the flow and an animator and an artist who is also a performer. This work made
the development of the story into consideration, we focus on the me realize all over again how amazing that is.
behavior and movements of the charactes in each scene.
Once the key frames are done, Miyazaki is the first to check
them, and what he looks for is the expressiveness of the image as
a whole. If he thinks that that’s not there, he’ll add in drawings,
saying things like wouldn’t this be more expressive if you added
something more like this here. In some cases, we’ll redraw.
Even a single still image of food, for example, you somehow
need to make look delicious. In this film, we have mackerel cooked
in miso, and when we did “Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess,” we
had the apple, but the second you draw something symbolic, you
54
1/Jiro in his boyhood. In his usu al clothing for commuting to school. [Character design]
2/Elementary school students. They are all wearing kimono. [Character design]
The Wind Rises Production Process |
In recent years, animation production has changed significantly
from the old hand-drawn cel animation to digital animation through
the use of computers, and on top of that, we’re now in an age
where even the film itself is not necessary. In this shifting world,
Studio Ghibli continues to create animation that takes advantage Key frame
k : : “pagenag warcr| The key frames depict the key movement points;
of a hand-drawn style using the pens and paints of the analog era nese rsyekchieavenibyi Mazar andithenitherariis
while adopting and incorporating the latest digital technologies. ; i arranged and edited, mainly by supervising animator
Taking The Wind Rises as an example, let’s take a look at the actual Kitaro Kosaka, though images may also be returned
‘ : Sea 2 3 to the key animator for editing. In this shot, a total
process of just how Studio Ghibli makes animated movies now. ai 120 May femmes Caslnalins esis) were WEaEL Tite
edits are on the level of the line from Jiro’s back to
Completed frame his hips being slightly redrawn, with the majority of
key lines used as is. The characters, the airplanes,
The example we’ll look at here is one shot from the dream sequence at the ges i
beginning of the film where Jiro and Caproni meet in the field (C-114/00:00:03:12). the grass bending in the wind underfoot, and other
In addition to the characters and the airplanes, there is the movement of the clouds elements are all drawn separately, and the airplane
and grass in the background, and with the strange color of the light among other Propellers are yet another part. Putting all of these
things, it is a visual that is symbolic of the theme of the film. together, a single shot is composed of twelve pictures
(A-L) layered upon one another. Shown here are four
7 ; ; of those “cels.” (The term is a holdover from the days
; see ; z r of cel animation.) Although edits are often drawn on
Storyboard ; colored paper by the supervising animator, the layout
Miyazaki then takes the visuals paper is used at Studio Ghibli.
for the film shown in fragments
in the concept sketches and
creates the entire film, a
complete story, in storyboards.
The entire film is determined
here from configuration and
camera work to where to insert
dialogue, music, and sound
effects; the settings are noted
in much greater detail than
in the concept sketches, and
each area of work for the staff
is delineated. In an animated
film, the storyboards are the
foundation for all work on
the film, and though there is
also some overlap with the
final scenario manuscript, the
storyboards are particularly
’ tan meaningful as a method for
= ac | ? atin ee Miyazaki to pull together the
Concept illustration ; ; Pee entre'story:
To start, director Hayao Miyazaki draws initial images that pop into his head as “concept Ge y |
sketches.” These are done in the form of sketches on drawing paper using watercolors
to show places, characters, and backgrounds that will be key visuals, with additional
explanations occasionally noted, such as details about the machinery, character
personalities, the background of the era, or lines that will be spoken in that shot. These
sketches are posted in the staff room and other areas and are often used to share the
concept among the staff. In the case of The Wind Rises, a total of eighteen concept
sot 9
sketches were drawn.
Animation ae
Animation
The movement of the frames connecting keys is
STUDIO GHIBLI 5 s Le TIME( +) STUDIO GHIBLI
“inbetweening,” and the inbetweener (Masako Akita for this
shot) adds the inbetween frames in line with the dopesheet
for the cleaned-up key, which is then edited by animation
inspector Hitomi Tateno. Since the key frame lines are
drawn over in the animation, what you see in the final film
are all the animation lines. In this shot, shooting on twos (12
frames per second), a total of 197 frames were drawn, and
just like the key frame, they are first divided up into the
twelve layers of A to L. Shown here are six of those frames.
Dopesheet
This page notes the instructions for
inbetweens and camera work for the
key or inbetween animator and shows
movement for six seconds, or 144
Layout frames. Previously, one dopesheet also
After the characters are created based on the concept sketches and the storyboards, work on the animation begins. First of all, the key animator (Shinji Otsuka in the case of served as a key frame, but because
this shot) meets with Miyazaki and decides on a layout for the screen configuration. The layout is often drawn on multiple pages because it includes a variety of elements such A cee Pe aaa vn
as the structure, the movement of the characters, and the relationships with the background. For this shot, there were a total of five: the beginning shot for each of the planes in zs ‘ P oe Continued on page 91
front of and behind Jiro, in addition to two each for the end of the shot, and one depicting the movement of the clouds. Miyazaki checks the layout and once he gives the okay, PEGES) ele! Wek JME? WHS Si
the animation and art departments begin their work.
56 57
a]
Te Ce CP ve a — fete.
sire Horikoshi: Twenty Years Old

Moving on to study in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of the Faculty of Engineering at Tokyo
Imperial University, Jiro encounters a young girl, his future partner Nahoko Satomi, on his way back to Tokyo. But
as the train they are riding approaches Tokyo, an unprecedented disaster, which will later be called the Great Kanto
Earthquake, strikes. In the confusion, their first meeting leaves them not knowing one another's name.
To Tokyo
P58-59/The train Jiro is on heads toward Tokyo.
1/The scene along a Taisho era railway. [Concept sketches]
2/The mountains that can be seen along the way from the carriage. [Background]
3/Near the door where Jiro and Nahoko exchange their first words. [Background]
60
61
Twenty-year-old Jiro
1/In the crowded third-class car, Jiro gives up his seat to a woman, goes out onto the deck between his car and the second-class car, and starts reading.
2/Jiro’s summer clothes as a student at Tokyo Imperial University (now known as the University of Tokyo). [Character design]
Nahoko
Nahoko Satomi, the girl who has a fateful encounter with Jiro. She is about
thirteen at the time. A precocious, cheerful, and sporty girl. Jiro’s first impression
is that she is a tomboy like his sister, Kayo.
1/Nahoko in Western clothes. From the fact that she and her attendant (O-Kinu)
are riding in second class, it is clear she was raised in an affluent family. [Character
design]
2/Jiro noticing Nahoko and O-Kinu coming out onto the deck.
3/At that time, Jiro’s hat is carried off by the wind and Nahoko stretches out to
catch it.
First of all, Nahoko had to be cute. That was the major prerequisite, and we drew a
lively girl. Miyazaki told me something very abstract, a B-class super dreadnought,
but | didn’t know whether that was referring to her personality or not. [/aughs]
Since the sense of airiness and the underlying mood of the character is the same
for any Ghibli film heroine, | drew her in a similar vein as the others.
63
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64
Class 6700 steam locomotive
The first domestically produced train in Japan, built by Kisha Seizo Kaisha
and Kawasaki Dockyard in 1911. The locomotive was connected to a coal
tender filled with coal and water, and called the Model 2B tender locomotive.
Because the main body of the locomotive could hold a great deal of water and
coal thanks to a tank-type car equipped with coal and water, it was used for
long-distance trips.
1/Around the deck connecting second and third class where Jiro and Nahoko
meet. [Concept sketches]
2-4/The carriage of the Class 6700 steam locomotive Jiro is riding to Tokyo.
Passengers are squeezed in on the third-class carriages, and Jiro gives up his
seat to a woman and moves to the deck.
65
—— 7” ’ _ ee
The Great Kanto Earthquake
P64-65/The train running through a large field. There were a lot of clouds that day from the aftermath of a typhoon.
1/Looking down on Tokyo where the greenery of the country was still conspicuous. The powerful wave surges over it from the direction of the bay.
2/The wave of the earthquake pierces the town and its lingering Edo-era feel.
3/The earth itself leaps up and houses are destroyed one after another. Roof tiles fall to the ground, and a thick cloud of dust rises up.
4/The locomotive braking abruptly as the tracks are hit hard by the earthquake.
5/Passengers scramble and flee from the finally stopped train.
We also moved the houses in the animation in the earthquake scene. In the beginning, we weren't drawing tiles on the roofs, but then we decided it would be better with tiles,
so we added them in one at a time. And then we realized that moving so violently like this, the tiles would have to go flying too, so | ended up drawing the tiles and making
them fly. This shot really took a long time to do.
For the Great Kanto Earthquake scene, there are clouds of dust and smoke from fires winding up into the air, darkening the sky, and on top of that, the wind is blowing from
a number of different directions, so | was conscious of trying to bring out as much of a sense of weight as possible, so you don’t get the impression of the smoke coming from
any fixed direction. | drew the place with the clouds rising up like enormous cumulonimbus clouds in the sky above a burning Tokyo based on records from the time, but since
they’re being hit by the setting sun, | finished it with a kind of disturbing feel. This background was also used in the B29 air raid scene in the later part of the film, after some
adjustments were made to it.
68
9
6/As the aftershocks continue, a strong wind blows and the grasses bend. Black smoke starts to rise here and there
from the houses in the town that can be seen from the railroad embankment.
7/People fleeing for safety along the railroad embankment. Jiro carrying O-Kinu and Nahoko can be seen there too.
8/In the blink of an eye, the black smoke becomes a large fire that swallows the town.
9/The smoke from the fires coils like a cloud and rises up high into the sky. For a moment, Caproni’s triplane bombers
are reflected in Jiro’s eyes, but this is just garbage aflame, dancing in the sky.
The scene with the crowds of fleeing people is vivid. Miyazaki's experience seeing the beginning of the evacuation
and living through the air raids in Utsunomiya when he was young was used in this scene. He says the view from high
ground of firebombs falling on Utsunomiya is still vivid in his memory.
Evacuation
1—3/After Jiro splints O-Kinu’s broken leg with his slide rule as an emergency measure
and brings Nahoko and O-Kinu water to drink using the new shirt his mother gave him, he
decides to see them to Nahoko's home in Ueno.
4/A long line of people evacuating forms toward a hill with a shrine on it.
5/Jiro, Nahoko, and O-Kinu climb a sunken road with citizens evacuating with their
possessions.
| drew the keys for the scene of the mob of people evacuating on one page. If | had split
them up into several pages, it would’ve been too easy to end up with discrepancies, with
people bumping into each other and things. | captured the spirit of the mob of people and
added a separate existence to it, bringing out a sense of reality.
fe
Aftershocks
1/The grounds of the shrine overlooking the town. The
area is crowded with people evacuating.
2/People afraid of the continuing aftershocks. Jiro
decides to go with Nahoko to her house to get help.
3/Tokyo, a sea of fire as seen from the Ueno direction.
The smoke from the flames creates a disturbing cloud
and covers the sky above the city. [Concept art]
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Amid the confusion
1/Main street in Ueno in confusion with crowds fleeing.
2/People coming and going in front of a tilted Western building
and collapsed houses. A municipal train pushes forward slowly
packed with people.
3/Rough sketches of people evacuating. [Concept sketches]
A/Jiro and Nahoko running frantically through the crowds.
gl
Residential area
1/One corner of a residential area down an alley from the main road. This is
where the Satomi house is, surrounded by hedges and walls. [Background]
2/The road in front of the Satomi house. After seeing Nahoko welcomed
home by her family, Jiro returns to O-Kinu, showing the servants the way.
[Background]
3/Nahoko’s parents. [Character designs]
4/Nahoko tries to go back with Jiro, but her parents hold on to her and she is
brought inside.
5/Seeing O-Kinu home safely, Jiro leaves without giving his name. O-Kinu
watches him leave while the manservant notes, “That’s quite a guy.”
Nahoko’s father’s face is that of Count Cagliostro from The Castle of Cagliostro.
[laughs] Miyazaki himself told me he looked too much like Cagliostro, but in
Miyazaki’s storyboards his face really is like this, so | said, “But I’ve already
drawn it like this,” and we just went with it. In the second half, he has less
hair and makes a different impression.
19
University library
1/Near the gates of the Imperial University in Hongo. The paving stones are wet from the water used to fight
the fires. After weaving his way through the people running around, Jiro is dumbfounded at the terrible scene
on the school grounds. [Background]
2/Honjo, carrying books from the burning library, calls out to him. “Well, if it isn’t Jiro. You picked a lovely
day to come back.” “How bad is it, Honjo?” “Bad enough. The whole east side is burning.
3/The library building with smoke and flames rising up. The strong winds at the scene fan the flames.
Honjo
A student in the same year as Jiro in the Department of Aeronautics and
Astronautics in Tokyo Imperial University’s Faculty of Engineering and
Jiro’s friend. They both end up working in the same place as excellent
airplane designers/engineers, and Honjo becomes Jiro’s good-natured rival.
He is modeled after Kiro Honjo, a real person who designed, among other
aircraft, the Mitsubishi G4M based on the technologies of the German
Junkers company.
1/Honjo during his university days. [Character design]

2/Honjo taking a break from his efforts to smoke a cigarette with Jiro.
3/Standing next to Honjo, as he mutters about how Tokyo has been
destroyed, Jiro looks at a fallen postcard. The face of Caproni appears
there, haughty as if almost declaring his own genius. “It’s as beautiful as
it was in the dream. | can't believe he really built it.”
| created the character of Honjo referring to the pictures in the

storyboards. Honjo’s jaw did protrude at first, but as we moved forward
with production, it gradually became square, and from the time he starts
work at Mitsubishi, his face has changed into something quite crisp. In
this scene, Honjo is smoking a cigarette, and in the actual film, there
are tons of scenes where people are smoking. | don’t smoke myself, but
| do love the cool look of smoking. At the time, they would have lit their
cigarettes with matches, so there are a fair number of steps before they’re
actually smoking, and | worked pretty hard to skip those steps but still get
the atmosphere | wanted.
82
Setback
1/In 1923, a test flight for Caproni’s long-desired giant flying boat took place on Lake Maggiore.
2/Men aboard Caproni's boat to record the event on film and in photos.
3/Pilot giving the signal for takeoff.
4/Caproni raising his fist and cheering him on. The camera starts to roll.
83
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5/The power units in the front start up.

6/The engines in the rear follow suit, and with the mooring ropes untied, the plane moves
away from the launch.
7/The enormous machine, like a magnificent architectural structure, pushes forward to
glide across the blue surface of the lake.
8/It looks as though it is moving up into the sky without problems. At that moment...
9/The rear engine units deform, and the wings crumple from the center and collapse.
10/Caproni removes the film recording the failure and throws it in the lake. This man
continuing to fight for his dream without getting discouraged lights a flame of hope in Jiro.
85
Morning in the ruins of the fire
1/Tokyo turned into a burnt-out field. A strangely colored dawn spreads out
over the city. [Concept art]
2/Jiro washes his face with water from a tap left in the ruins of a house.
3/The fire finally recedes, and the shadows of people leaving Tokyo to find
shelter with relatives cut through the ruins left behind.
4/Hearing an explosion, Jiro looks up to see a Salmson surveillance plane
flying above him slowly.
86
87
Born in 1964 in Philadelphia, Takeshige dropped out of the Oil Painting program at Tama Art
Interview University. His first work on a Studio Ghibli film was doing backgrounds for My Neighbor Totoro
Yoji Takeshige
(88). His first turn as art director came with the short “On Your Mark” ('95), and he then
went on to do the art direction for Princess Mononoke ('97), My Neighbors the Yamadas ('99),
Spirited Away ('01), Howl's Moving Castle ('04), Tales from Earthsea ('06), and The Secret World
Art Director of Arrietty ('10). He has also worked on Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnéamise ('87),
Patlabor: The Movie ('89), Ghost in the Shell ('95), and Summer Wars ('09), among others.
In the beginning, | started with something cartoonish, which

changed naturally into something more like a live-action film.
I came into The Wind Rises on the heels of working on the short film of the image processing, the depiction is more like it’s moving
“Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess” (2010) for the Ghibli Museum; I overall. That is to say, at the beginning, we started with a cartoon
actually started work on it around the time Part A of the storyboard style, and then the story, with the historical flow toward war with
had been completed. Director Hayao Miyazaki essentially starts the Great Kanto Earthquake, the border moves forward toward a
production before the storyboards are finished, narrowing down live-action film with a sense of reality. There was also a change like
the worldview and story while drawing, but this time, the Tohoku this in Miyazaki’s direction, and as you move through the second
earthquake and tsunami happened coincidentally when he was half, in the end, the film feels unified with a single tone, losing the
drawing the part with the Great Kanto Earthquake, and it seemed clear distinction between dream and reality in both animation and
like a part of him was proceeding with production while wrestling background.
with questions like whether or not it was okay to go ahead and put On this point, at first, I was taken up with the thinking that
this to film. we needed to create a unique kind of portrayal for The Wind Rises,
Compared with previous works, Miyazaki didn’t do very many but in the second half, I decided instead not to assert myself too
concept sketches to set the foundation for the worldview, but the much, and I worked to create gentle backgrounds in line with the
sketches he did do are in color, they look roughly drawn, and director’s aims. The art staff was made up mainly of young people—
they’re stuffed with good information. We also had the original there was almost no one in their twenties, though, so maybe calling
manga, so looking at both sketches and manga I came up with my them young is not quite right—and rather than giving each of
own colorings and drew the concept art in steady communication them detailed instructions, I adopted a method of working where I
with the director. Also, about halfway through, I got to take part had each member of the art staff expand on the concept based on
in the animation meetings, and I feel like I managed to grab hold illustrations I had the director okay. To a certain extent, I left things
of the concept and aim of this film while listening to the director to people with talent who were qualified to lead and focused on
talking with the animators and Okui (Atsushi), who was in charge summarizing the scenes themselves. In particular, Noboru Yoshida
of photography. and Tatsuya Kushida, both of whom have more experience than me
The first thing Miyazaki said to me was “Something like the in their careers as art directors, each have their own ways of making
feel of ‘Mr. Dough’ would be good.” So for the dream sequence art, so I had them go ahead with the work and get Miyazaki to check
at the beginning, I was conscious of having a relatively bright and it directly.
colorful tone, as if to connect to the idea of “Mr. Dough.” I thought Although I’m no longer creating Ghibli films or any feature
everything would work out fine if Icould manage to create a films after The Wind Rises, this piece made me think about a variety
persuasive worldview from this point, but I struggled in my own way of things with regard to digital-based background art. There are
between this and the scenes in reality, particularly with how to bring a lot of problem points unique to digital: the coloring and the
out the feel of the Taisho and Showa eras. look of a single tone are different depending on the model of
Since the scenes in this film often shift back and forth between monitor you’re using for the check; brush marks from painting the
the dreams ofJiro, the protagonist, and reality, I figured it would background and the material texture of the paper show up when
be best to draw a line between them right from the start. I didn’t you're shooting with a digital camera—although sometimes you
actually get any direction like that from the director, but I wanted to use that in the film—and you have issues like how much to draw
make the dream scenes special, and so for example, for things like for both the animation and the backgrounds, or maybe you don’t
the color of the clouds when Jiro and Caproni first meet, I made need to draw something at all. I think the opportunity to depict the
them a slightly extreme color. To tell the truth, I even thought natural world and the movements of the daily lives of the characters
about using oil painting techniques to make the dream scenes that is so characteristic of Ghibli films will become increasingly
feel even more different. This was before the real production had important.
begun, and I was painting in oils at home, wondering if making
the grass move like this in a picture with this kind of texture would
be interesting, different from the usual backgrounds. But when
I showed the director these paintings, he shot me down, saying,
“They’re beautiful, but it would take too much time and effort, and
this film doesn’t need them.” [/aughs]
And looking at the actual film, the animation of things like
the grass bending in the wind near the beginning is a relatively
simplified movement, but in the second half, with the addition
88
1/The concept for the clouds drawn by Hayao
Miyazaki. [Concept sketch]
2, 3/Clouds and sky drawn as explorations for the
background art. [Concept art]
4, 5/Concept art drawn to explore the direction
for the art for each shot. [Concept art]
89
The Wind Rises Production Process II
Background art for animation is the creation of detailed pictures of the backgrounds, and after the images are revised by the artist in charge or
worldview and settings for the film that the director is imagining. In the the art director, they are sent on to photography. Based on the digitized
beginning, concept art is drawn by the background art staff, centered backgrounds, the colors for the characters who will appear against them
on art director Yoji Takeshige, based on Miyazaki’s concept sketches are set (see page 147), and then digital processing such as fine-tuning
and storyboards. After exploring a variety of options, the artist in charge light and shadows or adding special effects is done on the computer
of the shot finishes up the backgrounds. Miyazaki checks the finished as necessary.
—
STUDIO GHIBLI
Concept art Layout

Concept art is drawn to decide on the general art concept (background structure, As with the animation, the key animator for each shot draws the layout for the art, Shinji
coloring, etc.) based on the storyboards and the layout. These are mostly done by art Otsuka in the case of this shot. Since the background also slides along in this shot, moving like
director Yoji Takeshige (depending on the shot, background artists may also do some), the animation of the characters and the machines, instructions for this motion are also noted
and then these are passed along to the staff actually in charge of the background (Kiyoshi here. “1K” is one frame (1/24 sec.), and how many millimeters it should move in that time
Sameshima in the case of this shot). are specified on each cloud part. Depending on the shot, a layout for the art (background key
frame) might also be drawn.
cath
’ Born
A re 11
Cel book A Cel book B
Cel book C Cel book D
Cel books and BG

When there is no movement in the background. everything is drawn in one picture. However, in this
shot, in addition to the movement of the camera, the clouds also move, so the clouds are drawn
separately on the BG, which is the background base, and are combined on the computer where the
motion is added in. In the days of cel animation, only the very bottom background art was drawn on
paper, and the pages on which the clouds above were drawn were transparent cels with paint, which
were layered on top to form a “book cel” and moved bit by bit to create the movement. With the
introduction of digital, the need for cels has disappeared, but for this film, Miyazaki expressed that
he wanted to see the shape and movement of the clouds on the actual background art, so the cel
book method was adopted. Additionally, although it wasn’t used in this shot, drawing the machines
and other things on the background art is called a “harmony cel.” (Junker G38 on page 136,
IMF10 on page 164.) Noriko Takaya was in charge of all the harmonies.
Cel book and BG layered Continued on page 147
91
— i.
yiro Horikoshi: Twenty-Two Years Old

Two years since the Great Kanto Earthquake, the reconstruction of Tokyo moves forward at a quick pace, and Jiro’'s
life at school continues peacefully. At this time, a letter and a package arrive from O-Kinu. The house of the girl
living in the residential area in Ueno was burned to the ground, and when Jiro goes to visit, he has no idea where the
family has gone. Waiting for Jiro when he returns to his boardinghouse, deep in thought, is...
—
=~
4
a)
pay
~
Tokyo Imperial University

Faculty of Engineering,
Department of Aeronautics
and Astronautics
P92-93/Near the Sumida River in Tokyo, largely recovered two
years after the Great Kanto Earthquake.
1/The new school building, facing the Sumida River, that houses
the Aeronautics Department of which Jiro is a part. Part of the
building is still under construction. [Background]
2/A package wrapped in a traditional cloth arrives for Jiro, who is
absorbed in his drawing, slide rule in hand. Inside the package is
the slide rule he used the day of the earthquake to bind O-Kinu’s
leg and a new replacement shirt, along with a letter of thanks.
3/“A present from your girlfriend?” Katayama teases. Honjo, who
is not so crude, distracts Katayama with “Gimme a smoke.”
4/Near the main gate from which O-Kinu’s departing back can be
seen after bringing Jiro’s things back. [Background]
5/The road in front of the main gate that Jiro comes flying out of,
chasing after O-Kinu. [Background]
94
95
96
Mackerel bones
1/The road along which Jiro and Honjo walk to go for lunch.
Cheap houses are built here and there along the way. Honjo,
seeing an old plane in the sky, curses: “Nothing's changed at
all.” [Concept art]
2/The restaurant on the outskirts of town the two go to.
[Concept art]
3/Inside the restaurant with posters and menu items up on
the walls. [Concept art]
4/Honjo criticizes Jiro for eating the same mackerel lunch set
as he does every day, the same way he criticizes the university
lectures. “Other countries are building metal planes. We’re
always ten years behind. And you're still stuck on mackerel.”
5/Jiro holding up the mackerel bone: “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
This curve was also adopted in the standards for the US
aeronautics agency, the NACA, and ended up being a big hint
for Jiro in making planes.
A guest
1/The boardinghouse where Jiro lives, Ogawaso. [Background]
2/The entrance to Ogawaso. Because it’s late, Jiro decides to see
Kayo back to his uncle’s house where she’s staying with their
mother.
3/Jiro’s seven-square-meter room. At night, he studies in the light
of the lamp he drags over to his desk.
4, 5/A young girl sitting in the window facing the canal, waiting
for Jiro to return. This is Kayo, who has come to Tokyo with their
mother.
98
ate —— |
Kayo at fifteen
1/Kayo beautifully grown up. Her habit of calling Jiro “big brother” remains. [Character design]
2/“You're so insensitive! I’m still mad at you because you never come home.” Kayo grumbles.
3-7/On the penny steamer home, Kayo talks about her dream of studying medicine at
university in the future. “I think you’d make a great doctor.” “I think so too.” Kayo’s face lights
up at these encouraging words from Jiro.
| drew Kayo as an independent woman, someone who says what’s on her mind, while having
her still be a tomboy and have the same precocious personality even as an adult. In this film,
though, all the characters are basically independent.
100
Canal in twilight
1/Ruins of the fire in the neighborhood where the Satomi house stood. Going
down the road to the penny steamer dock, Jiro tells Kayo about the girl he met
the day of the earthquake. When Jiro went back to the house, he found he had
no idea of the family’s whereabouts. [Background]
2/People getting on the penny steamer. Jiro and Kayo are among them.
3/The penny steamer exiting onto the larger river and heading toward Asakusa.
The river surface is dyed with the dusk light.
103
4/The wake of the boat on the canal rocks the water as dusk falls.
5/The boat slips under the bridge while the road with buses and cars
coming and going is shown from the side.
6/Passing by a restaurant on the bank of the river, the boat heads into
the main river.
7/Hanakawado, a sight in Asakusa, comes into view on the other side
of the darkening waterway.
tied
oa
. Gee aul 64.45 o Gwe ed -
Jiro Horikoshi: Twenty-Four Years Old

After graduating from university, Jiro finds work at the Mitsubishi Internal Combustion Engine Company (currently
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) in Nagoya, together with his good friend Honjo. He makes his start as an airplane
designer and engineer. It’s a time of prevailing unrest with the poor economy and runs on the banks due to the
financial crisis, but Jiro, awake to the wonder of creating airplanes, obsessively focuses all his efforts on his work.
To Nagoya
P106-107/The hustle and bustle in front of Nagoya station welcoming Jiro, who has come to work for the Mitsubishi
Internal Combustion Engine Company, an airplane manufacturer.
1/The hallway and washing area in the sleeper car Jiro rides. [Background]
2/Jiro stares out the window after washing his face. The men walking along the tracks hurriedly run down to the
embankment. This is a group of unemployed people sleeping outside and heading for the city to look for work.
Since our knowledge of the steam locomotives wasn't as deep as it was with the airplanes, Miyazaki had a very
experienced animator, Yasuo Otsuka, come and give us a lecture on drawing locomotives. He explained how the
carriages and the arms move while drawing pictures for us, and the details of his talk and the pictures were both
incredible. It was a valuable experience.
108
titctl
B| J |
STII CORD OF 1) an |
E
Class 9600 steam
locomotive
A 1D-class tender-type steam locomotive
designed and built with only Japanese
technologies in 1913. In a modern style
with an undercarriage with one axle for the
pilot wheel and four axles for the driving
wheels and a boiler on board, the train was
quite powerful and was mainly used as a
freight train. With its superior performance,
it was active until the demise of the steam
locomotive, finishing its duties in March
1976.
1, 2/The Class 9600 steam locomotive Jiro

uses when he goes to Nagoya.
3/Each time a train passes, the many people
heading for the city along the tracks to look
for work flee down to the embankment.
109
In front of Nagoya station
1/Building facing the large road in front of the station. Jiro and Honjo, who comes to meet
him, get a taxi here. [Background + book cel]
2/Taxi the pair board that runs within the city of Nagoya. There isn’t much traffic, and the
streetcar also runs slowly.
3/Jiro and Honjo looking like new employees in their suits. They are elite engineers among
the gifted elite the company hires.
4/People pushing in on a run on Kamehachi Bank. Due to the effects of the Great Kanto
Earthquake, the recession continues and the financial crisis worsens.
5/The taxi they are riding in and the streetcar are brought to a standstill by the confusion.
110
|att
iS
OU
ga TY©
am
Mitsubishi campus
1/Mitsubishi Internal Combustion Engine Company where Jiro and
Honjo work and the surroundings. The company is on reclaimed land
facing the bay, made up of buildings such as the assembly factory.
[Background]
2/The wooden administration building with several chimney pipes
sticking out. [Background]
3/The design office where Jiro works. [Background]
4/Men from the construction division work at drafting tables.
112
| ii:
LL
113
Jiro and Honjo, company men
1, 2/iroa nd Honjo in su its. [Character designs]
=
3/Honjo, who was hired slightly ahead of Jiro, sees = j=° a o 00 n= re)= i=
around by senior e ngineer Kurokawa and grins.
114
The inhabitants of the design office
1/Senior Falcon Project engineer Kurokawa, Jiro’s immediate superior. He’s a nag,
but he recognizes Jiro’s abilities and helps him. [Character design]
2/Kurokawa gives Jiro an imported drafting table no one is using and orders him
to design the main wing fittings for the Falcon, which is in the final stages. This is
Kurokawa’s own brand of hazing.
3/Coworkers in the design office. They are very curious about the appearance of this
rumored genius.
4/The young women of the tracing office who say hello to Jiro passing by.
For Jiro’s suit, | chose a light purple that’s a bit on the bright side. | think nowadays,
new employees wear gray or navy suits, but that’s not very interesting, so | tried to
bring out a certain freshness with a soft and gentle color. In any case, it’s a color that
definitely suits Jiro. For everyone else in the design office, | went with colors people
would normally wear.
115
Tn
Jiro’s first task

1/A cargo ship moving along the coast of the
reclaimed land.
2/Jiro gazing at blueprints with his prodigious
concentration.
3/Kurokawa checking diagrams. Jiro’s way of
working draws his attention.
4/Jiro seated on a swivel chair starting to use his
slide rule.
5/He writes down new numbers for the given
data one after another.
6/The wind blows on the ocean with freight ships
and boats with sails up passing back and forth.
The model for the senior engineer Kurokawa is

Miyazaki. He has a unique hairstyle, and since
his stride is short, it swings around his head in
pieces when he walks. His body type isn’t the
polished body of Japanese people now, so it was
hard to get a balance with his face and head. His
personality shows up in his movement, so | think
the key animators had fun with him.
116
b(( XQ
117
Imaginary Falcon
1/The Falcon fighter plane appears in
Jiro’s head as he concentrates on his
calculations.
2/Falcon clay model flying in the blue sky.
3/The wooden frame of the Falcon is
unable to withstand the high-speed load;
the struts on the main wings crack and
break apart before falling to the ground.
Pal LAR
uf >
avag
i]
LEN = NEY
tN ee So
Hanriot training aircraft

A biplane imported from the French Hanriot company in 1913 as an initial flight trainer for the army. It boasted both excellent stability and. practicality, and
shifted to Japanese production at Mitsubishi.
1/The Hanriot flight trainer undergoing maintenance, cutting across Jiro’s field of view when he begins work at Mitsubishi Internat Combustion Engine Company:
119
Prototype workshop
P119-1/The prototype workshop where the Falcon
is being put together. Returning to himself at the
sound of Honjo’s voice, Jiro finishes his lunch and
the two go to look at the prototype. [Background]
2/The Falcon under assembly in the dim workshop.
Only part of it has the duralumin panels attached
yet, allowing the frame structure of the wings and
the body to be seen before they are covered in
material.
3/Jiro gazing intently at the strut attachment. “The
strut’s already installed.” “I knew it. Kurokawa’s
just hazing you. Is his fitting better than yours?”
4/The pair peering even further into the steel
pipes. “Looks solid to me.” “Oh this isn’t good. It’s
just like my design.” “Then it must be bad.” Jiro is
totally taken with the workings of the airplane.
Section Chief Hattori
1/Section Chief Hattori, responsible for the design section. He
and Kurokawa have high expectations of Jiro and Honjo’s work.
[Character design]
2/Hattori realizes that Jiro has been working on something other
than the task he was given.
3/Kurokawa gets mad, saying “You’re wasting your time,” but
since Jiro did finish the task he was given, he has no grounds for
complaint.
A/The prototype workshop chief welcoming the two: “You young
engineers should visit here more often.”
121
Oxen and Falcon
1/When Jiro and Honjo go outside after finishing work, the sun is
already sinking into the sea, and dusk is falling. [Background]
2/When the sky starts to brighten, oxen pull the new Falcon
prototype out to the airfield. The process, which takes two days at
a speed of about three kilometers an hour, demonstrates Honjo’s
assertion: “That's how backwards we are.”
122 123
Jiro Horikoshi: Twenty-Five Years Old
The Falcon fighter plane developed by Mitsubishi for a military order tragically breaks apart in the air during its test
flight. Jiro proposes to Kurokawa the creation of a second model but doesn’t get another chance. Dispatched to
Germany for observations, Jiro takes his weary heart and body home and is made to realize the poor state of Japan
by the figures of a young brother and sister he sees on a street corner.
Test flight
P124-125/The airfield covered in a
blanket of green grass. A wind sock flutters
in the wind, and civilians and soldiers from
the army watch the Falcon test.
1/As if to hint at the results of the test
flight, thick clouds begin to spread out in
the sky. [Background]
5/Taking on the challenge of a powered
dive at a speed of 400 km/h, the Falcon’s
wings are torn off, and it crashes, losing
pieces all the while.
For scenes with planes flying, even Falcon fighter plane

in the cases where the background is
moved while the plane is a still image, a A prototype in development at Mitsubishi in 1927 when Jiro Horikoshi started work there. A high-wing
static, dead picture is no good. This is a monoplane, the prototype for a new fighter plane requested by the military was built in competition with
peculiarity of digital, but when the picture the Nakajima Aircraft Company and Kawasaki Aircraft Industries. In the review, Mitsubishi had the best
stops, the screen abruptly stops moving, so results of the three companies, but in the powered dive test, the plane broke apart in midair.
no matter what you do, it looks dead. So
| tried leaving something where you could
feel the wind like a breath by drawing two
of the same picture by hand and creating
a haziness. Since we’re doing this in
animation, depending on the person, the
haze will be beautiful or it can be too
much, which makes it difficult, but we did
get a good result.
126
Rain of despair
1/Large drops of rain fall, and Kurokawa gets
soaked as he investigates the wreckage of the
Falcon.
2/Although the pilot escaped without injury,
the test for the Falcon prototype, which was
supposed to rescue a desperate situation,
ends in failure. Jiro realizes that the cause
was not the metal fittings, but something
deeper.
3/The unofficial decision is that the order for
the military fighter plane will go to another
company. Mitsubishi decides to dispatch a
team to observe Junkers fighter planes. “You
are going to Germany to study Dr. Junkers’
designs. | approved it.” This is also evidence
of the faith Kurokawa has in Jiro.
Night of heartbreak
P129-1/The city at night. Exhausted, Jiro rides the streetcar home.
2/In the middle of the road facing Jiro’s boardinghouse, just one store is still open. [Background]
3/A small shop selling bread and sweets. After buying some sweet bean cake from the familiar master of the shop, Jiro tries to give the cake to a
young sister and brother waiting on the dark road for their parents to come home. [Background]
4/The children run off as if fleeing, and Jiro is left behind standing under the streetlamp. [Background]
5/Under the bridge as a freight train passes. At the mouth of the river stand the shacks of people who have lost their houses and jobs.
6/Jiro’s room in Dojunso No. 1, the boardinghouse Jiro and Honjo live in. Honjo comes in and judges Jiro’s actions to be hypocritical while eating
some bean cake. They are able to make airplanes because a poor country wants to have airplanes. Jiro’s heart sinks at the unresolvable contradiction
thrust before him.
When Jiro buys the sweet bean cake, the old man running the shop licks a finger and pulls down a piece of newspaper hanging there with a snap,
but the licking action wasn’t in the storyboards, so | asked Ai Kagawa, who was the key animator, if she could just put in a little show of licking,
which she did for me. Miyazaki also does this little movement when he's flipping pages.
For the historical background, there were few streetlamps at the time and the power was weak, so apparently the nights were really dark, but since
we’re used to modern brightness, it was hard to do a proper darkness. Maybe it was the nature of the poster colors | was using, but even dark colors
ended up with a feel of whiteness popping up, so in the end, | discussed it with the director and Okui during the processing, and we went with the
trick of darkening it by narrowing the amount of light at the photography stage.
131
Jiro Horikosht: Twe (oz ie Years Old
To build a bomber, a Mitsubishi observation team visits the Junkers factory in Dessau. Part of the team, Jiro and
Honjo are made to feel acutely that Japanese aviation technology is at least twenty years behind that of the great
powers of the world. However, Caproni once again appears before Jiro, who ends up returning to Japan on a different
route from Honjo, and urges Jiro to live his ten creative years with all his might.
Junkers factory
P132-133/The Trans-Siberian Railway running across the open landscape. Jiro and the
others head for Germany via Russia.
1/Junkers factory in Dessau, a city in the north of Germany. [Background]
2/Enormous hangar on the airfield adjacent to the factory. [Background]
134
AM” ee aes FX) aas) NNN
G.38
The large transport plane developed over many years by Hugo Junkers (1859-1935), the founder of the German
airplane manufacturing company Junkers. With a body attached to an enormous flying wing base, the plane had
a wingspan of 44 meters and a total length of 23.2 meters.
1/The imposing figure of the G.38 in the enormous Junkers hangar.

2/The Mitsubishi observation team is amazed at the incredible size of the G.38. [Background + harmony cel]
DAT ier \
)
F.13
An all-metal cantilever-wing monoplane for which Junkers built the prototype
in 1919. Although it was originally developed as a military plane, it was later
used as a passenger plane. The body was made from corrugated duralumin
panels, and the plane had a wingspan of 19.2 meters and a total weight of
1,730 kilograms. The plane could hold four passengers and was used on
international routes.
3/G.38 flying with Jiro and the others on board.
4/Honjo admires the G.38 metalworking technology. 5, 6/Jiro is attracted to the F.13 sitting in a corner of the hangar.
Guesthouse
1/Zum Allten, the guesthouse where the Japanese observation team stays. [Background]
2/Jiro and Honjo’s room. Having discovered the gap in technological strength between the great powers of the world and Japan,
the pair think of their own ways to catch up and overtake them. [Background]
3/The town at night where Honjo brings Jiro out for a stroll. They can hear a gramophone playing the Schubert song “Winterreise”
in a nearby house. [Background]
4/Strange men run in front of Jiro and Honjo, and their shadows dance eerily on the road. The world is once again preparing to
meet a turbulent era.
The scenery in Germany is cold overall with a gloomy feel, and given that the sky is always cloudy and there are many brick
buildings and roads with paving stones, | decided to try putting in an overall pinkish light for the night scene, rather than orange.
The forest Jiro sees from the train in his dream is harvested in a square shape, but Miyazaki said, “German forests are like this.”
The passenger seats on the train are made of wood and have a high-quality feel, so | used reds, golds, and yellows. Also, when
they are passing through Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway, | referred to a painting by Isaac Levitan that the director had.
Bavarian $3/6
Tender-type steam locomotive built by Germany’s Royal Bavarian
State Railways as an express passenger train. Series a through /
were built, and after World War |, Deutsche Reichsbahn took over
the trains, building a further k through o.
1-2/Jiro, having gotten the order to return to Japan, rides an S3/6,

the pride of Germany, and heads for Japan on the western circuit.
Winter journey
1/Jiro walking in a winter wasteland. A Junkers G.38 crashes to the earth,
covered in flames.
2/The Japanese Hinomaru mark painted on the enormous bomber wing.
This is a nightmare, almost hinting at the future for Japan.
3/The corridor of the train Jiro rides to return to Japan on the western
circuit, leaving Honjo to stay in Germany. [Background]
4/Jiro sitting neatly in his compartment.
5/Before he knows it, Caproni is seated next to him.
6/“Is the wind still rising?” “It sure is.” “A perfect time to embark on my
final flight. Join me.”
140
Caproni’s Biplane
Drawn-based-on the Ca:73, a Caproni biplane
that was almost a smaller version of the Ca.90.
Caproni’s Bomber Both bomber and passenger planes were built,

and the plane was able to carry one tonne of
The world’s largest bomber, designed by Caproni and representative of the late 1920s. This was drawn based on the Ca.90. explosives or ten passengers.
1-5/Jiro, traveling to Japan by himself, accepts Caproni’s invitation in his dream and boards the bomber before it is delivered, 1, 2/The Caproni family in the cupola aboard
moved by. its.impressive form. the biplane.
142 143
Caproni’s message
1/When Caproni speaks about their cursed dream,
with planes being used as tools of massacre and
destruction, Jiro replies that he wants to make
beautiful planes. However, Jiro’s ideal plane still has
not found form. As a farewell gift, Caproni tells Jiro,
“Artists are only creative for ten years. We engineers
are no different. Live your ten years well.”
2/The sea of clouds Jiro’s dream plane disappears
into, like a white bird riding the wind. [Concept art]
3/The cumulonimbus clouds of the dream kingdom
become an enormous glowing cloud and cover
Japan. Below, the real city with houses and people
crowded together spreads out over the land.
[Background + book cel]
144
Born in Tokyo, Yasuda started work at Toei Doga (currently Toei Animation) as an inaugural staff
Interview member in 1958. Through her work at the company, she came to know Isao Takahata and Hayao
Michiyo Yasuda
Miyazaki, leading to her doing the tracing for Horus: Prince of the Sun ('68). She then supervised
the color design for every episode of Future Boy Conan ('78). From the establishment of Studio
Ghibli until the present, she has supported the directors with her work on coloring. Beginning
Color Designer with Nausicad of the Valley of the Wind ('84) and leading up to Ponyo ('08), she has overseen the
majority of the studio's works as the lead color designer. Although she retired briefly after Ponyo,
she returned to work as the color designer for this film at the request of Miyazaki.
| decided to do the work here with the

awareness of living in the era that is the setting.
I retired after finishing work on Ponyo (2008), with the intention Conversely, when there was something we wanted to show, the
of not working anymore, so I was living a relaxed life. Miyazaki thinking for some scenes was that we didn’t even need to put ina
would sometimes invite me to chat over some wine while listening proper focal point. For example, the scene where Nahoko puts on
to a piano or violin performance, and that’s where I heard he was her bridal costume and walks down the hall (see page 208), the
thinking about this new project. But the truth is, it was New Year’s of truth is that the area is dark, so Nahoko herself should be dark too,
2011 when I heard all the details. Miyazaki called me and said “I’m but, well, I thought it would be all right to put the focus on her
starting a new project today.” I talked with him about a few different beauty, the part we want to show. Initially, the coloring here was a
things and told him to stay strong, and that was the first step in the little more pink to match the color of Nahoko’s clothing, a coloring
whole thing. that emphasized the red. And Miyazaki did agree to it when I had
A few months later the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami him take a look, but because the scene is important, I came back
occurred, and he called me up, worried. A little while after that, to it after a bit and reworked it. Then we were talking and we had
he told me he had finished Part A of the storyboard and asked if the idea of making the whole thing blue since something more
I'd stop by and take a look. I did and found that the storyboard conceptual could work; we often had this kind of back and forth for
was massive; I was thinking it must have been quite a job, which the coloring along the way.
is when he asked if I wouldn’t take it home and read it. That was In that scene, it’s Kurokawa who sees the bride walking down
the progression before I accepted the job; Miyazaki didn’t ever the hall. In other words, it’s the image of Nahoko that Kurokawa
come right out and say “Please work on this,” and I didn’t ask to be sees— it’s Kurokawa’s feelings. It’s not just a bride Kurokawa sees
allowed to work on it. But looking at the storyboards and doing the after being told of Jiro and Nahoko’s decision. I think it’s something
project were basically the same thing. There was no hammering out more sublime than that. We created the colors here also with the
any details, Ijust started work from these casual exchanges we had. thought of how the audience would be able to see what Kurokawa
At the same time as I was re-reading the storyboards and being was feeling.
amazed by them, I was also thinking how hard it was going to be. So In a regular movie, you first make the normal colors for the
rather than just myself, I decided to put together a color direction characters, which you then change according to the time and the
group and do the work that way, with Kanako Takayanagi, Fumiko place. But for this film, as the time and place change quickly even
Numahata, Kazuko Karube, Yukie Tamura, and Yusei Kashima, with within a single scene, there were really very few places where we
Misa Aida joining us halfway through production. could use these normal colors. We always had to create new colors
The story this time takes place from the Taisho to Showa eras, for each scene, so right up until the very end, it was a succession of
and we did a fair bit of research, but there was almost nothing that trial and error as we tried to figure out what to do here and there.
could show us what the colors of that time were like. I did things like Honestly, I got lost so many times, and each time, I would go back to
go to kimono shops in Ginza to look at the fabrics of old kimono, the storyboards, decide the scene would be about like so, and then
but as a basic way of thinking, I felt I needed to stop feeling like turn back to the screen.
the me in the present was peeping in at the Taisho era, a feeling of I would look at the storyboards and think that each and every
nostalgia in thinking of the period as so far back in the past. And shot was like a single painting, and in fact, Miyazaki also said the
more than that, I decided to do the work with an awareness of living same thing to me. So when I look back on this film now, I wasn’t just
in the era, a feeling that I was actually in that era, an awareness designing the colors, I was deciding on the colors while thinking
of what the scene would be like if the Great Kanto Earthquake about things like what the composition of this scene would be,
happened right now. or how the scene would look. I suppose I could say it was a very
In particular, I kept the first half of this film cartoonish, but after thorough job.
Miyazaki had said a few times he wanted to bring out a more realistic
feel, I made the latter half more and more like a live-action film.
With the color coordination, the way we’ve done it up to now for
instance, you put in a little blue to show transparent glass. This is
because the audience understands the notion that water is blue. But
this time, we had to focus instead on the sense that the audience
would naturally come to see it like this. If it was a dark scene, I had
to focus on what I would see, what it would feel like if I was there—
this kind of thing.
146
The Wind Rises Production Process III
Deciding on all the colors for the things drawn in the animation, like paint was applied to the pictures on each cel, but everything is now
the characters and machines in each scene, is the job of the color digital and the coloring work takes place on a computer based on
designer. It’s then the job of the finishing staff to paint each frame _ data incorporating the animation, using a program called Toonz.
of the animation for each shot based on her directions. In the past, .
Foundational color samples
Provisional colors are decided on when the main character is set by
the director. In the initial stages, the actual backgrounds to be used
haven't been finished yet, so backgrounds from past works, like that
to the left, are used and concept art created in the previous stage is
placed in the backgrounds, to show how the characters and back-
grounds fit together. Here, the character’s key colors are created, and
variations for each scene are made based on these key colors. There
are diverse locations and times in this film, in addition to the dream
sequences, so there were almost no instances where the key colors
were used as is. For Caproni’s clothing, the suit he wears in this scene
and the one he wears in the scene where he reappears in the middle
of the film (page 143) are different colors; the suit returns to the ini-
tial color in the final scene (page 222).
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Color design “cast list”

Because of the above-noted diverse locations and times
in this film, to set the colors, Michiyo Yasuda read
the storyboards repeatedly and then asked directorial
assistant Riyosuke Kiyokawa to prepare a sort of cast list
so she could see at a glance the changes in time and
place for each scene. And not just whether a particular
scene is in the morning or afternoon, but what time in
the morning, are the background materials concrete or
wood, etc. The coloring and brightness of the characters
in the foreground change ever so slightly due to these
kinds of subtle differences.
Color design screen

The actual work of setting the colors and doing the
finishing happens on the screen. With the line drawings
and backgrounds put together as the base, the colors
for each shot are considered and painted in. The top
left of the screen is to make colors. The base colors are
made by combining R (red), G (green), and B (blue), and
given names in the rectangular area sectioned off in the
bottom right (for example, “HANE_MIDORI” second from
the top). To put it in terms of past techniques, these are
z like bottles of paint. On the bottom left, the designer can
neo | choose the picture level, such as Jiro or the plane here,
ks 2 and work on each part. The center of the screen is where
2 re é : the work is actually done. The work is very detailed; in
a) this shot, although the airplane in the foreground and
the airplane in the back are the same machine, rather
than exactly the same color, the airplane in the back is a
slightly duller color.
Continued on page 183 |
147
Jiro Horikoshi: Twenty-Nine Years Old
Jiro, as he enters his fifth year at Mitsubishi, is selected to be the lead designer for the 1MF10 fighter ordered by the
navy in 1932. For reference for the new machine design, Jiro and Senior Engineer Kurokawa from the design section
go to study the arrivals and departures of the Nakajima A1N on the small aircraft carrier Hosho, but they only end up
dumbfounded at the limits of the old Japanese models.
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Cafe Flyer
P148-149/The season is spring. Steam rises up within the grounds of the Mitsubishi
Aircraft Company, operating since early morning.
1/Long view of the Nagoya factory, which has changed its name to Mitsubishi Aircraft.
There is a café very nearby the employees frequent, called Café Flyer. [Background]
2/“Zigeunerweisen” plays on the gramophone within the café.
3/Called out by Section Chief Hattori and Senior Engineer Kurokawa, Jiro is assigned to be
the lead designer for the new navy fighter plane.
Mitsubishi B1M bomber
Biplane completed by Mitsubishi in 1923, which entered service the following
year. Extremely practical, the plane was used as an aircraft carrier-based bomber —
from the 1932 Shanghai Incident until the initial period of the Second Sino-
Japanese War. There were types one through three, and type two was nicknamed
the Tiger bomber. |
1-5/To watch the arrival and departure of the Nakajima A1N, Jiro and Kurokawa —
board a B1M bomber and head for the aircraft carrier Hosho. The engine has some —
trouble during the descent and spurts oil onto Jiro and his boss.
152
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Lo
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Nakajima A1N
Biplane produced by the Nakajima Aircraft Company (later Fuji Heavy Industry/Subaru) in 1929.
1-4/Nakajima A1N taking off after testing its engines.on the deck of the aircraft carrier Hosho.
153
Nakajima A1N2 formally adopted as a new machine to replace the Mitsubishi
1MF used up until then, after a prototype competition among Nakajima,
Mitsubishi, and Aiwa (Aircraft). This plane was the first Japanese military plane
to be involved in air battles during the Shanghai Incident in 1932.
5-9/The engine on the second machine stops as it is taking off; the plane loses
momentum and decelerates, dropping into the ocean.
154
Hosho
The world’s first purpose-built aircraft
carrier, built in 1922. In other countries,
commercial ships and battleships were
renovated to build aircraft carriers,
but Hosho was the first aircraft carrier
designed to be an aircraft carrier. It
made sorties and saw actual battle in
the Shanghai Incident, but around the
time of the Pacific War, shipborne aircraft
were larger, and it was shifted to use as a
training carrier. It survived until the end
of the war and was used as a repatriation
transport after the war.
1, 2/Hosho moving across the ocean.
Nagato
Dreadnought battleship that was the
flagship of the Combined Fleet. Her
sister ship was the Mutsu. Built in
1920, she was fitted with the world’s
first 45-caliber, forty-one-centimeter
main armament. She was remodeled
in 1925 and given her distinctive bent
chimney, so that she was immediately
distinguishable from other ships. In an
overhaul in 1936, the bent chimney
was removed, Together with Mutsu,
Nagato was symbolic of the Japanese
navy. After the Battle of Leyte Gulf, she
returned to her home country and was
stationed at the port of Yokosuka. She
was the only battleship to survive until
the end of the war.
1/The anchored Nagato can be seen

behind Jiro who is standing on the deck
of a passing ship.
55
Jiro Horikoshi: Thirty Years Old
Jiro’s first design, the 1MF10, ends in failure. Visiting Karuizawa for a break, Jiro is reunited with Nahoko, who has
grown up into a beautiful woman. A foreigner he meets at the hotel, Castorp, predicts a turbulent future for Japan,
and Jiro asks for the hand of Nahoko, who has tuberculosis, in marriage, with the powerful words that he will wait a
hundred years for her to get better...
Mitsubishi 1MF10
Prototype for which Jiro is the senior designer
in 1932, The navy orders war prototypes for
a carrier fighter, an attack plane, a special
bomber, and an ocean reconnaissance plane,
and Jiro’s team puts together the first low wing
cantilever monoplane in Japan. However, it is
judged to be impractical as a carrier plane, and
the project ends with the production of just two
prototypes.
1-6/The 1MF10 test flight is carried out as Jiro

watches.
158
ANH Nae
We
a v af
Karuizawa
1/Near the exit of a tunnel with the Abt rack system electric trains run on. [Background]
2/Brick bridge of the Usui Pass. The train Jiro rides passes through here pulled by an electric locomotive. [Background]
3/On top of the hill where Nahoko paints. Jiro walks along the path below. [Background + cel book]
4/Path leading into the forest. Nahoko’s father, Mr. Satomi, comes through the woods in the opposite direction from Jiro. [Background]
160
161
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Py
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162
Nahoko in Karuizawa
3/Nahoko, still girl-like ten years after their first meeting on
the day of the great earthquake. [Character design]
4, 5/Nahoko painting on canvas with bold brushwork. At
that moment, the wind blows even stronger, sending her
parasol flying; Jiro on the path below stops it.
163
KUSAKARU
Long break
1/The entrance to Hotel Kusakaru
where Jiro and the others stay. The
building and the rooms in it are a
blend of Western and Japanese,
bringing together a variety of styles.
[Background]
2/The exterior of the hotel, with
a small veranda for each room.
Sunflowers are blooming in the
garden. [Background]
3/The remains of the 1MF10
collected in the hangar in Jiro’s
memory. The serious blow of his first
failure still haunts Jiro somewhat.
[Background + harmony]
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a]
2 >> Se
In the restaurant
1/The hotel smoking room at dusk. Outside, it’s
raining. [Background]
2/The restaurant in the hotel. Nahoko and Mr.
Satomi enter. On the other side of the entrance is
a bar. [Background + book cel]
3/Nahoko, being led by the waiter, notices Jiro at
a table further in. Jiro is just as he was when they
met ten years before.
A/Jiro realizes it is the young woman from that
afternoon, and he bows lightly in greeting.
5/At the next table, Castorp eats a large plate of
watercress while reading the newspaper.
6/“What is it?” “That man. | know him from
somewhere,” Nahoko says, somewhat excited.
167
Reunion spring
1/The path leading into the forest that Jiro walks down.
A sluice for farming irrigation runs along the side.
[Background]
2/Near the entrance to the forest where Nahoko's easel and
parasol are set up. [Background]
3/Jiro comes to the road along the sluice and heads deeper
into the dark forest. [Background + book cel]
Tatsuya Kushida was in charge of the scenery for the woods

where Jiro and Nahoko meet again, as well as the area
around Kogen Hospital. Kushida polished his technique
based on the work of his idol Kazuo Oga, and he’s got more
of a light touch than the heavier style | favor. He’s an artist,
like Yoshida (Noboru), who has a completely different
directionality from me. He draws with an awareness of
everything up to the tip of his brush, and | think it turned
out to be a very good experience for the Ghibli art staff to
get the chance to come into contact with his work and his
solid techniques.
4/The sluice flowing through the bamboo grass. At the end is a pond of spring water, and Nahoko is standing
there, bathed in sunlight. [Background]
5/Jiro is surprised at the unexpected meeting, but this is the reunion that Nahoko has been wishing for.
6/“We were so grateful for your help after the earthquake.” “Now | remember!” They introduce themselves here
for the first time.
Under one umbrella
1/The road back to the hotel. The clear sky darkens
in the blink of an eye and a heavy rain falls.
[Background]
2/The shower passes, a rainbow sparkles behind
the pair, and the rain makes a border in the road.
[Background + book cel]
3/The rain’s peak. Nahoko telling Jiro all the things
that have happened, not caring if she gets wet.
4, 5/“Jiro, you were our knight in shining armor
that day.”
6/Jiro’s spirit is soothed by Nahoko’s cheerful
6 innocence.
Castorp
A mysterious German Jiro meets at the Hotel Kusakaru. He knows a fair bit about the
international situation and has misgivings about the future of Japan and Germany. A
character whose name is borrowed from the Thomas Mann novel The Magic Mountain.
1/Castorp rough sketches. [Concept sketches]

2/Castorp clothing and facial expressions. [Character design]
3/Castorp talking to Jiro while smoking on the terrace. Jiro is horrified at his ominous
prediction that Japan and Germany will explode.
Castorp is modeled after Steve Alpert, who used to work in Studio Ghibli’s overseas
operations. We had Miyazaki's rough sketches, but by looking at actual photos of him |
had intended to make the character more like Alpert; it was a difficult job making it look
like him without straying from the Ghibli character image.
174
1/Worried after hearing from Mr. Satomi that Nahoko has a fever, Jiro looks up at the light in the Satomis’ room.
2/The Satomis’ table is empty the next morning, and the curtains in the window stay closed.
Paper airplane
1, 2/To try and make Nahoko feel better, Jiro makes a paper airplane and
sends it into the air. Castorp catches it when Nahoko sends it back down, but
he uses too much force and crushes it.
3/Hotel Kusakaru in the afternoon. Jiro comes out below Nahoko's room with
a serious paper airplane in hand. [Background + book cel]
4, 5/Jiro makes the improved paper airplane made out of Kent paper fly with
a rubber band.
6, 7/Although he fails once, the next time the plane glides magnificently to
Nahoko. However, now Nahoko’s straw hat falls off and drops to the ground.
8/Jiro grabs the hat even though he has to dive into the shrubbery. “Nice
catch!” Nahoko’s innocent laughter rings out.
177
Night festival
1/The restaurant where a party is held with lanterns of all kinds strung up. Jiro and Mr. Satomi
sing “Das gibt’s nur einmal” to Castorp’s piano playing. [Background + book cel]
2/The bar counter. Castorp plays the piano and sings. [Background]
Courting
1/Without thinking, Jiro tells Mr. Satomi that he loves Nahoko and asks for his
approval. Nahoko comes in at that moment. “I'd like you to approve, too.”
2/Nahoko confesses that she has tuberculosis, but Jiro’s resolve is unshaken. “Nothing
is going to stop me from loving you.” “I’ve loved you since the day the wind brought
you to me.”
3/The couple kissing on a hill as the wind blows.
| really wanted the color design for the scenes in Karuizawa to also be beautiful. It’s
the first time we see adult Nahoko, and there's the scene where she meets Jiro, so
| spoke with Takeshige (Yoji) about doing something impressionistic, but that just
wasn’t working out somehow. | set my heart on a coloring that would feel refreshing,
putting Jiro in white clothes and tinting the shadows with a kind of blue. Finally, when
Nahoko appears and accepts Jiro’s proposal, | tried it at first with the yellowish color
she wears in other scenes, but when | did, she blended into the crowd too much.
Then Miyazaki asked me to try putting her in red, so | went with a slightly darker feel.
| thought it might be too flashy, but it seems like he liked it after all.
179
Born in 1963 in Shimane Prefecture, Okui joined Asahi Production in 1982 and was involved in photography
Interview work. The Dirty Pair film ('87) was his first production as director of photography. He then worked as the director
Atsushi Okul
of photography for Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack ('88) and was director of photography on the Ghibli
films Porco Rosso ('92) and Ocean Waves (93). In 1993, he transferred to Studio Ghibli. Since then, he has been
director of photography for Pom Poko ('94), Whisper of the Heart ('95), Princess Mononoke ('97), My Neighbors
Director of Digital Imaging the Yamadas ('99), and From Up on Poppy Hill ('11). He was also responsible for cinematography in Spirited Away
(01), Howl’s Moving Castle ('04), Tales from Earthsea ('06), Ponyo ('08), and The Secret World of Arrietty ('10).
| paid attention to the depictions of light and shadows, centering

on the natural phenomena like the wind and the clouds.
I feel like, as noted in the title itself, one theme for the creation of the look natural, including how I added in the illumination and shadows.
images was that the audience should be able to feel the “wind” through Even if you paint drawing paper black to make the background darker,
the film. This isn’t to say that I got this kind of specific direction from there’s a limit to the depiction of darkness for a film. So when I was
Miyazaki regarding the photography or image processing, or that I shooting, I would drop the amount of light to make it darker, but
had started work on the film having already decided right from the since the film won’t work if it’s just pitch black, it was difficult to get
start that I was going to make a certain kind of picture or that doing the drop just right.
things this way would be best. It’s just that in the end, looking back on Another thing I paid particular attention to was the processing
the film, there are a lot of portrayals of nature, including weather, like to “obscure.” I say “obscure,” but digitally, you have blur and lens
the grass and trees swaying in the wind or the clouds drifting by, so I clouding, and I used these separately, very consciously. Things that had
get the feeling that the director’s instructions for the performance, indistinct forms like clouds or smoke were processed with blur, and
the things the art staff were drawing-everything was aligned in the I used lens clouding for processing the world through Jiro’s glasses,
same direction. or for giving the screen depth. Since Miyazaki doesn’t really care for
It’s not the case that all the photography and image processing is obscuring, I was told not to overdo it, and there are some places where
lumped together and done at the end. In the beginning, the director it’s lighter, but there ended up being a lot of shots that I felt wouldn’t
creates the concept with his storyboards, but after that, I’m involved be finished without some blurring. As production moved forward, I
in everything as the director of photography, including animation think instructions from the director for lens clouding increased.
meetings and layout checks. The way it works is that all the elements In the case of Ghibli works, the basic way of working is that the
of art, animation, and finish are completed, and then I do the final animation and art depictions are done by hand, like always. We do it in
photography and processing with an understanding of the nuances 2D, and then for effect digital processing is done as necessary; we add
reflected in each element, bringing the whole thing together on the in the CG, and this film was no different. I don’t have any memory of
screen . So I end up judging and deciding, in consultation with the anything especially different or any new experiments. For the airplane
director, whether to use the pictures and movements created by the scenes, we could have made a fairly good film the analog way like
art and animation staff as they are, or to add different extras to them. in Porco Rosso, but the number of places where we had to do special
In terms of “making the audience feel the wind,” on-screen combinations, places where digital was an advantage in terms of the
movements such as the plants being swayed by the wind is essentially camera work not taking such a relatively long time, really increased for
created by the animators, but I consciously process these images this film.
depending on the scene to take advantage of the style of the Also, conversely, you show the animation for things like the
background in the motion of the animation and bring out a sense movement of the bridge in the scene where the penny steamer Jiro
of motion in the plants in the background. For instance, scenes like and Kayo are on goes under it or the scene where the Ca.60 comes up
when Jiro and Nahoko meet at Karuizawa and a strong wind comes up from the lake. You can make these things move digitally by adding in
or their final separation in the grass were like that. perspective, like in the scene with the Junkers G38 flying, but in many
The depictions of clouds and light were also key points in the cases we didn’t dare do that. The decision for this basically fell to
portrayal of nature. We had so many clouds in this film: the colorful Miyazaki’s intention. At the other end, there were times when we had
clouds of the dream sequences, the foreboding clouds of the great Miyazaki check it after we decided 3D would be more effective and did
earthquake and the air raids, and then the rain clouds, the sunset the processing on the spot. To realize the intention of the shot or the
clouds, the summer thunderclouds. I basically added in the movement scene, we also decided a certain amount on the spot.
digitally taking advantage of the art style or added some softness by It’s not the case that you can’t make animation these days without
making them a bit hazy, and I also imagined the clouds as alive for a using digital, so rather than reject it, Iwant to use digital in a way that
sense of vitality. feels like Ghibli and protect the analog-era Ghibli style while bringing
For the light, in addition to the light shining into the dark factory it into the digital era. Whether it’s the animation or the background
and the hangar through the windows, the reflections glinting off the art, we can draw it all from scratch on computers without ever picking
metal of the planes depicted in the harmonies, and the twilight of up a pencil or a paintbrush, but our method for a long time has been
the dream sequences, I also needed to pay attention to the depictions to have people draw on paper and then process it digitally. Naturally,
of the brightness/darkness of the Taisho and Showa eras in which when a director or staff member comes along with new ideas, I think
the story is set. In particular, when the characters are moving in an it’s also wrong to be too set in our ways, so I’m sure this will all change
empty room that’s darker inside like the living room at the Kurokawas’ from now on depending on the film and the director.
house, I tried a lot of different things to see what Icould do to make it
180
Photography Techniques in The Wind Rises
Glasses
This is a shot where | think the obscuring for the portrayal of Jiro's
near-sightedness is relatively nicely done. For the glasses view,
Miyazaki has been pretty fussy about it up to now, and rather
than obscuring, he has concept shots where the right and left
eyes don’t have the same focal point. For the ceiling seen through
mosquito netting when he wakes up from his dream, the focus isn’t
anywhere, neither on the mosquito netting nor on the light bulb
beyond it. This was the first time I’ve done something like this.
Also, we depicted the shots with the aircraft overlapping with a
little distortion as an image seen through the lens.
Wind
For the rippling on the surface of water like the reservoir in
Karuizawa as the wind blows over it, the mask of the waves running
along the front of the image was the animation, with the processing
of the water surface, like the details of the waves and the reflection
of light, added in in photography. The advantage of digital is that
mask processing is remarkably simpler than it used to be, and for
places such as the paddies below brightening suddenly as they
reflect the morning light when the bird-shaped plane is flying in
the beginning, or the movements of the shadows in the fight scene
in the German night, we animate the mask and then add in digital
processing for the final look. When Jiro is writing down all his
numbers too, in the past, we would have had to photograph the
numbers and text backwards and then delete them, but now, we
can reproduce in detail the writing while moving the mask digitally
in line with the movement of the tracking.
In the days of cel animation, we used to layer cels that had been
scratched with fine lines using an Exacto knife to create rain, but
we couldn't do too much variation in the rain, and we couldn't use
it all that often. With digital, we're now more easily able to depict
a downpour like this turning into a shower and then stopping. *
Although | hadn't intended to go this far in the beginning, Miyazaki
told me to make it stronger, so it ended up being quite a fierce
downpour.
Snow
In the scene where Jiro has a nightmare in the train—and the one
with the snow falling on Yatsugatake in the second half is like this
too—the flurries in the clear sky are basically made to fly using a
technique called “particles.” The flower petals in the scene where
Nahoko is walking down the hallway in the wedding scene are also
particles, but the flower petals dancing in the room were animated.
It's not as though we have a standard policy to use particles in
certain types of shots but not in others. It’s more like we play it by
ear; we make the film judging all the while which would be most
effective for which area.
181
Darkness
| think even now, when you go out into the country, there aren't very many street
lamps, and it gets totally dark at night in some places. At the beginning of the Showa
era, even for lighting inside the house, they would use a single 40-watt or so bulb to
light up a seven-square-meter room, so it was apparently fairly dark. As part of the
mood for this film, Miyazaki told me he had in mind old Japanese movies from the
forties and fifties, and that the ceiling areas of the rooms in the Japanese homes
that appeared in these films were very dark. But if we actually made it totally dark,
the film would be hard to watch, so | worked hard to depict the darkness, adding in
some variations.
Smoke/Clouds
The backgrounds with the smoke from the fires of the Great Kanto Earthquake
rising up like clouds were also used for the air raid scenes in the second half of the
film, albeit after a little adjustment. The silent movement of these clouds of smoke
_ bubbling up was added in with 3DCG. In the flying scenes as well, the movement of
the clouds is key; | think it’s the foundation of the film. In the earthquake scene, the
animation is the focus, but the shaking is camera work, and the missing parts of the
garbage and clouds of dust dancing in the air were added in during processing. During
production, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami happened, and we met with some
severe shaking in the studio, so there might be some parts where the depiction is
different based on our own actual experience.
In the scene where Caproni and Jiro are talking on the wing, rather than emphasize
the evening light and just have the light coming from the sun off-screen, | added light
to the areas drawn in the background and the clouds themselves, giving the whole
thing a bit of a haze. The time changes frequently in the dream sequences, and |
pulled some tricks to bring together the mood for the entire screen to go along with
the backgrounds the art staff had calculated and drawn. Conversely, in the dream
sequence at the beginning in which Jiro is a boy, | was more conscious of the shadows
stretching off the clouds than the light—the shadows they each cast when the clouds
overlap. The art staff also put in some deliberate touches, but | expanded on those
even further in photography to make it look like the shadows overlap when they move.
Cigarette smoke
This film takes place in an era when it was normal for everyone to smoke, unlike
nowadays. In particular, most men smoked, so this was something we couldn't
run from if we were going to depict this era. But since it would just end up feeling
smoky if we had this on-screen all the time, we had them put their cigarettes out
in appropriate places; the one that really stays in my memory is the scene in Café
Flyer. Coffee shops at that time didn’t have non-smoking sections and would thus
get incredibly smoky. So for just that scene, | deliberately set it up that way. Smoke
other than cigarette smoke such as the smoke from a train and steam is, as a general
rule, done in animation, and at the photography stage we add in processing like haze
or blur.
Camera mapping
Scenes where the houses and fields seen from the window when Jiro is on his way to Tokyo
pass by moving three-dimensionally, or the receding scenery as Kayo sees Nahoko off
from inside the bus, are 3DCG. In the scene where Nahoko—who has run away from the
hospital—and Jiro walk through Nagoya station, we processed it to have the background
moving while the perspective changes. Places where 3D is going to be used are basically
decided at the storyboard stage, but it’s also sometimes put in at the layout stage or in a
decision during production itself.
182
The Wind Rises Production Process IV
|Photography/Effects_|
Formerly, animation was done using a rostrum on which the complex camera work and multiple materials being brought together,
background and cel frames were layered, and one frame at a synthesis with 3DCG, and portrayals of nature like rain and snow.
time was photographed. Nowadays, that entire work process has For the work of coloring, finishing, photography, and special effects,
been digitized and is done on computers. Due to the introduction we use a program customized by Studio Ghibli called Toonz.
of computers, depictions are much smoother for elements like
Loading the animation

At the stage where each shot is complete, all the picture elements are
read with a scanner and the shots are assembled in the computer follow-
ing the instructions on the dope sheet. The animation is made up entirely
of line drawings, but this is made into a temporary “complete form,” a
form that changes sequentially as the background and finishing work are
completed. The timing at which each part is done varies, so rather than
putting it together once all the parts are complete, it’s more efficient to
put the line drawings together first.
60 chm Cem &
e588
8 Ose «
Loading the background art Checking the finished image

Once the background art drawn by hand is done, the book cel clouds and the BG sky are each Once the coloring of the animation is finished, it is reflected in the previously
photographed with a digital camera and digitized. At Ghibli, the background art is not scanned but combined scene data. The match with the background art and the actual timing
is photographed with a camera and loaded this way. These are then put together according to the can be checked in a form very near that of the completed screen.
instructions in the layout. Each of the clouds in the cel book is moved individually. Because the grass in
the foreground is depicted entirely in the animation, it doesn’t exist on the background. The background
data put together here is inserted into the scene data with the line drawings combined.
Seasoning with photography effects and special effects Photography effects flowchart
After the basic movement and colors have been determined, effects are added A flowchart to see at a glance which photography effects are going to be used for each shot. The
in photography. In the case of this scene, the propeller attached to the wing of very bottom left is the BG that is the base of the image, the book cels and animations are lay-
the plane in the foreground is semitransparent, for which an effect called “super ered on top of that, and then each level above that is set up to allow checking, changing, and
(superimposition)” was used. The propeller lines were drawn with conventional arranging the effects to be added. Because there are a large number of pages for each shot and
special effects. In addition to these, since the edges would be overemphasized if the configuration is extremely complex, managing them all with a chart like this is essential.
the book cel clouds were just layered, a variety of effects were added in to blend
them and create natural-feeling clouds.
183
4
Jiro Horikoshi: Thirty-One Years Old

Separated from Nahoko, who is living in a sanatorium, Jiro throws himself into designing his new plane. But the
world is steadily moving in a dark direction. After attracting the attention of the Secret Police, Jiro moves into the
Kurokawa home and decides to live together with Nahoko, who runs away from the sanatorium to see him. The two
hold a private ceremony with the Kurokawas as witnesses and begin their short married life. But then...
Jiro and Honjo’s dream
P182-183/Jiro sees the No. 8 reconnaissance plane made by Honjo and gives his stamp of approval: “Oh, she'll fly.” The pair imagine the graceful figure of the plane in the sky.
1/The Mitsubishi factory in one corner of the Chukyo Industrial Area. In the fierce heat of summer, Honjo welcomes Jiro back from Karuizawa and shows him his maiden work,
the No. 8 reconnaissance plane prototype. [Background + book cel]
186
Mitsubishi Ki-1
Low wing cantilever monoplane completed
by Mitsubishi in 1933 after the company
received an order from the military to
develop a new type of bomber. The military’s
demands_were not -met.and-the-machine
had problem points, but it was officially
adopted for use, with several improvements
being made. Because of its weight and poor
maneuverability, it was not used very often.
1/Mitsubishi Ki-1 assembled in the factory.

[Background + harmony cel]
8-Shi special
reconnaissance plane
The first plane Jiro’s close friend Honjo is the lead designer
for. Completed in 1934 at a request from the navy, it was a
modernized twin-engine plane with retractable landing gear and
a Junkers-style dual wing, but only one was produced.
1/8-Shi special reconnaissance plane in the factory. [Background

+ harmony cel]
2/8-Shi special reconnaissance plane flying in the imaginations
of Jiro and Honjo. The machine demonstrates performance a
step above conventional twin-engine planes.
187
Fleeing the eyes of the
Secret Police
1/The grounds of the Mitsubishi factory where
the factory workers spend their lunch break.
[Background]
2/The Secret Police, which investigated thought
crimes, comes to investigate Jiro. Kurokawa deceives
them, saying he is on a business trip, and hides Jiro
for the time being in the reference room.
3/The pressed duralumin sample is delivered there.
The plane of Japan’s future was the all-metal,
lightweight machine Jiro and Honjo were aiming for.
188
4/The large road in front of the factory with the setting sun illuminating the
scene. At the end of the workday, employees hurried along the roads on bicycles
or in buses.
5/Passenger car running through the factory town in the fading light. Jiro rides
squished in between Hattori and Kurokawa. The two men try to calm Jiro, who is
indignant upon hearing that the Secret Police went so far as to open his private
messages.
6/In charge of the next naval plane, Jiro ends up hiding in Kurokawa’s house
and continuing his work. “The company will do everything to protect you. If you
keep your mind on your work.”
Kurokawa house
1/The guesthouse at the Kurokawas where Jiro stays. Jiro throws himself into his work while fearing the worst for Castorp who is also apparently being pursued by
the authorities. [Background]
2/The phone attached to a pillar in the hallway rings.
3/Wearing one of Kurokawa’s light kimono and absorbed in his calculations, Jiro learns from a phone call from Kurokawa that Nahoko has suffered a lung
hemorrhage.
4/Jiro says he wants to get to Tokyo right away, and Mrs. Kurokawa sends someone to go and hold the bus.
To avoid having Mrs. Kurokawa end up resembling O-Kinu or the other maids, | decided to give her upturned eyes. | was imagining a face like the famous actress
Izusu Yamada when she was young, but well...
The room in the Kurokawa house where Jiro hides himself and continues his work was modeled after the study in Natsume Soseki’s old house in Uchitsuboi-machi
in Kumamoto Prefecture. In terms of the period it also works, and it’s been restored for display as a museum, so | referred to photos of it. Rather than being white,
the walls were green and felt a little blackish, and they were also the concept for the walls in this place.
1/The bus that Jiiya from the Kurokawa house has kept waiting drives away with Jiro on board.
2/Returning to Tokyo after transferring from the bus to an express train, Jiro transfers to the Odakyu line and heads for the Satomi
house in Yoyogi-Uehara. It is already night when he arrives.
Eid je Eee
Class C56 steam locomotive

Tender-type steam locomotive built in 1935, designed to be a combined passenger/freight train able to travel long distances. The smallest and lightest of all the
locomotives built from the Showa era on.
1/Class C56 steam locomotive Jiro rides to hurry to Tokyo after receiving the news that Nahoko has hemorrhaged.
Odakyu Express Railway

The fortner incarnation of the modern Odakyu Electric Railway. The Odakyu Express Railway was established in 1923 to build a rail line that ran directly between
Tokyo and Hakone. Although the Great Kanto Earthquake happened that year, the completed line was opened in 1927.
1/Having come to Tokyo, to get to the Satomi house Jiro boards the Odakyu Express Railway Noborito-bound train and gets off at Yoyogi-Uehara station.
Satomi house
1/Nahoko’s house, atop a hill in a new residential area. It is a grand,
Western-style building. [Background]
2/The entrance in front of the cavelike steps to the house. [Background]
3/Nahoko's room left open to let fresh air in. Beyond the curtains
fluttering in the wind, Nahoko can be seen lying in bed.
4/Three windows through which the faint light from the lamp is leaking.
Jiro passes under these and goes into the garden.
Embrace
1-10/iro heading straight for Nahoko, too impatient to even take off his shoes. Nahoko reaching a
hand out to welcome him. It feels like their love is even stronger after they exchange a kiss.
11, 12/Mr. Satomi returns home to find Nahoko and Jiro laughing and chatting in Nahoko's room.
After he sees Jiro off and comes back, Nahoko declares to her father that she is going to the
sanatorium to get over her illness and live together with Jiro... [Background]
197
Voluntary research meeting
1/The younger staff members stay late in the design office, listening to Jiro. Eyes glittering at the wonder of the new fighter plane
proposal bringing together the latest technologies, they all laugh loudly at Jiro’s solution: “We could always leave out the guns.”
2/Jiro introducing Hirayama from the construction division. To make a light and sturdy body that can fly even on the underpowered
Japanese engines, the new technology of flush riveting, which hadn't yet been made use of in Japan, will be needed. Even more heated
discussion. Hattori and Kurokawa leave, seemingly satisfied: “| must say, that was interesting.” “It was inspiring.”
198
77 150 a ° 9-Shi single-seat
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The prototype Jiro designed by making
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prototype. The navy y ordered a
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VALE cB ac :ae r ea wen ie Jiro’s design team completed the first of
these in 1935. The first prototype adopted
an inverted gull wing—a wing that is bent
like that of a seagull is called a “gull
wing,’”-and-one-that-is-bent-in the opposite
direction is called an “inverted gull wing”—
but from the second prototype on, a low,
all-metal wing was used. After adding in a
variety of improvements to the 9-Shi single
seater, the navy officially adopted it as the
A5M1la.
1-3/Jiro telling the design team about his

ideas for the 9-Shi. The new proposal he
discusses here is full of ideas that closely
resemble the Zero to.come tater.
199
7; Ye
; Ae
Mountaintop hospital
1/Fujimi sanatorium at the base of the already snow-capped Yatsugatake. [Background]
2/Train bridge crossing between mountains. [Background]
3/Patients wrapped up in blankets, taking air baths.
4/Nahoko reading the letters that arrive from Jiro every day. Her face clouds over knowing that he is busy with work and can’t come to see her.
200
In sanatoria like the one where Nahoko is receiving treatment
in this scene, Miyazaki said that the patients were wrapped
up in army blankets. They're heavy, but strong and good
quality. | wasn’t really aware of the use of army blankets for
TB patients, but for this scene and others | really didn’t want
to dirty Nahoko with coloring typical of a person who would
be gone soon. The hat in this scene with the red lines is like
this too, but even in sad scenes, | tried to give her things with
cute colors, or use pretty colors.
5/In the blink of an eye, the weather deteriorates and snowflakes begin to dance about.
6/Dusk as the snow falls. A train crosses the bridge.
7/The following morning. In some areas, snow has piled up. [Background]
8/Wanting to see Jiro, Nahoko flees the sanatorium and descends to the town of Fujimi.
Last stop
1/Nagoya station at dusk when the train Nahoko is on arrives. [Background]
2/The platform the train pulls into, spewing smoke and steam. [Background]
3/Near the head of the platform the locomotive stops at. [Background]
4/Nahoko seated, experiencing feelings of unease and expectation.
5/Herd of people getting off of the train and heading toward the gates. Jiro,
having been informed of her coming, finds Nahoko walking from the far end of
the platform.
6/The pair embracing, the crowd in the station splitting to go around them.
7, 8/"I'm going right back. | just needed to see you.” “Don't go back. We
should be together.”
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Go-between
1/Jiro gets in a taxi with Nahoko and heads toward the Kurokawa house.
2/Although he expresses disapproval at first, Kurokawa sees their determination and allows the pair to live in the
guesthouse. Jiro and Nahoko then carry out a private wedding ceremony with the Kurokawas as go-betweens and witnesses.
Wedding
1-7/Nahoko proceeding slowly down the hallway, led by Mrs. Kurokawa amidst the flower petals. Jiro is moved by
her beauty. The modest wedding ceremony ends without problems, moving from the statement from the go-between
to the sharing of the cups, to the greetings from the newlyweds.
8/Nahoko and concerned Jiro. “You must be exhausted.” “This feels like a wonderful dream.”
9/Their first night together grows dark around them.
yo’s visit
1/A mild late autumn day. On behalf of
their parents, Kayo pays a visit to the
Kurokawa house.
2/The bus Kayo is on runs through the
countryside.
3, 4/Forgetting entirely that Kayo is
coming, Jiro returns home late again
today. A doctor in the making, Kayo,
worried about Nahoko, blames Jiro, and
he moves her with his words: “Each day
is very precious to us now.”
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Life in love
1/“I’m home.” Jiro calling out from the other room.
2-4/Nahoko gets up and talks to him about Kayo while helping
him change: “She’s got such a bright future.”
5/Jiro spreading out his plans to start work. He holds Nahoko's
hand in his left hand and manipulates his slide rule adroitly with
his right.
6/Nahoko stopping Jiro from going to smoke a cigarette. “Smoke
here.” “It’s not good for you.” “I don’t care.” Pressed, Jiro
strikes a match with one hand and takes a puff.
Nearly complete 9-Shi
1/9-Shi single seat fighter with scaffolding in one
corner of the prototype factory. [Background +
harmony cel]
2/Jiro adjusting the struts with the engineers in charge
of the landing gear. Honjo appears after some time
away and is impressed: “She’s beautiful, Jiro. Like a
work of art.”
3/The machine body, which uses flush riveting
everywhere, is still not complete, but Honjo praises it
as being a very Jiro-like design. “Is it all right if | use
your flush rivets and that spring-loaded hatch?” Jiro,
readily agreeing, and Honjo, not using Jiro’s ideas to
get the jump on him, are friendly rivals bound by a
deep and fair friendship.
212
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Ground attack
planes
1, 2/Equipped with bombs, the planes
fly in formation.
Polikarpov I-15
Single-seat, biplane fighter designed by Polikarpov in the central design office
of the Soviet Air Force. The sKB-3 designed in 1932 was modified and fitted
with an M-25 engine. The bent upper area of the main wing resembled that of a
seagull, so it was nicknamed “Chaika,” which is Russian for “seagull.”
1, 2/Polikarpov I-15 engaging the attacking No. 9.
213
Spring separation
1/The Kurokawa garden and guesthouse with the cherry tree in full bloom. [Background]
2/Guesthouse room seen from the garden. [Background]
3/The gates of the Kurokawa house Nahoko passes through after saying she is going for a walk. [Background]
214
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y
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a
a
a
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Farewell letter
1, 2/“My plane's finished. Now we'll see how she
flies.” “Congratulations. You've worked so hard.”
Having finally completed his prototype, Jiro returns
home exhausted and falls asleep next to Nahoko.
3/The morning of departure. “I’m off!” “Good
luck!”
4, 5/Nahoko waving and seeing her husband off.
Having decided to return to the sanatorium, it is
her final farewell.
6, 7/Nahoko tells Mrs. Kurokawa, who is preparing
a celebratory meal, that she is going for a walk.
8/Coming to visit and also see how the patient
is doing, Kayo sees Nahoko from inside the bus
and is gripped with dread. She goes with Mrs.
Kurokawa to the guesthouse and finds the letters
addressed to them both.
9, 10/Kayo tries to go and bring Nahoko back,
but Mrs. Kurokawa stops her. “She wants him to
remember her as she was.”
11/Nahoko looking at the spring scenery from the
carriage window.
Beautiful dream
1/Open fields of farms spreading out below the 9-Shi single seat fighter as it
continues along on its excellent test flight. Rivers of cherry trees in bloom flow along
both banks of the actual river. [Background (partial)]
2/The 9-Shi's speed and maneuverability are better than any prototype so far.
3-5/Climbing at a steep angle, the plane pierces the wall of clouds and flies even
higher toward the sun.
6/Watching the 9-Shi land, Jiro turns around reflexively, thinking he heard someone’s
voice, but...
7/The pilot wanting to shake Jiro’s hand: “She flies like a dream.” The development
staff, including Hattori and Kurokawa, are delighted at the success. It is the moment
of the birth of Japan's first modern aircraft.
219
220
Jiro Horikoshi: Forty-Two Years Old
The long, tragic war is over. The beautiful planes Jiro dreamed of all ended up being tools of war and did not return.
Caproni and Nahoko wait for Jiro in the same field as his old dreams, as he reflects on the futility of the war. Nahoko
tells him to live and disappears, and Jiro murmurs his thanks. As long as the wind blows, people must live.
Kingdom of dreams
P220/The smoke from the burning landscape rises up as clouds, and a B-29 cuts through the
sky. Jiro’s dream is swallowed up by the war.
P221/The remains of planes scattered in a field. On the other side of the hill, Caproni is waiting
just like that day. [Background + book cel]
1/“Our kingdom of dreams.” “Now it's the land of the dead.” “Not quite. In some ways, yes.”
2/The field shimmering in the evening light. “What about your ten years in the sun? Did you live
them well?” “Yes. Things fell apart toward the end, though.” “That’s what happens when you
lose a war.” A formation of the famous Zeros that Jiro created comes flying along. “Airplanes are
beautiful, cursed dreams waiting for the sky to swallow them up.” [Background + book cel]
2,
Mitsubishi A6M Zero
1=-4/Mitsubishi A6M Zeros flying in formation as if to embody the
conversation between Jiro and Caproni.
“You must live.”
1/“Someone is waiting for you.” When Jiro turns around, he sees Nahoko walking along the field, holding a parasol.
2/Standing next to a surprised Jiro, Caproni tips his hat and greets Nahoko.
3/“You must live, darling.” Nahoko calls out to Jiro and he nods.
4/Seeming relieved to see that, Nahoko sparkles with light and disappears on the wind.
5/“She was beautiful, like the wind.” Listening to Caproni’s words, Jiro murmurs, “Thank you.”
224
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STUDIO GHIBLI b : TIMEC +)
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=F) $08
THE WIND RISES

THE WIND RISES
The wings flex gently in the backwash. Jiro The zeppelin emerges from the clouds. Black,
pulls the yoke back and the plane rises bomb-shaped objects are suspended from the
slowly, straight up. airship at the end of long wires.
REEL 1 The plane ascends into the morning air, The objects pulsate like jellyfish. Murmuring,
flashing in the sunlight, like a kite ascending. ape-like creatures, black silhouettes with
MAIN TITLE FADE IN: The sun peeks over the mountains. The plane glowing eyes, perch on them. Some of the
keeps climbing, buffeted now and then by the objects have portholes through which the
Le vent se leve!... |/ faut tenter de vivre! wind. same creatures are visible.
The wind is rising! We must try to live. Jiro climbs higher. We see his house amid the Jiro puts on glasses and goggles and looks up
—Paul Valery expanse of paddies. at the zeppelin. The goggles are too close to
his glasses; he can’t focus.
Farmland. Morning mist. Jiro’s family home Sunlight streams over the water-filled
silhouetted against a white sky. The house is paddies. Jiro guides the plane lower over the Jiro sees a double image of the zeppelin. He
large and prosperous-looking. [The year is ca. green landscape. starts to lose control of his plane. He tears
1916.] his goggles off. His cap and goggles tumble
He glides lightly along the course of a stream. through the air toward the ground.
The house is still quiet. A mosquito net is
suspended over two sleeping children. Jiro flies along the stream. It winds between Jiro looks up again and gasps.
paddies and joins a river. He turns sharply left
YOUNG JIRO (age 13) and YOUNG KAYO (age to follow the river, flying low over the water. The zeppelin is bearing down on him. One of
6), asleep. Clean clothes are neatly folded by A boat passes in the opposite direction, its the objects swings toward him.
their pillows. single white sail taut in the breeze.
The object falls. From above, an open cockpit
Beneath the netting, Jiro is dreaming. The plane flies lightly just above the surface in the top of the object is visible. The black
of the river. object hits the plane and smashes it to bits.
Jiro’s dream. He climbs up the roof of his Jiro is thrown free.
house. A town comes into view. Smoke rises from
the chimney of a spinning mill. The plane is Jiro falls. A small locomotive moves along
He reaches the peak of the house’s broad tile coming up on a bridge. below him. The dream ends. Jiro in his futon.
roof. The predawn sky is cloudless. He walks He opens his eyes.
along the peak of the roof. Jiro in the cockpit. The engine hums.
He looks at the ceiling and blinks sleepily.
A small monoplane is perched on a wooden People and draft animals cross the bridge
platform that extends from the peak of the in both directions. People are loading and Jiro’s nearsighted POV. The ceiling is soft-
roof. The plane is shaped like a bird with unloading goods. Jiro flies under the bridge focused and indistinct beyond the netting.
feather-like extensions on the wing tips. and climbs sharply.
A little two-stroke engine protrudes from Jiro turns his head to look out into the garden.
the fuselage ahead of the open cockpit. The Taisho Era town spreads out below him,
The morning sun is beginning to touch the with a spinning mill by the river. Jiro climbs OUT
mountains in the distance. past the towers of black smoke rising from
the chimneys. A Japanese-style garden, also out of focus.
Jiro climbs into the cockpit.
Young women, mill workers, crowd the Jiro lies looking at the garden. He sits up,
OUT balconies of the wooden buildings to get a reaches for his glasses and puts them on.
look at his plane. A few wave.
He primes the engine and hits the retro (at The garden comes into sharp focus.
the time, cutting-edge) Bakelite ignition Jiro waves back.
switch. Jiro looks at the garden. The lenses of his
A swarm of black shapes, moving as if in glasses are bottle-thick.
The engine sputters to life. Soot and sparks formation, emerges from the cloud overhead.
belch from the exhaust. At first they are only partly seen. There is a Jiro gazes at the garden. The sounds of
great, low-pitched humming. breakfast being prepared drift from the
The propeller starts turning. The engine rises kitchen. He gets up and folds his futon.
from a throaty putt-putt to a whine. Jiro looks up and sees the shapes. The nose
of a huge fantasy zeppelin peeks from the The wheels of a locomotive slowly turning.
The wings flex in the backwash from the clouds. Rows of oar-like projections along the Steam puffs from the smokestack.
propeller. The plane strains at its mooring, nose of the airship move in a sculling motion.
ready to ascend. Jiro slowly rotates the Jiro gapes with surprise. Morning. A railway crossing. The little
throttle on the side of the fuselage. locomotive backs up, pushing a string of cars.
Jiro waits to cross the tracks with a crowd of
OUT people.
234
The crowd crosses the tracks.
The spinning mill and the wharf—the same

town as in the dream. People cross the
bridge. Jiro and other boys of the same age
\ e (} .
are in the crowd. venl se teve, fal tonter de vivre.
The town’s main street. At the end of a
road off the main street is a large wooden
JIT BYA, WEESPL
structure, an elementary school.
Sul Sale “y
Students walk through the corridors after
class. Jiro stands at attention
outside the Rov Fry
door to the faculty office. ak Ut ele
He bows to a teacher as he enters the

room. The man nods. Another, younger “The wind is rising! We must try to live.” [Below Paul Valéry] Translated by Tatsuo Hori
INSTRUCTOR comes out. He holds a
magazine out to Jiro. YOUNG JIRO Jiro sits calmly on his heels on the tatami
(to victim of bullying) floor at home. His face is scratched up. The
INSTRUCTOR Go home. afternoon sun fills the garden.
Here it is. (ALT)
Go home, Kai. JIRO’S MOTHER is framed in the light from
Jiro takes the magazine. He grips it tightly. the garden. She raises an eyebrow at her son.
The victim takes off. The bullies shout angrily
YOUNG JIRO at Jiro, but they’re beneath his interest. Their JIRO’S MOTHER
May | borrow it? voices come across to him as distorted and You look quite the hero.
unintelligible.
INSTRUCTOR YOUNG JIRO
Of course, but it’s in English. TAKAYAMA (for form’s sake)
Jiro... [unintelligible] Oh, | slipped and fell.
YOUNG JIRO
That’s okay. | have a dictionary. TAKAYAMA JIRO’S MOTHER
[unintelligible] Umm hmm. Fighting is never justified, Jiro.
INSTRUCTOR
All right. Give it a try. YOUNG JIRO YOUNG JIRO
(calm) Yes, Mother.
YOUNG JIRO He’s half your size, Takayama.
(bows) JIRO’S MOTHER
Thank you. TAKAYAMA (smiles)
[unintelligible] You can have your snack.
Jiro walks along the embankment parallel to
the river. He sees something and stops. TAKAYAMA YOUNG JIRO
[unintelligible] Thanks!
On the riverbank below, three students are

tormenting one of their much younger juniors. BULLY A Jiro reaches for his hat and schoolbag and
[unintelligible] stands up. The seat of his pants is dirty.
Jiro peers down at them.
BULLY B Kayo is in the garden, picking flowers. She
TAKAYAMA, the leader, grabs the victim by [unintelligible] turns and sees Jiro.
the collar and hoists him off his feet. His
buddies (BULLY A and B) laugh. TAKAYAMA YOUNG KAYO
[unintelligible] (excited)
Jiro takes off down the embankment, slipping Jiro, Jiro! You’re home!
and sliding. He runs up to Takayama and Takayama grabs Jiro by the collar and shoves
grabs his wrist. him. Jiro pulls Takayama’s hand away and KIYO, the maid, is with Kayo in the garden.
ducks. The maid has a baby on her back.
YOUNG JIRO
Knock it off. He grabs Takayama under the crotch and Jiro hurries toward the stairs with his snack
throws him head over heels. on a plate.
TAKAYAMA
(angrily) A boat sails slowly along the river. The
Stay out of it, Jiro! landscape is dreamlike in the afternoon light.
200
YOUNG KAYO YOUNG JIRO YOUNG KAYO (0.S.)
Jiro, let’s pick some bamboo grass. Jiro! His name is Caproni. Wow, it says he’s a There’s another one!
(ALT) count. Jiro tries to spot them but he cannot see
Good, now you can help me catch frogs. them with his poor vision.
Kayo notices his scratches. She reaches out
He hurries away. Kayo runs to the veranda to touch them. YOUNG KAYO
and calls after him. They’re pretty! Oh, see that one?
YOUNG KAYO
YOUNG KAYO (concerned) A meteor shower against the starry sky. Kayo
Wait, where are you going? What happened to your face? It’s all points again.
scratched!
He climbs the stairs out of sight. Kayo runs to YOUNG KAYO
the foot of the stairs and calls. Jiro turns his face away, but Kayo leans They’re so bright! Wish you could see them.
closer.
YOUNG KAYO Jiro lies very still.
Hey! Remember!? YOUNG JIRO
Leave it alone, Kayo? Jiro’s dream. The starry sky gives way to a
No answer. She hurries up the stairs. mountainous line of clouds lit by a setting
YOUNG KAYO sun. A line of three-engine aircraft built by
Jiro’s study. He opens the window, sits on the You better put iodine on it. I’ll do it for you. Caproni Aircraft Works flies through the sky.
floor at a low desk and opens the magazine. (ALT)
The door behind him slides open and Kayo | better put iodine on it. I’m a doctor. Almost. The sky and aircraft are reflected in Jiro’s
peers in. face.
YOUNG JIRO
YOUNG KAYO Stop please...! OUT
You promised to pick bamboo grass with me.
(ALT) A night sky full of stars. Jiro is sprawled on Jiro stands on a windswept grassy plain and
You promised to help me catch frogs today! the roof looking up at the sky. gazes upward.
YOUNG JIRO Kayo slides down next to him on her rear. A fleet of Italian Ca.3 biplanes and Ca.4
(not looking up) triplanes approaches. Their red propellers
I’ve got homework. YOUNG KAYO turn slowly.
What are you doing?
Kayo puffs out her cheeks in frustration. She Jiro watches at them, astonished. The aircraft
shuts the door and comes closer. YOUNG JIRO approach, glinting in the sunlight.
Kayo, you're not supposed to be up here.
Jiro is absorbed in his magazine. Kayo stands The Ca.3s are laden with bombs. The crews
next to him. He turns the pages. She peers She peers curiously at Jiro. ignore Jiro, but Gianni Caproni peers down
down at the magazine. curiously from the open gunner’s seat in the
YOUNG KAYO nose of one of the planes.
YOUNG KAYO Neither are you. Where are your glasses?
What kind of homework is that? Jiro is surprised to see Caproni. He takes off
YOUNG JIRO his wooden sandals and sprints through the
YOUNG JIRO | heard you can fix your eyesight by focusing waving grass to keep up with the slow-moving
It’s an English magazine. on the stars. aircraft.
Jiro flips eagerly through the magazine. He YOUNG KAYO Jiro runs. The Ca.3 slowly overtakes him.
comes to a photograph of Gianni CAPRONI. (puzzled) Caproni leans out and calls to him.
Hmm...
Kayo points to the photo. CAPRONI
She lies back next to her brother and looks Ehi! E tu chi saresti?
YOUNG KAYO up at the sky. [You there! Who are you?]
Look at his stupid moustache.
YOUNG JIRO Jiro answers as he runs.
The photo. A young Caproni. Mom will be mad if you’re not in your bed.
YOUNG JIRO
YOUNG JIRO (0.S.) YOUNG KAYO I’m a... Japanese boy.
He’s a very famous Italian aircraft designer. (points)
Oh! A shooting star! CAPRONI
Kayo looks on disapprovingly. Jiro riffles Un ragazzo giapponese? Come mai trovi qua?
through a dictionary. Jiro looks for it, startled. [A Japanese boy? Why are you here?]
The stars. Indistinct blobs of light.
YOUNG JIRO
I’m dreaming. | think this is my dream.
CAPRONI (0.S.)
Un sogno?
[A dream?]
Caproni climbs down to the nose wheel.
CAPRONI
Fermo li. Non muoverti!
[You stay right there!]
He hangs suspended from the nose wheel just

above the ground passing by under his feet.
He scissors his legs rapidly, lets go and hits
the ground running. Caproni: “Welcome to my kingdom.” Jiro: “I'm honored.”
The Ca.3 rises away. CAPRONI CAPRONI

They will bomb an enemy city. Half of them Instead of bombs, she’ll carry passengers.
Clouds stream by. The grass sways in the will never return.
wind. The aircraft keep flying by as Caproni Caproni opens a panel in the ceiling and
walks up to Jiro, who quickly puts on his A vision. Night, a city in flames. Caproni’s climbs a ladder. Jiro follows quickly.
wooden sandals to face Caproni. bombers fly through towering plumes of
smoke and waving searchlight beams. Some An open cockpit. Two pilots. Caproni continues
CAPRONI of them are on fire. upward on a ladder that extends from the
This is my dream, you know. cockpit to the upper wing. Jiro follows.
Jiro gazes at the vision, eyes wide. The flames
YOUNG JIRO are reflected in his glasses. A pastoral landscape unfolds below the
| think it’s mine too. airplane. Caproni emerges onto the top
CAPRONI wing through an opening. The wind is no
OUT It will all be over soon. problem—this is a dream.
CAPRONI He motions Jiro to come. CAPRONI

Your dream? Listen, Japanese boy. So you | find dreams are a good way to see my
think we are sharing this dream? Caproni turns on his heel. A Ca.48 triplane designs. | can go anywhere!
descends toward them. Midday. The sky
YOUNG JIRO is clear and deep blue. The Ca.48 gently Jiro follows him onto the wing. The plane
| know it’s strange. You’re Count Caproni, touches down. banks.
aren't you? I’ve been reading all about you.
The triplane taxis up to Jiro. A door opens Caproni strolls jauntily along the wing,
CAPRONI and Caproni leans out. Jiro is astonished. holding his arms out for balance.
(chuckles)
Interesting. Yes, this is a dream. This world is CAPRONI He walks to the edge. The plane is over Lake
a dream. Come on up, Japanese boy. Maggiore. Villas line the shore. He calls to
Jiro. The plane’s ailerons are moving up and
He extends a hand. They shake hands. A ladder extends from the plane. Jiro starts down. Clouds drift by.
climbing up.
CAPRONI CAPRONI
Welcome to my kingdom. CAPRONI (0.S.) Come on. Walk right along the spar.
This is my true dream. When the war is over,
YOUNG JIRO | will build this. Jiro runs lightly across the wing spar to
I’m honored. Caproni. They look down.
Jiro climbs up the ladder into a luxuriously
Caproni waves to the bombers passing appointed passenger compartment. CAPRONI
overhead. Look at that.
Caproni closes the hatch.
CAPRONI Jiro gasps with admiration.
See those? CAPRONI
What do you think? Magnificent, isn’t she?
The aircraft are laden with bombs. A gunner Let’s take off.
wearing a tricolor muffler raises his hand with
a look of resolve. The Ca.48 takes off.
237
A white Caproni Ca.60 lifts off from the CAPRONI (0.S.) Jiro lies back. He stares at the ceiling as if
deep blue waters of the lake. The plane is Many can fly airplanes, but | DESIGN them! looking into the future.
gigantic—three sets of triple wings a hundred
feet wide, with a long passenger cabin slung CAPRONI YOUNG JIRO
beneath. (strikes his chest proudly) He said airplanes are beautiful dreams. So I’m
| CREATE airplanes! going to make beautiful airplanes.
Jiro is astonished at the size of the behemoth.
Caproni watches with a satisfied look. Jiro’s eyes widen. The scenery swoops by in Jiro’s dream continues. The Ca.60 and
the background. Jiro’s bird-like plane fly into the sunset. Jiro
The Ca.60 lifts majestically off the water and watches, then turns to go. He walks faster
climbs slowly. CAPRONI and faster. The wind whips the tall grass by
And so can you! An aeronautical engineer! the path.
Jiro watches the huge aircraft rise into view.
The wings are connected by a jungle of struts Jiro asleep and dreaming. He smiles The year is 1923. The interior of a third-class
and wires. ecstatically and answers Caproni out loud. rail car. Jiro, now a young adult, looks out the
window. He’s wearing a boater hat. The car
The Ca.60 banks. Passengers and attendants YOUNG JIRO is dark—the train is passing through a forest.
smile and wave behind the cabin windows. Yes! The train emerges into farmland. Sun streams
Jiro and Caproni watch as the airliner flies through the window.
away. - The Ca.48 flies under a full moon. Caproni
leans closer to Jiro. A locomotive pulls the train. The windows are
The landscape below changes abruptly—the open and passengers are visible inside.
Ca.3 is over the Mediterranean. The Ca.60 is CAPRONI
still in sight, flying away. But remember this, Japanese boy. Airplanes Inside the car. It’s packed with passengers.
are not tools for war. They are not for making People stand in the aisles and sit on the
The two watch as the plane departs. Caproni money. aisle-side armrests. People fan themselves in
turns and starts walking along the wing. the heat.
CAPRONI
CAPRONI Airplanes are beautiful dreams. Engineers Jiro stands and takes his yellow suitcase
She’s beautiful, no? turn dreams into reality. down from the overhead rack. He calls to a
young kimono-clad woman standing in the
YOUNG JIRO Jiro cries out joyfully in his sleep. aisle as he squeezes past the aisle seat.
Yes. Incredible!
YOUNG JIRO JIRO
The two walk along the wing. Jiro seems lost Yes! Excuse me, miss. Take my seat.
in thought.
Caproni rises into the starry sky. He waves to JIRO
CAPRONI Jiro. (to passenger)
She'll carry a hundred people across the Pardon me.
Atlantic. Both ways! CAPRONI (to woman in aisle)
Arrivederci. We'll meet again. Please. | insist.
YOUNG JIRO
Mr. Caproni, may | ask you a question? Jiro wakes on the floor next to his desk. His The woman bows and takes Jiro’s seat.
mother touches his shoulder.
Caproni stops and turns to Jiro. He pushes toward the end of the crowded car.
JIRO’S MOTHER (0.S.)
YOUNG JIRO Jiro... Jiro... He steps out onto the platform at the end of
| can’t be a pilot because of my eyesight. the car, puts his suitcase down and holds his
JIRO’S MOTHER hat against the wind. The wind swirls around
Caproni peers intently at Jiro. Jiro, you were talking in your sleep. his legs. He sits on the steps.
YOUNG JIRO He sits up halfway and blinks. The scenery rolls by. He opens a book and
If I’m not a pilot, can | not design planes? starts to read, holding the pages to keep the
JIRO’S MOTHER wind from turning them.
CAPRONI And you had a big smile on your face.
(grinning) Must have been a good dream. The second-class car is the next car over.
Japanese boy, I’ve been around planes all my Two women come out onto the platform on
life. Do you know how many I’ve flown? None! YOUNG JIRO their side—NAHOKO, a 13-year-old wearing
Zero! Mother, I’m going to be an aeronautical Western clothes and a cloche hat, and KINU,
engineer. a young woman in a kimono, a servant in
OUT Nahoko’s family.
JIRO’S MOTHER
Jiro is thunderstruck. That does sound like a good dream.
238
NAHOKO
Le vent se leve! Ha ha!
The wind rustles her skirt and hat.
KINU
(leans forward with concern)
Miss, you'll lose your hat.
NAHOKO
| got it.
Jiro glances at Nahoko and returns to his

book. There is a gust of wind and he reaches
for his hat, but it blows off before he can grab
it. Nahoko leans out and grabs it in midair.
She teeters and claps the boater on top of her Naoko: “Be brave, Kinu.” Jiro: “It’s broken. She won’t be able to walk.”
own hat.
him and he beams. The city lies devastated and silent. A baby
Nahoko teeters at the edge of the platform. cries. A dog barks.
Jiro jumps up. Kinu tries to pull her back. Jiro sits on the steps again.
Jiro steps around the gap between the cars People pour out of the stopped train and run
onto the steps in front of Nahoko. JIRO in all directions. They heave luggage out the
Le vent se leve. Il faut tenter de vivre. The windows.
JIRO wind is rising. We must try to live.
Hold on! REEL 2
The train emerges onto the Kanto plain. Even
KINU toward the center of the city, there is still lots Passengers pour out of the train. Jiro stands
Miss! of forest and farmland. The sky is blue, but outside on the embankment. He stares dazed
clouds are gathering. at the destruction. The train whistle blows.
Nahoko is sandwiched between Kinu and Jiro.
The Great Kanto Earthquake. Saturday, PASSENGER A
JIRO September 1, 1923, 11:58 a.m. Darkness, Get away! The boiler’s going to blow!
Are you all right? the interior of the earth. The earth splits
open. Red light shines from the fissures. People push past Jiro, trying to get away from
NAHOKO the locomotive. He is momentarily stunned.
(looks up at him, smiling) High over Tokyo. The shock wave spreads in
Yes! a circle outward from the offshore epicenter He turns and sees Nahoko at the foot of the
and ripples across the capital. steps. She is leaning toward Kinu, who is
JIRO kneeling on the ground, wincing in pain.
(smiles) The shock rips through Tokyo's old tiled-roof
Nice catch! neighborhoods, tossing the buildings about. Jiro runs to them. He puts his suitcase down
(puts his hat on) and squats next to Kinu.
What were you saying? The quake lifts the train and sends it
speeding downhill along the tracks. The JIRO
NAHOKO locomotive brakes. The wheels throw sparks. What’s wrong?
(looks at Jiro, starry-eyed)
Le vent se leve. Chaos inside the third-class compartment as NAHOKO
the train is tossed about. Her leg.
NAHOKO (0.S.)
It’s a French poem. Jiro clutches the rail to keep from being JIRO
thrown off the steps of the platform. Houses Let me see.
JIRO along the track collapse.
(after a pause) Jiro palpates Kinu’s ankle.
ll faut tenter de vivre. JIRO
Earthquake. KINU
JIRO (0.S.) (groans)
| know it well. Scenes of destruction are visible from the It hurts...
train. The quake continues.
Jiro and Kinu bow to each other. Nahoko NAHOKO
turns and goes back into the compartment. The train stops. Steam hisses from its brakes. (to Kinu)
Kinu follows, bowing to Jiro as she backs The tremors die away. Be brave, Kinu.
through the door. He sees Nahoko waving to
239
JIRO NAHOKO Fire has broken out on the east side of the
It’s broken. She won't be able to walk. Fire. city. Thick smoke, sparks and burning debris
rise into the air. It looks like a scene from hell.
KINU JIRO A flight of Caproni’s bombers flies high above
Miss, the boiler! Please save yourself! Go GO! Let’s go. the smoke.
Jiro puts his shoulder under Kinu’s right arm Jiro lifts Kinu onto his back and goes back Jiro looks up, startled.
and pulls her to her feet. She groans in pain. up the embankment. Nahoko picks up his
suitcase and hat. He realizes the bombers are airborne debris
JIRO from the fire.
That’s nonsense. With the fire in plain sight, the crowd is
panicking. Nahoko follows Jiro. He starts He lowers his gaze, stops and adjusts his hold
His hat falls off as he hoists Kinu onto his walking along the tracks toward Ueno with on Kinu, and starts walking again.
back. hundreds of other people.
JIRO
JIRO Nahoko catches up with Jiro. Better hurry.
Nothing’s going to explode.
JIRO Nahoko follows determinedly, lugging the
He carries her a few yards down the What about your luggage? suitcase.
embankment where there is more open space.
Nahoko follows with his suitcase and hat. He NAHOKO They reach a crossing over the tracks,
puts Kinu down and turns to Nahoko. It’s not important. thronged with crowds. An overloaded two-
wheeled cart tilts with one wheel broken.
JIRO Throngs of people climb onto the tracks.
We need to brace her leg. People carry belongings saved from their People stream up the hill above Uguisudani
homes. People are walking and running in station, seeking refuge in the shrine at the
She gives him the suitcase. Jiro opens the both directions. top.
case and pulls out a slide rule.
Houses at the bottom of the embankment are The crowd streams up the hill. Jiro, Nahoko
He takes Kinu’s leg in both hands. on fire. People swarm in the streets in panic. and Kinu climb with them.
JIRO Nahoko plods along the tracks with Jiro’s The grounds of the shrine on the hilltop.
This is going to hurt a little, Kinu. Relax... suitcase. They look down on the city. The crowd keeps
growing.
He moves the ankle back into place. Jiro gasps with exertion. Kinu is heavy.
An aftershock, followed by another and
KINU JIRO another. The crowd is terrified.
(groans with pain) (gasping for breath)
A shrine quakes violently. A dragon lantern
Jiro splints her ankle with the slide rule, People stream in both directions along the topples. The crowd cries out in fear.
binding it with a cloth. tracks.
Jiro threads his way through the crowd to
JIRO Jiro trips over a railroad tie and falls to his Nahoko and Kinu. He's carrying a soaking wet
She can’t walk on this. knees. He puts a hand on the ground and shirt. The aftershocks have died away.
(to Nahoko) steadies Kinu’s injured leg with the other.
Where do you live? Kinu looks up at Jiro.
KINU
NAHOKO (cries in pain) JIRO
In Ueno. Here. My mother made me this shirt.
Nahoko rushes to their side. Jiro gets back to You must be thirsty.
JIRO his feet. (beat)
Ill get you there. Don’t worry. It’s clean.
KINU
An aftershock hits. I’m so sorry. Kinu opens her mouth and Jiro wrings water
into it.
Gasps of fear from the crowd on the JIRO
embankment. I’m sorry. Are you all right? JIRO
The “well” is almost dry.
The wind picks up and stirs the grass. From NAHOKO (he looks at Nahoko)
far off, clouds of black smoke rise. Hang on, Kinu! What about you, Nahoko?
They turn to look at the smoke. Cries of Jiro looks toward the fires. NAHOKO
consternation from the crowd. Please!
240
She wipes her face with the shirt.
She turns to Kinu and wipes her face. Jiro

sits on the ground.
JIRO
The fire hasn’t reached Ueno. I’m heading for
the university, so | can take you there.
NAHOKO
Yes. |’ll bring someone from the house.
JIRO
Then we should go.
JIRO
(pushes his suitcase toward Kinu) Caproni: “What do you think, Japanese boy? Is the wind still rising?”
Kinu, look after my suitcase?
Jiro plunges into the crowd. He turns, waves A shaft of light falls through the smoke. The
KINU to Kinu, and disappears. treetops dance in the wind. A large, burning
| will. object whirls through the sky.
OVERSEER
He gets to his feet. That’s quite a guy. Who was he, Kinu? Jiro and Honjo look up at the burning debris.
Honjo has a cigarette ready. Jiro lights it for
JIRO Jiro reaches the campus of Tokyo Imperial him.
I'll bring someone to help you home. Okay? University. People run about in panic. The
wind is blowing hard. HONJO
KINU A flying door. Now I’ve seen it all.
Okay. Leaking fire hoses snake across the They'll never stop the fire now. Tokyo’s
flagstones. Jiro gapes in surprise. finished.
JIRO (0.S.) (ALT)
Stay strong. The campus is in chaos. The library is ablaze. A flying door. Don’t see that every day.
Trees sway in the wind. They’ll never stop the fire now. Tokyo’s
KINU finished.
(looks up worshipfully) Sparks and scraps of burning debris swirl
| will. through the air. Students work to salvage the A postcard flutters down at Jiro’s feet.
library’s collection. Books are piled under the
The smoke from the fires rises in a towering trees. One of the students, Kiro HONJO, sees He picks up the postcard. It shows Caproni
cloud. The crowd looks down from the hill on his friend Jiro. and his latest aircraft—the one Jiro saw in his
a sea of fire. dream, the Ca.60.
HONJO
Jiro and Nahoko make their way down the hill Well, if it isn’t Jiro. You picked a lovely day to Jiro gazes at the card while Honjo smokes.
and through the streets, struggling to push come back. The wind is getting stronger.
through the crowds. They enter a quieter
neighborhood. The streets are empty. As they JIRO The postcard. The look on Caproni’s face is
come within sight of Nahoko’s house, she How bad is it, Honjo? supremely confident. ;
runs to the gate. Her parents and servants
come running out. Jiro stops a few yards short Honjo sits in front of the bdoks. He picks up JIRO
to catch his breath. Nahoko wants to go back a book at his feet and tosses it casually onto (smiles)
to Jiro, but her parents and servants stop her the pile. It’s as beautiful as it was in the dream. |
and take her into the house. SERVANT and can’t believe he really built it.
OVERSEER rush toward Jiro. The three run HONJO
back to where Kinu is waiting. Overseer lifts Bad enough. The whole east side is burning. Lake Maggiore, 1923. The test flight of the
Kinu onto his back. Ca.60. Caproni stands in a rowboat with a
HONJO cameraman and a camera on a tripod. The
SERVANT (glances at the books) pilot looks at Caproni from the open cockpit
Thank you very much. We grabbed everything we could carry out of and raises his hand. The plane slowly moves
the library. forward and lifts off. Caproni watches intently.
JIRO (beat) Suddenly the giant wing arrays collapse,
| better go. Got a smoke? folding upward in a V-shape. The plane falls
back onto the water.
SERVANT
Wait but... what’s your name?
241
Caproni stares at the wreck, speechless. The from a chimney. People burn incense for HONJO
camera is rolling. Suddenly he rips the film victims of the earthquake and fire. Sailboats Really? Mackerel again?
magazine out. and tugboats move up and down the river.
Tokyo Imperial University aeronautics students JIRO
CAPRONI transport books and furniture on carts. It’s always good.
Stop! Stop! STOP!
(ALT) A white expanse of paper. Jiro’s hand draws HONJO
Cut! Cut! CUT! a perfect parabola. His pencil scribbles Always. Always the same lunch. Always the
formulas on the paper. same lectures.
He heaves the camera into the lake.
Night. Jiro is in his room at his desk, KATAYAMA
Tokyo Imperial University. The wind is studying. Kimi, an egg please.
howling. Flaming debris are everywhere.
Day. The university campus. Only the gate KIMI
Honjo looks up at the sky and yells. survived the fire. A sign reads: TOKYO IMPERIAL Coming up.
UNIVERSITY/FACULTY OF ENGINEERING/SCHOOL OF
HONJO AERONAUTICS. Honjo talks as he shovels food into his mouth.
The wind’s picking up! Hurry! Hurry!
(ALT) Jiro’s classroom, a temporary wooden HONJO
Damn wind’s picking up! Hurry! Hurry! building. Class has just ended for lunch. Meanwhile, other countries are building metal
Jiro opens his desktop and puts away his planes. We’re a/ways ten years behind.
He stamps on burning debris at his feet. notebook.
Jiro carefully pulls a bone from his mouth. He
Caproni stands in the boat. He turns toward HONJO stares at it intently.
Jiro. His arms are festooned with film from Hey Jiro. Let’s eat.
the camera. HONJO (0.S.)
JIRO And you're still stuck on mackerel.
CAPRONI (stands)
What do you think, Japanese boy? Is the wind Yeah. He gives Jiro a puzzled look.
still rising?
Honjo and Jiro emerge from the back gate of HONJO
Jiro works desperately to snuff out the flaming the campus. What?
cinders falling on the books.
HONJO Jiro’s hand, holding the chopsticks and fish
JIRO Even the new buildings are old-fashioned. bone.
Yes! A big wind!
(ALT) They walk down the street. Many houses are JIRO (0.S.)
Yes! It’s a gale! being rebuilt. A biplane flies slowly through Beautiful, isn’t it?
the sky.
CAPRONI The fish bone, close up.
Then you must live. Le vent se leve. JIRO
But the streets are a little wider. JIRO (0.S.)
Night. The university buildings in flames. Look at that wonderful curve.
People run in panic, silhouetted by the fire. HONJO
(cynically) HONJO
CAPRONI (0.S.) So? And even the airplanes are old. Only you would get a thrill from fish bones.
Il faut tenter de vivre.
A cheap eatery. Honjo parts the curtain and CUSTOMER
Night. The flames are far away now. People opens the door. KIMI, the waitress, greets (getting up from seat - puts payment on the
walk dazed through the smoking ruins. them cheerfully. table)
Kimi, we’ll leave this here.
Sunrise, two days later. Jiro washes his face KIMI
at a faucet in the ruins. Welcome! KIMI
Okay!
He puts his glasses on. His clothes are dirty Jiro follows Honjo and closes the door.
and tattered. The sound of aircraft engines. HONJO
He looks up at the sky. Jiro picks up a piece of mackerel with his Come on, finish up. | need coffee.
chopsticks.
An observation plane flies slowly overhead. In the classroom, Jiro traces the curve of the
The eatery is crowded with customers. fish bone on graph paper.
The Sumida River. On the bank, barracks and KATAYAMA, another student, sits next to
building foundations are under construction, Honjo, who is across from Jiro. Jiro skillfully He sits in the classroom, working his slide
with Mt. Fuji in the distance. Smoke rises plucks a bone from his mackerel. rule and making notes.
242
Honjo and Katayama near the heater. An
afternoon class has been cancelled.
KATAYAMA
What’s Jiro working so hard on?
HONJO
(flipping through a book)
Fish bones.
The school janitor appears at the door with a

package. Katayama hides his cigarette. There
is a No Smoking sign on the classroom wall.
JANITOR
Is Mr. Horikoshi back from Iunch?
Kayo: “You never tried to see her again?” Jiro: “I did. After the fires were out...”
HONJO
Jiro! Jiro jumps up, careens around the desks and Jiro opens the door to his room. A young
out the door. woman in a kimono sits at the window looking
JIRO out.
(staring at his notes) KATAYAMA
Honjo, listen to this! The NACA has a (leaning out the door) She turns to him. It’s Kayo, now 15 and
standard curve just like this fish bone. Maybe Jiro! looking upset.
the Americans eat mackerel, too?
HONJO JIRO (0.S.)
HONJO (0.S.) Let him go. (softly)
Jiro, you got a visitor. Hello?
An early winter sky. Jiro dashes out of the
JIRO gate. He looks left and right. The street is KAYO
(looks up) deserted. He stands there dazed. Finally. Where were you?
Me?
Jiro walks along a canal, deep in thought. The Jiro’s face shows his surprise. Once again,
JANITOR late afternoon sun is golden. he’s been so engrossed in his studies that
(holds out the package) he’s forgotten his sister’s visit.
A young lady came by and brought this A district of wooden buildings, hastily built
package for you, Mr. Horikoshi. in the wake of the earthquake. Jiro enters his JIRO
(beat) boardinghouse and closes the door. Kayo... I’m sorry.
You were out so she left it with me.
The boardinghouse entryway. Jiro puts his JIRO

JIRO shoes away. | completely forgot.
(mystified)
| see. Thank you very much. MAID KAYO
Oh, Mr. Horikoshi. I’m not surprised!
He takes the package. The janitor leaves.
JIRO Jiro closes the door, unloads his schoolbag
KATAYAMA Yes, ma’am? and takes off his muffler, while Kayo closes
A present from your girlfriend, Jiro? the window. They sit around a small, low
MAID table in the middle of the room.
HONJO Your guest is waiting upstairs.
(to Katayama) (Jiro looks puzzled) JIRO
Can it, freshman. And gimme a smoke. It’s a young lady. Where’s Mother?
Jiro unwraps the package and finds his shirt JIRO KAYO
clean and pressed, the slide rule wrapped in (flustered - glances up the stairs) At Uncle’s.
paper, and an envelope. Oh. Right.
(ALT) JIRO
Jiro unwraps the slide rule. He looks at the Young lady? Is she staying there?
envelope with surprise, then out the window.
He climbs the stairs as the maid looks on. KAYO
He has a vision of Kinu walking out the front Just for a night.
gate. She vanishes.
243
JIRO Jiro and Kayo sit outside under an awning. Jiro finishes washing his face in the
Kayo, you’ve gotten so tall. The wind picks up. passageway sink and puts his jacket on.
And very pretty, too.
JIRO The morning sun shines through the clouds
KAYO Are you cold, Kayo? as the train rolls along. Rice paddies reflect
You’re so insensitive! I’m still mad at you the sunlight. Houses sit like islands in the
because you never come home. KAYO expanse of paddy water.
No, I’m fine. | didn’t think Tokyo would
Outside the boardinghouse. Golden light recover so quickly. Jiro raises the window and looks out. The
reflected in the windows as the sun sets. The train whistle blows a warning. Men on the
front door opens. Kayo comes out wearing A bridge passes above them. Boats are tied tracks scatter to either side as the train
a wrap, with Jiro behind her. She looks at up along the bank. Cars and buses move speeds by.
the sky. along the streets.
The men scatter down the embankment. Jiro
KAYO The steamer’s lights come on. and the men look at each other as the train
Oh, the sun’s already down. I’m going to be speeds past.
late. KAYO
Jiro, can | stay with you? OUT
JIRO Father won't let me live here by myself.
I'll tell them it’s my fault. Don’t worry. We’ II Outside Nagoya Station. Crowds of people
take the penny steamer. The shore is lined with restaurants. The light flow in and out.
from their windows shines off the dark river.
Jiro and Kayo walk along the canal. There are A crowded train platform. Jiro debarks from
few people in the street. JIRO (0.S.) the train carrying a large wicker trunk on his
But | might be in Nagoya by the time you shoulder and his suitcase. He walks along the
KAYO come. platform.
She must really like you.
KAYO (0.S.) Outside the station, Honjo sees Jiro and
JIRO With an airplane company? waves.
| don’t know. It’s been two years.
JIRO (0.S.) HONJO
KAYO | hope so. Jiro!
You never tried to see her again?
KAYO JIRO (0.S.)
JIRO Men have it so good. Why can’t | live in Tokyo Hey, Honjo!
| did. After the fires were out. and go to medical school?
HONJO
Flashback. Jiro runs toward the gate of JIRO Heavy?
Nahoko’s house. You should. | think you’d make a great doctor.
JIRO
The whole side of the street where the house KAYO Yeah.
once stood is burned out. The houses on the (happily)
opposite side are undamaged. | think so too. HONJO
Glad you made it.
Jiro and Kayo walk along the canal. The steamer approaches the dock at Asakusa.
JIRO
JIRO JIRO (0.S.) Me too.
The fire had burned down her block, then When I’m home for New Year’s I’ll talk to
stopped. father about it. HONJO
We're just getting started, pal.
KAYO KAYO (0.S.)
That’s terrible. Oh, thank you, big brother! JIRO
We certainly are.
JIRO Passengers come out on deck.
(points to the steamer) ALT/:
Let's catch this one. The steamer draws close to the dock. People
wait to board. HONJO
The steamer dock. Jiro and Kayo board. Excited to get started, pal?
Lights reflect off the water of the canal. Morning. A sleeper berth on a train. Jiro
wakes. He parts the curtain by his pillow. JIRO
The steamer moves down the canal onto a Dawn. The sky is blue-white. | certainly am.
river lined with single-story wooden houses.
The train crosses a river on an iron bridge.
244
Honjo takes Jiro’s trunk and they walk on.
Honjo gets in a taxi. The driver tosses Jiro’s

luggage in. Jiro also gets in.
The taxi drives through the city. Traffic is

light.
The two newly minted engineers chat in the

back of the cab.
HONJO
They were probably heading for the city,
looking for work.
JIRO
There were dozens of them. Jiro: “| was told to come anytime in April.” Kurokawa: “Then you should've been here in March!”
HONJO People move busily outside the office wing. JIRO

And they’ll be hundreds more. Jiro asks a man for directions to his new Yes, Sir.
workplace.
The taxi brakes suddenly as a throng of KUROKAWA
people runs across the road toward a bank. Jiro walks down a corridor behind his new | need the plans in the shop as soon as
The crowd brings traffic to a halt. boss, KUROKAWA. possible. Do what you have to do.
Jiro and Honjo watch the crowd. OUT JIRO (0.S.)

Kurokawa hurries down the bustling corridor Yes, sir!
CAB DRIVER with Jiro in tow. He’s steamed.
Looks like we lost another bank. Kamehachi, Jiro notices a Hanriot biplane being serviced
this time. KUROKAWA outside.
Do you know the pressure we’re under? We
The bank is shuttered. People press against needed you a month ago. Kurokawa opens the door to the design room.
the door, mill around and pound on the Jiro is still entranced by the biplane.
windows. Guards try to calm the crowd. JIRO
(unruffled) KUROKAWA
Honjo and Jiro watch from the cab. | was told to come anytime in April. (impatient)
Here!
JIRO KUROKAWA
So many? Then you should’ve been here in March! Kurokawa strides through the door. Jiro turns
and hurries after him.
HONJO Young women wearing white smocks (blueprint
They're doomed. tracers) smile at Jiro as he passes. OUT
CAB DRIVER (0.S.) JIRO (0.S.) Jiro peers around at his new workplace.
There were rumors. (to Kurokawa)
Yes, sir. KUROKAWA
HONJO (0.C.) (gathering up some documents)
The economy’s in the tank. And | hate Jiro smiles and nods to the girls. Let's get your specs. Follow me!
to break it to you, Jiro, but so is our new
employer. KUROKAWA The design section looks like an animation
I've got a very important assignment for you. studio. A line of men face drafting tables.
An area of reclaimed land fronting Ise Bay. Kurokawa walks rapidly down the line
People move along a road on foot and by JIRO followed by Jiro.
bicycle. In the distance are the wooden Yes, Sir.
buildings of Jiro’s new employer—Mitsubishi A new-style drafting table and chair.
Internal Combustion Engine Co. Motorized The men cross from one wing to another. Kurokawa spreads the documents on the
sailing vessels ply the shallow waters of the Kurokawa is trotting. Jiro follows, calm as ever. table. Jiro joins him.
bay.
KUROKAWA KUROKAWA
Jiro walks along the potholed road in the It’s the design for the wing strut fitting. And This is your desk. It’s imported. No one likes
morning sun. Workers on bicycles pass him. it’s already late! it. Maybe you will.
245
JIRO Against a background of clear blue sky, Jiro HONJO
Yes, sir. topples backward with shock and surprise. He (to PLANT FOREMAN)
hears Honjo’s voice and finds himself back in Thanks for making time on your break.
KUROKAWA the drafting room.
Work goes here. PLANT FOREMAN
(points to a row of pegs on the wall) HONJO (0.S.) Not at all. You young engineers should visit
Hat goes there. Jiro. Jiro! here more often.
(on)
JIRO Let’s eat. Jiro climbs the ladder and peers into the
Yes, Sir. exposed structural members where the strut
JIRO joins the wing.
Jiro hangs his hat. As he sits down, Kurokawa (dazed)
yells to the rest of the room. Oh. JIRO
(to Honjo)
KUROKAWA The men walk toward the canteen. Plant Honjo, the strut’s already installed.
Listen up! There’s a new engineer on the workers in overalls are lined up outside.
Falcon project. Others are coming out. HONJO
(smiles)
Jiro jumps to his feet and stands beside JIRO | knew it. Kurokawa’s just hazing you. Is his
Kurokawa. Can we see the assembly floor? fitting better than yours?
The engineers react in various ways. Some HONJO PLANT FOREMAN

slowly look up from their work. Some are Can we maybe have lunch first? (grins)
too engrossed in what they are doing. Some Mr. Kurokawa’s always hard on new
smile. One coolly checks him out. Honjo and Jiro wait in line in the canteen to employees.
pick up a bowl of noodles.
KUROKAWA JIRO
It's that “genius” we’ve been hearing all HONJO Honjo, come up here and take a look.
about. Maybe Kurokawa has it out for you. Something's not right.
Seems harsh to have you design that strut on
KUROKAWA your first day. Honjo climbs the ladder as the foreman
(to Jiro) (to server behind counter) steadies it. He grabs hold of Jiro’s jacket to
Name, genius? Two. keep his balance. The two men peer at the
wing, balanced precariously atop the ladder.
JIRO ALT/:
(confident) JIRO
Jiro Horikoshi. Very happy to be here. HONJO What do you think?
Maybe Kurokawa simply hates you. Seems
KUROKAWA harsh to have you design that strut on your HONJO
(walking away) first day. (peering at the bracket)
Get to work. (to server behind counter) Looks solid to me.
Two.
JIRO JIRO
Yes, Sir. (points)
Oh this isn’t good. It’s just like my design.
Honjo’s desk is opposite Jiro’s. Honjo looks The prototype assembly hangar. The workers
up, slide rule in hand, and grins. play baseball outside during the lunch break. HONJO
(poker-faced)
Jiro goes to work on the plans. He walks HONJO Then it must be bad.
past Kurokawa’s drafting table to a shelf (to a worker at the door)
of binders, pulls out a volume and begins Excuse me, could we ask a favor? ALT/:
to study it. Kurokawa watches him like a
hawk. Jiro returns to his drafting table and Inside the hangar. The prototype Falcon JIRO
begins working on the plans, sketching and fighter sits in the dim light. The skin is not (points)
calculating. fully on. A few Duralumin panels are in place. It’s this joint. | think the stress will be too
Jiro runs toward it. much.
In his mind’s eye, he sees the Falcon
prototype on its test flight. The wing is JIRO HONJO
transparent, its structure exposed. The anchor Wow, it’s really coming along! You have a better idea, right?
bracket begins to shake from the stress on
the wing. Suddenly the plane breaks up and He brings a stepladder under the wing.
plunges earthward.
Workers back from their break approach the
aircraft.
246
PLANT WORKER
Foreman, lunch is over. What's going on?
PLANT FOREMAN
Quiet. They’re working.
Honjo and Jiro outside, sprinting back to the

design room.
JIRO
| love it! Airplanes are fascinating, aren’t
they?
HONJO
Yeah, yeah. But we’re late!
REEL 3 Kurokawa clicking the stopwatch in his hand.
Jiro’s pencil moves quickly, drawing a An animation of the design for the leaf spring. KUROKAWA (0.S.)
complicated new design for the anchor Turn your work in soon as you’re done!
bracket. JIRO (0.S.)
This wire expands and contracts, absorbing JIRO (0.S.)
HATTORI, head of the company’s design the forces that act on the wing. | have it Yes, Sir.
division, quietly comes and stands next to running through the strut and anchoring in
Jiro. the fuselage. Kurokawa stalks off with Hattori.
HATTORI KUROKAWA Dusk. The ceiling lights are on in the design

(leans down) (irritated) room. Honjo is getting ready to leave. Jiro is
Young man? But we'd have to entirely redesign the length still working on his calculations.
of the wing!
Jiro finally looks up. Kurokawa is there too. HONJO
For a moment nothing registers. Jiro hardly seems to notice Kurokawa’s What a day. I’m heading out.
irritation. Hattori looks intrigued.
KUROKAWA JIRO
Jiro, this is Mr. Hattori. Our boss. JIRO Me too.
(ALT) You’re right. I’ll run those calculations
Your boss. tonight, sir. HONJO
Did you already finish Kurokawa’s homework?
Jiro jolts up, buttoning his jacket. KUROKAWA
You’re wasting your time. Where’s the JIRO
HATTORI assignment | gave you this morning? Just about.
(peers at the drawing)
Is this his first assignment? Jiro retrieves a roll of paper and spreads it on The last rays of light over Ise Bay. Jiro and
the desk. Honjo walk home. A herd of oxen stare at
KUROKAWA them from behind a fence next to the road.
Strut fitting for the Falcon Project, sir. JIRO
Right here, sir. | finished it. JIRO
HATTORI What are the oxen for?
Mmm. Not what | expected. Kurokawa stares at the drawing. He holds it
up and studies it. HONJO
KUROKAWA They haul the prototypes to the field.
(looks closer) HATTORI
What?! Well done. HONJO
(beat) It takes them two days to drag it out there.
Jiro jumps up and stands at attention. What do you think, Kurokawa? (beat)
That’s how backwards we are.
HATTORI KUROKAWA
What am | looking at, young man? It’s... perfect. JIRO
(ALT) Oh, | don’t know. | like them.
JIRO (holding back)
Sir, this steel leaf spring will ease the stress It’s... good. A team of oxen pull the Falcon prototype
from the wing. slowly toward the field.
Honjo, sitting opposite, grins at Jiro.
247
The grass-covered Mitsubishi airstrip. A white JIRO The Falcon dives. In the cockpit, the test
marker cloth extends across the width of the Thirteen point three seconds. One hundred pilot struggles against the G forces. One wing
runway. A knot of Army representatives in forty-six knots. shudders and gives way.
khaki uniforms stands at the edge of the strip.
KUROKAWA A view into the interior of the wing. Its
Hattori, Kurokawa, and Jiro look up into the Blast! structural members shudder from stress.
sky tensely from the end of the strip.
KUROKAWA (0.S.) The wings tear away in midair. The fuselage
Kurokawa and Jiro hold stopwatches. Jiro has We need more horsepower! corkscrews through the air and down. The
a clipboard. pilot is thrown free. Debris rains down on the
Jiro’s eyes shine with excitement. field. The fuselage plunges into the ground
The Falcon emerges through a gap in the just off the airstrip. The pilot’s parachute
clouds. It banks and descends, wings flashing KUROKAWA (0.S.) opens. (This is the first time that a parachute
in the sun. She deserves better! has been used in Japan—Jiro is impressed
that it works.)
A man with a white flag stands ready as the HATTORI (0.S.)
Falcon drops low and begins a high-speed run Hey! JIRO
over the strip. His chute!
Kurokawa hurries over to Hattori and a group
KUROKAWA of soldiers. HATTORI
Here she comes! Go get him!
HATTORI
Kurokawa tracks the plane with binoculars. Mister Kurokawa! Kurokawa dashes toward the parachute. Jiro
runs after him, trailed by several others. The
KUROKAWA KUROKAWA Army reps look on.
Almost... HERE! Yes, Sir.
Kurokawa combs through the wreckage in the
The plane’s approach, seen through HATTORI rain. Jiro quietly joins him.
binoculars. A word with our clients.
JIRO
KUROKAWA KUROKAWA Mr. Kurokawa, let’s investigate what happened
Almost... THERE! Gentlemen? when the weather clears. It’ll be easier.
The plane nears the marker cloth. The SOLDIER A KUROKAWA

flagman drops his white flag. Kurokawa and Well done! How’s the pilot?
Jiro hit the plungers on their stopwatches.
SOLDIER B JIRO
KUROKAWA Your Falcon is a helluva plane. He’s okay.
Mark!
SOLDIER C KUROKAWA
Kurokawa watches the plane through | bet Mitsubishi couldn’t do it. Now I’m (his back to Jiro, still combing the wreckage)
binoculars, then glances down to see that buying drinks tonight. That’s good.
he hit both buttons on his stopwatch. The
stopwatch hand is just twitching back and Jiro goes to retrieve his hat. JIRO
forth. Let’s go, Mr. Kurokawa. We'll regroup for
SOLDIERS (0.S.) Falcon 2.
KUROKAWA (laugh)
What!? Kurokawa turns to Jiro and eyeballs him.
KUROKAWA (0.S.)
KUROKAWA (laugh) KUROKAWA
Damn it! Jiro, be straight with me. Do you think the
Jiro walks along the field, watching for the strut fitting failed?
The plane flies low over the strip toward Jiro plane. It appears high up, between breaks in
and Kurokawa. They duck as it passes right the clouds. Suddenly the plane rolls over and JIRO
beside them. Jiro’s hat is blown off. The dives. Everyone looks up. The plane plunges (after a pause)
plane climbs sharply. toward the ground. No. | think the problem is much deeper and
more complicated than we thought.
Jiro looks at his stopwatch. KUROKAWA
Power dive. He’s trying to break two hundred. JIRO
KUROKAWA | will never forget what | saw today.
Tell me you got it! It’s like an endless road opened up before my
eyes. We can fix that strut, Mr. Kurokawa.
248
KUROKAWA
There won’t be a Falcon 2. The Army has
decided to go with a competing design.
KUROKAWA (0.S.)
Today was our last shot to change their
minds.
KUROKAWA
(positive spin)
So we're shifting course. We're going to
build a heavy bomber... with help from the
Germans.
Kurokawa tosses a scrap of wreckage on the

ground.
Large, new Soviet Air Force formation.
KUROKAWA
You are going to Germany to study Dr. Jiro looks at the little girl. Their eyes meet. The girl eyes him suspiciously. The little boy
Junkers’ designs. | approved it. She looks away. looks at his sister, then longingly at the cake
and Jiro.
He walks away. After a pause, Jiro follows. Jiro looks at her with pity and concern. The
shopkeeper passes him the sponge cake JIRO
Night. A streetcar moves through a dimly lit wrapped in newspaper. Go ahead, take it.
neighborhood.
SHOPKEEPER BIG SISTER
Jiro rides the streetcar home. Homeless men Here you go. (to her brother)
huddle under the passing street lamps. Jiro Come on!
gets up and heads for the door. JIRO The girl runs off, pulling her brother by the
(hands over some coins) hand.
The streetcar brakes to a stop. A laborer gets Who looks out for them?
off, then Jiro. The conductor rings the bell The kids run down the dark street and
and the streetcar moves off into the dark SHOPKEEPER disappear into an alley.
neighborhood. Jiro crosses the street. Their parents work late. They wait there every
night. | feel bad closing the place up. Jiro stands alone under the street lamp.
He passes a row of cheap drinking stalls filled
with homeless laborers. JIRO Light comes from a few shacks under an iron
| see. Well, thanks. bridge as a train crosses slowly.
A lonely street. One shop is still open. Under
a nearby street lamp, a girl stands with a SHOPKEEPER Jiro and Honjo’s comfortable rooming house.
baby on her back while her younger brother See you tomorrow.
squats on the ground playing. Jiro peeks into The door to Jiro’s room opens. Honjo peeks in.
the shop. Jiro walks past the children, stops, and goes
back to them. HONJO
JIRO Jiro?
Hello? Still open? The children react with apprehension. The
little boy clutches his sister’s sleeve. He enters without waiting and shuts the door.
SHOPKEEPER (0.S.)
Ah, welcome back. JIRO Jiro lies on his bed, eyes closed.
Hey, are you hungry?
The shop sells baked goods: bread, cake, | have two slices of sponge cake here. HONJO
sweets. Wake up! | heard they axed the Falcon
JIRO Project. | need details.
SHOPKEEPER You can have them. | just bought them.
Your usual? JIRO
The kids stare at the package. (coming to)
JIRO Oh... Yeah.
Yes, but two slices this time. Jiro opens the wrapping and shows them the
cake.
SHOPKEEPER
Coming up. JIRO
Really! See?
249
HONJO HONJO JIRO (0.S.)
(opens the package on the table and takes (stands, grinning) The G.38. Is this what we’re buying?
out a piece of cake) I’m going to Tokyo tomorrow. HONJO (0.S.)
Sponge cake again? How do you live like this? Going to get married. Yep. To convert to a bomber.
(ALT)
Sponge cake again? How do you stay alive? JIRO The visitors examine the aircraft’s enormous
Married? undercarriage.
Jiro has just finished telling Honjo about the
children. Honjo munches sponge cake while HONJO JIRO (0.S.)
Jiro makes tea. To work hard at the office you need a family Who's the Army planning to bomb with this?
at home. More irony for you. Good night.
HONJO HONJO (0.S.)
What did you expect? Did you think she was Honjo goes out and shuts the door. America, probably. Not that they could.
going to smile and say thank you, sir?
Jiro sits alone by the open window, smoking HONJO
Jiro shakes his head. pensively. It’s quite something.
JIRO A locomotive crosses the forested plain of JIRO

Of course not! Siberia. [The year is 1929.] It’s amazing.
(pauses)
Well, maybe | did. An onion-domed Orthodox church passes by JIRO
(ALT) on the other side of the river. (looking up at the plane)
| only... wanted them to eat something. Look. Passengers sit in the wings. Be a
A group of Japanese in overcoats and scarves. shame to put bombs there.
HONJO Jiro and Honjo are with them.
If you want a mouth to feed there are plenty HONJO (0.S.)
of other hungry kids in this neighborhood. The group has arrived in Moscow on the That’s the job, pal, This is our chance to get
day of a military parade. They watch as a their all-metal technology.
Honjo sips his tea, then continues: formation of Soviet aircraft flies overhead.
The sky is leaden with clouds. Jiro and Honjo notice an argument in progress
HONJO at the door to the airplane. The delegation’s
And their parents are probably hungrier. The Junkers factory in Dessau. The sky is interpreter is trying to explain something to
It’s shameful, and | bet it gets worse before it gray. Leaves are falling from the trees. The the Junkers rep.
gets better. Mitsubishi delegation walks past the building.
Honjo watches the argument, but Jiro’s gaze
JIRO The delegation walks across the grass-covered is fixed on something else, out of frame to the
| don’t understand why this country is so poor. airstrip, preceded and followed by Germans. left.
HONJO HONJO HONJO

Poor Jiro. Stuck in his dreams. What Japan These tight-fisted Germans aren’t letting us What!? They’re not letting us in?
is paying the Germans for their technology see any of Dr. Junkers’ work.
they could feed every single man, woman and Honjo walks off toward the group. Jiro turns
child a mountain of sponge cake. The delegation walks toward a huge hangar. and exits frame left with an entranced
expression.
HONJO JIRO
But if they want airplanes, then /’m going to | don’t see any oxen. Jiro approaches a small aircraft under
make the most of it. construction in a corner of the hangar. The
HONJO aircraft is skinned in shiny, silver Duralumin.
JIRO Jiro, the airstrip’s right next to the plant.
They’re sending you too? JIRO
JIRO (sighs, eyes sparkling)
Honjo drinks the last of his tea. Wow, everything is so big. Beautiful.
HONJO The guide smiles proudly as the electric The sound of jackboots approaching. Two
They told me today. hangar doors (another example of German guards approach Jiro. One puts a hand on his
technology) slide back to reveal a huge, four- shoulder.
JIRO engine Junkers G.38 airliner.
Really? That's great. JUNKERS GUARD
The Japanese visitors murmur in awe. The (in German - segue to English)
HONJO guide motions the delegation forward. Jiro Japaner, komme nicht nacher.
Jiro, the fact is this poor country pays you a and Honjo bring up the rear, followed by You are not authorized to—!
lot to design war planes. Junkers security guards.
(beat)
Embrace the irony.
250
Honjo runs over and grabs the guard by the
arm.
HONJO
Get your hands off him.
Honjo and the guards eyeball each other

warily.
HONJO
You've been slamming doors in our faces all day!
JUNKERS GUARD
Because you Japanese copy everything. This
technology belongs to Germany.
HONJO Jiro and Honjo in the navigator seat in the Junkers nose.
Oh, | get it. You’re afraid we'll actually
improve it? JIRO ARMY OFFICER
| know. What an engineer. It’s fantastic! What a fortress!
JIRO
Honjo, let me talk to them. JUNKERS GUARD A dim passage leads through the enormous
Dr. Junkers says you can go inside. wing to the engines, which can be serviced in
JIRO flight.
(to guards, in German) The G.38 in flight. The winter sky over
Sir, we have signed an agreement to license northern Germany is gray and overcast. HONJO
Dr. Junkers’ designs. (peering down the passage)
The north German plains spread to the Hey look. You can walk through the wing.
JIRO horizon, gray-green and brown. The plane Amazing.
Therefore we have a right to be in this hanger, trails black diesel exhaust.
examining this airplane. | understand you are Honjo moves down the passage followed by
just doing your job. I’m just doing mine. Jiro and Honjo sit in the tiny navigator’s cabin Jiro.
in the plane's nose.
JIRO HONJO Honjo peeks into the engine compartment.
When | saw Dr. Junkers’ single-engine plane So Jiro, what do you think? The plane’s huge water-cooled engines throb.
here, | had to see for myself. I’m not a
soldier. Simply an engineer admiring a fellow JIRO HONJO
engineer’s work. There's more vibration than | expected. (shouting)
It’s like being inside a power plant.
JUNKERS GUARD HONJO
Well as a so/dier, my orders are not to let you (looking through the window to the wing A flight engineer stands a few feet away
Japanese wander around! compartment) reading a bank of dials and gauges indicating
Our bosses are kids in a candy store. the status of the engine. He notices the two
HUGO JUNKERS (0.S.) men.
(in German) MITSUBISHI EMPLOYEE leans into the
One moment! cabin. FLIGHT ENGINEER
Wer ist da!
A man in a suit beckons from a short distance MITSUBISHI EMPLOYEE (translation)
away. The guard runs over to him. (whispers) Who are you?
Hey, let the Army reps sit in here.
Jiro, Honjo and the other guard watch. Jiro FLIGHT ENGINEER
recognizes Junkers, removes his hat and JIRO Heir ist der Zutritt verboten!
bows. Honjo notices too and takes off his hat. Yes, Sir. (translation)
You can’t come in here.
Junkers says something to the guard. Honjo Jiro and Honjo stand to relinquish their seats.
bows. Junkers wavessat Jiro and Honjo as he HONJO
walks away. Outside the navigator’s cabin, the Army reps Guten tag. We have permission from Dr.
wait to enter. Junkers.
The two men look on reverently as Junkers Would you tell us about your station?
walks off. MITSUBISHI EMPLOYEE
(to Army reps)
HONJO Just a moment.
That’s Dr. Junkers.
251
FLIGHT ENGINEER These specs are useless. JIRO
(goes back to his gauges) (suddenly inspired)
Das ist unser Stolz. The pack is empty. Honjo crumples the pack Honjo, maybe we don’t need their technology.
(translation) and throws it into a wastebasket. Wood and canvas could be just as good as
Here is the engineer’s station. metal.
HONJO
HONJO (staring at the plans) HONJO
This is such a marvelous aircraft. Got a cigarette, Jiro? (dismissive - waves the documents)
Jiro, we can’t be stuck in the past forever.
FLIGHT ENGINEER Jiro stares out the window and doesn’t seem We're already twenty years behind.
The pride of Germany. to hear.
He goes to the wardrobe and takes out coats
Jiro peers down the dark passage that leads HONJO (0.S.) and hats.
further into the wing. Jiro?
HONJO
FLIGHT ENGINEER JIRO Let’s get some air. My brain is going to
But you can’t go any further. Hmm? explode.
(in German)
Da besteht Lebensgefahr. HONJO REEL 4
(translation) Gimme a smoke.
We cannot guarantee your safety. Jiro and Honjo walk the dark cobblestone
JIRO (0.S.) streets of Dessau.
HONJO We're out.
(smiles) HONJO
Of course, my friend. HONJO It’s as if we’re a hare chasing a tortoise with a
(to Jiro) (frustrated) twenty-year lead.
Are you seeing this? Aaar.
HONJO (0.S.)
JIRO Honjo selects a butt from the ashtray, lights it But in our little story the hare doesn’t sleep.
Yes, it’s incredible. and goes back to studying. We can close the gap, but how can we beat it?
A view of the wing from above, from the JIRO JIRO

base of the wing toward the tip. The skin is It’s cold outside, but this room is quite cozy. We'll always be chasing it.
transparent. The interior structure is visible,
with Jiro and Honjo standing inside. He stubs out his cigarette and peers at the HONJO
steam radiator next to the wall. But what choice do we have?
HONJO (0.S.) Keep running and maybe they trip someday?
A triumph of German industrial technology. JIRO (0.S.)
You know that Junkers makes these radiators JIRO
The skin of the wing materializes. too? | wonder if there’s a different way to run,
Honjo.
The G.38 flies on, trailing black exhaust. JIRO
(touches the radiator) Jiro stops.
Night. A car speeds along a cobblestone Funny, they look just like his planes.
street. The stones glint in the headlights. Such strong, parallel lines... HONJO
What is it?
A small hotel on a dark street. A car drives HONJO
by. There are lights in some of the windows. Okay, okay. | get it. German technology is so A light is on in a second-floor window. The
superior that they can put wings on anything window is half open. Someone is playing a
Jiro and Honjo’s room. Jiro sits looking and fly it, including their damn radiators. recording of Schubert.
absentmindedly out the window. An ashtray Would you give it a rest, please?
overflowing with butts sits on the windowsill. JIRO
He watches the tail lights of a car disappear Honjo slumps down in his chair and holds the Schubert’s Winter Journey.
and exhales a cloud of smoke. documents at arm’s length.
HONJO
Honjo sits at a desk poring over documents HONJO Just perfect for us. A masterpiece of misery
from the Germans, presumably about We can’t learn anything from these and woe.
the G.38. Without taking his eyes off the government specs. It’s just a bunch of pretty
documents, he extends a hand toward a pack numbers. The men walk on.
of cigarettes. (imitates German guard)
This technology belongs to Germany.
HONJO
Junkers lets us in, the Germans shut us out.
252
ALT/:
HONJO (0.S.)
Ugh, | need a smoke.
:/
As they pass a park on their left, a man leaps

over the fence and runs across the road,
cutting between them. They stop, surprised.
The sound of boots on cobblestones.
A flashlight clicks on and shines in their

faces. Honjo winces in the glare. Three men,
but their faces are hard to see.
JUNKERS GUARD Caproni: “Well, what do you think?” Jiro: “Incredible.”
(in German)
Dieser Japaner! Jiro looks up. Out of the clouds, a G.38 HONJO (0.S.)
(translation) with rising sun markings plunges earthward, (concerned)
It’s those Japanese. trailing flames. It crashes. A large section of Alone?
wing wreckage knifes into the snow in front
MAN B (0.S.) of him. The train blows its whistle again. Jiro Jiro’s dream, continued. The train moves
(in German) keeps walking toward it. across a vast plain at dusk. The horizon is red.
Da driiben!
(translation) HONJO (0.S.) A compartment on the train. Jiro is alone,
Over here! Jiro? looking out the window. Caproni comes and
takes the seat next to him.
Man C snaps off his flashlight and the three The hotel room. Honjo, with a towel over his
men run off. shoulders, looks down at Jiro, who is dead-to- JIRO
the-world asleep. (surprised)
MAN C Mr. Caproni.
(running - in German) HONJO
Geh zurtich nach Japan! Jiro, I’m done. Bath is yours. CAPRONI
(translation) Is the wind still rising?
Go back to Japan! HONJO
Dead to the world because he thinks he’s JIRO
The men disappear around the corner of a shouldering the future of Japanese aviation. It sure is.
building.
There’s a knock at the door. CAPRONI
JIRO (stands - smiling)
What was all that about? Honjo opens the door. Mitsubishi Employee is A perfect time to embark on my final flight.
standing in the hall. Join me.
HONJO
We saw him in the hangar. MITSUBISHI EMPLOYEE Caproni turns on his heel. Jiro jumps up and
(ALT) There’s a telegram from headquarters. follows him into the passageway.
Secret police. Let’s get off the streets.
HONJO JIRO
The men walk back past the building where Come in. You're retiring?
they heard the record playing. The window is
closed and dark now. In a dark alley, a group MITSUBISHI EMPLOYEE Caproni grins and opens the car door. Outside
of men are running and struggling, casting No need. Some of us are returning to Japan it’s dark, with snow swirling through the light
ominous shadows onto the building walls. right away. You’re staying behind. from the windows.
Jiro’s dream. Night. He walks alone across a MITSUBISHI EMPLOYEE (0.S.) CAPRONI
snowy plain in his overcoat and scarf. Aircraft Jiro will continue west and return to Japan. It’s a big jump.
wreckage is scattered over the ground. A train
slows to a stop and he walks toward it. The HONJO (0.S.) Caproni leaps into the blizzard. Jiro hesitates.
train blows its whistle. Steam jets from its West?
brakes. CAPRONI (0.S.)
MITSUBISHI EMPLOYEE (0.S.) Come on!
They want him to see the world.
Jiro jumps.
253
He tumbles down the snowy embankment. As The huge plane begins to rise slowly. CAPRONI
he comes to a stop, he’s in a sunny meadow Passengers peer excitedly out the windows. (grins proudly)
full of flowers. He hears delighted giggling. That’s my family.
Inside the cabin, the passengers are yelling
CAPRONI’S GIRLS (0.S.) with excitement. The swaying cabin is packed Jiro hurriedly buttons his coat and bows to
(giggling) with people. Everyone is in a party mood. Caproni’s family.
Jiro adjusts his glasses and looks up to see...
CAPRONI CAPRONI
...what looks like a silver balcony. CAPRONI’S These are all my workers and their families. We Italians are also poor. Too many mouths to
GIRLS, a bevy of busty young women, crowd Practically the whole village. feed.
the balcony and smile down at him. The sky
is the blue of summer. Caproni pushes his The pace car speeds alongside the plane as it The Ca.73 banks away. The party in the hold
way through the girls and beckons to Jiro. floats free of the runway. of the Ca.90 is getting rowdier. The fuselage
shakes. Caproni leans over and yells down at
CAPRONI CAPRONI (0.S.) the passengers.
Let’s go! Why are you just sitting there! | thought we’d take a little jaunt before we
deliver this bomber to the government. CAPRONI
The balcony is the nose of Caproni’s latest Hey! Settle down or the bottom will fall out.
creation, the Ca.90. Jiro gets to his feet. The girls wave their handkerchiefs from the (to Jiro)
People look at Jiro from windows in the belly belly turret as the plane ascends. Come.
of the huge biplane. A pace car stands by
with engine running. Caproni climbs out onto the top of the Jiro and Caproni edge past the huge
fuselage followed by Jiro. They peer at the propellers.
CAPRONI engines and huge dual wings.
(gestures to Jiro) CAPRONI
There’s a hatch under the fuselage! CAPRONI Be careful. This may be a dream, but you
Well, what do you think? can still lose your head.
CAPRONI
Hurry! JIRO Caproni climbs up one of the huge struts
Incredible. supporting the upper wing. Jiro follows.
JIRO
(runs toward fuselage) JIRO They walk along the upper wing.
Okay. It’s like a building out of ancient Rome.
CAPRONI
CAPRONI CAPRONI Which would you choose? A world with
(to girls - turning to go) Fact is this plane is too big to be used for pyramids? Or without?
Let me through. fighting. But the military has a weakness for
big things. JIRO
Jiro runs under the fuselage. Men call to him What do you mean?
from the open hatch in the belly of the plane. They walk forward between the huge
externally mounted engines. The thin skin CAPRONI
GUY of the plane flexes as they walk, making a Humanity dreams of flight, but the dream is
Up here! metallic sound. cursed. My aircraft are destined to become
tools for slaughter and destruction.
Jiro puts a foot on the bottom rung of the JIRO
ladder. The plane’s wheels creak and start Japan could never build something like this. JIRO
turning. Jiro struggles to climb. The girls The country is too poor and backwards. | know.
cheer him on.
A Ca.73, identical to the Ca.90 but smaller, CAPRONI (0.S.)
Arms reach down through the hatch, grab Jiro rises up alongside them. But still | chose a world with pyramids in it.
and pull him up into the fuselage along with
the ladder. CAPRONI (0.S.) CAPRONI
Inspiration is more important than scale. Which world will you choose?
Jiro is inside the passenger cabin in the belly of
the fuselage. The hatch in the floor slides shut. Several people stand in the open gunner’s JIRO
station in the nose of the Ca.73. | only want to create beautiful airplanes.
The Ca.90 moves smoothly forward. The pace
car accelerates. CAPRONI CAPRONI
Inspiration unlocks the future. (turns to look behind them)
CAPRONI’S GIRLS I’ve found technology eventually catches up. Like that?
Go! Go! Fly!
Caproni’s family in the nose of the Ca.73. He
waves to them.
254
A white, inverted gull wing fighter plane, like
a wind tunnel model, approaches from the
rear and flies close over their heads. They
turn to watch it fly on.
The fighter dives, climbs and swoops in the

setting sun.
The fighter settles just above the wing of the

Ca.90. Jiro gives it a push, like sending a
boat out into a stream.
CAPRONI
Very graceful.
JIRO
| have a long way to go. | don’t even have an Kurokawa: “Damn these Japanese engines!”
engine or a cockpit yet.
JIRO HATTORI
Jiro walks to the edge of the wing and I’ve got a meeting— (stubbing out his cigarette)
releases the fighter. The Ca.90 pilot and
CAPRONI’S GIRLS watch from below. The KUROKAWA Jiro, we are going to bid for the Navy’s carrier-
fighter sails smoothly away. Cancel it. based fighter. We think you’re ready to be the
plane's chief designer.
The fighter dives, swoops upward and A row of new buildings behind the plant. One
disappears. is a cafe. Jiro walks toward it. KUROKAWA
(insistent)
CAPRONI Inside Café Flyer, a gramophone plays a It’s a plum job.
(watching the fighter) classical record.
Bravo! A beautiful dream. Jiro looks off in the distance, lost in thought.
Jiro sits at a table next to Kurokawa, across
Jiro climbs up the wing; Caproni lends him a from Hattori. There are no other customers KUROKAWA
hand to help him up. yet. Jiro is reading a binder of documents. (impatient, louder)
IT’S A PLUM JOB—!
Jiro and Caproni walk along the wing. Camera JIRO
pans down past the plane to a Japanese (staring at the page) Hattori motions Kurokawa to be silent. He
harborfront below. This is a very tall order. takes a sip of coffee and watches Jiro. The
gramophone needle reaches the end of the
CAPRONI KUROKAWA record. The record continues to spin.
This is my last design. Artists are only (exhales a cloud of smoke)
creative for ten years. We engineers are no They’re always tall. HATTORI (0.S.)
different. (to Jiro)
(0.S.) Jiro turns the pages of the binder, lost in What do you think?
Live your ten years well, Japanese boy. thought.
JIRO
Summer 1929. Jiro, alone in the design HATTORI (0.S.) | can do it.
room, working. The building is new. Beyond How long have you been with us, Jiro?
the open windows, the lights of offshore HATTORI
fishing boats. Jiro doesn’t respond. Good.
The aircraft plant, morning. Steam rises KUROKAWA Hattori smiles and finishes his cup of coffee.
from the boilers. Workers walk between the Jiro?
buildings. It’s the spring of 1932, well into JIRO
April. JIRO I'd like Honjo on the team.
Mm?
Jiro starts up a flight of stairs outside the KUROKAWA
design room. The door to the room opens and KUROKAWA Not a good idea.
Kurokawa leans out. How long have you been here?
KUROKAWA
KUROKAWA JIRO You'd end up competing. Friendship’s more
Jiro, let’s go get some coffee. Five years. important.
255
HATTORI JIRO The test pilot climbs into the cockpit, helped
Relax. Finish your coffee. (covered with suds) by ground crew. The fuselage is studded with
(to waitress) Oh, thanks. protruding rivets.
Check please.
On the flight deck, three Nakajima ALN A ground crewman inserts the handle for the
Hattori goes to pay the bill. Jiro and Kurokawa biplanes prepare to take off. Their engines inertia starter. He and another crewman turn
stand up. rise to full power. Kurokawa and Jiro emerge the crank, throwing their backs into it.
onto the platform at the edge of the flight
KUROKAWA deck and join a naval officer. The platform is Jiro stands in the burning sun, full of
We've got other plans for Honjo. about a meter lower than the deck. anticipation.
Kurokawa follows Hattori out. Alone, Jiro sits KUROKAWA The pilot engages the clutch and the propeller
down and returns to the binder. These are nice uniforms. begins to revolve. Ignition. Clouds of white
smoke pour from the exhaust. The plane
The documents. Jiro turns the pages. OFFICER shudders as the motor builds power.
Yes. We're ready.
A Mitsubishi B1M biplane flies through a The pilot increases power and the plane
clear blue sky. The deck officer drops his flag. Deck crewmen shudders more. Smoke from the exhaust is
remove the chocks from the wheels of the mixed with flame. The pilot signals to Jiro
Kurokawa and Jiro jammed side by side in first aircraft. It rolls forward and takes off as that he’s ready.
the navigator’s seat. Jiro and Kurokawa watch.
Jiro bows to the pilot and steps away from
Beneath them, a little aircraft carrier (Hosho) The second biplane jolts forward and moves the plane.
is visible, accompanied by a destroyer. The down the flight deck.
biplane banks sharply. Chocks away. The pilot opens the throttle.
OUT The exhaust smoke is replaced by flame.
The biplane approaches the carrier for a
landing. The engine starts to cough. The Kurokawa gets another face full of oil. The fighter rolls past Jiro. He turns to watch
propeller slows. Smoke belches from the it move down the field.
engine. Oil flies back and spatters Jiro and The second plane’s engine cuts out. It loses
Kurokawa. speed, runs off the end of the carrier and The fighter comes speeding down the runway.
flops into the water.
The biplane is almost on the carrier, but Jiro watches intently. The wind picks up.
looks as if it will undershoot the flight deck Jiro and Kurokawa look on in shock as
and crash into the stern. The engine belches crewmen rush to the end of the flight deck. The tires shudder as the plane picks up
smoke and oil. speed. The fighter gently lifts off.
DECK OFFICER
KUROKAWA Man overboard! The design team, Hattori, and Kurokawa
Damn these Japanese engines! watch the fighter’s progress intently.
The plane is half-submerged just off the
On the flight deck, sailors brace for impact. carrier’s bow. Men dive into the water. A JUNIOR DESIGNER
At the last instant the engine catches and motor launch is lowered. Crewmen mill on the She’s airborne!
the biplane climbs just enough to set down flight deck.
on the deck, still belching smoke. It hits the Jiro stands to one side, looking up at the sky.
barrier, bounces back and comes to a stop. Sunset over the anchorage. A launch moves The fighter flies toward the towering summer
away from the carrier, followed by seagulls. clouds.
Deck crew surround the plane. Jiro stands silently on the deck.
A rack-and-pinion railway line in the
KUROKAWA Summer 1933. Jiro walks toward a grassy mountains. An electric locomotive slowly
Damn these short runways! runway. Behind him, ground crew push Jiro’s climbs the steep grade.
[Note: Kurokawa means that this is the flight prototype toward the strip. Jiro is tense with
deck the new fighter must be capable of anticipation. A view of mountains from the train window.
taking off from. The Hosho was the smallest The entrance to another tunnel is visible
carrier in the fleet.] Heat waves rise from the field. Jiro walks onto far below.
the airstrip and turns to face the fighter.
Below deck in the officer’s lavatory, the two The train crosses the red brick bridge at
men soap up, trying to get the oil off. The plane shudders to a halt. The crew Usui Pass.
members disperse to either side. Others
A sailor stands by waiting, carrying clean chock the wheels. A mechanic climbs down Jiro, somewhat dazed to be on vacation,
uniforms. from the cockpit. walks along the crowded main street of the
mountain resort of Karuizawa.
SAILOR MAN IN PLANE
Fresh uniforms! Stop! Jiro walks along a sun-dappled path in the
woods.
256
Nahoko paints at an easel on a breezy
embankment overlooking a reservoir. She
stands under a large white parasol. Ten years
have passed since the earthquake.
The canvas is a riot of color. She uses her

knife to apply a bright green blob of paint.
She takes paint from her palette and looks at

the scenery, then sees Jiro at the base of the
embankment.
Jiro walks along the path at the foot of the

embankment. Nahoko watches him, then
notices someone else. She smiles.
An older man steps out of the trees in a white
suit and panama hat, carrying a walking stick. Nahoko, staring at Jiro.
He’s walking toward Jiro.
NAHOKO the tatami, takes off his hat and coat and
Nahoko waves to the man. Bravo! Nice catch. hangs them up.
NAHOKO Jiro waves back. Satomi walks down toward He hears faint laughter from outside. He
Father! him. Jiro meets him halfway. opens the door to the room’s tiny balcony.
Through the pines across the way he can see
Jiro glances up at her and keeps walking. SATOMI tennis players in white outfits moving about
It nearly took you away. Are you all right? on the court.
Mr. Satomi, Nahoko’s father, waves his
walking stick in greeting. Jiro and Satomi JIRO He leaves the door open and steps back into
approach each other. (gives him the parasol) the room. The breeze moves the curtains. He
I’m fine. Here you are. stretches out on his back on the tatami.
The two men pass each other.
SATOMI Jiro’s memory. The test flight. His fighter
Nahoko watches. Suddenly a strong gust of Thank you. I'll make sure it stays grounded. plunges earthward.
wind sweeps across the reservoir, ruffling the
surface of the water. The blue sky reflected in JIRO The vertical tail fin’s structural members
the water is replaced by silver ripples. Well, | better go. begin to creak, then finally give way under
the stress. The plane breaks up in midair and
The gust hits Nahoko, blows her canvas off Jiro retrieves his hat from the grass, puts it wreckage rains down. The fuselage plunges
the easel and sends the parasol aloft. on, and walks on into the woods. straight into the ground.
NAHOKO Nahoko watches him go. Satomi comes up Jiro’s room. The wind swings the balcony
(reaching for the canvas) the embankment with the parasol. door shut. He opens his eyes and gazes at the
Ah! ceiling.
NAHOKO
The parasol flies down the embankment | wanted to say thank you to him. Jiro’s memory. A darkened hangar. He stares
as Satomi watches from halfway up. It flies at fragments of wreckage from his fighter,
straight toward Jiro, who is walking away She begins to fold up the easel. piled on the floor and illuminated from above.
from it. He turns and walks away.
SATOMI
Jiro approaches the edge of the trees. He turns (watches Jiro go) The resort. A sunset sky full of rain clouds.
to see the parasol bearing down on him. He Nice young man. Don’t worry. He’s staying at
manages to grab the shaft, but gets dragged our hotel. You’ll have a chance to say thank Hotel guests in the smoking lounge look out
off the path by the wind. His hat flies off. you. at the rain. Many are non-Japanese. A bellhop
runs in from the terrace. Guests are coming
Nahoko holds onto her canvas and her hat in The front gate of Kusakaru Hotel. The downstairs to dinner.
the wind as she watches Jiro, amused. building has a Western feel. A foreign woman
on a bicycle rides up. [Note: she is German.] Nahoko and her father descend the stairs.
NAHOKO Guests are arriving. Satomi looks at the rain and says something
(chuckling) to his daughter. Nahoko peers around
Well! Late afternoon. Jiro enters his Japanese-style casually, looking for Jiro.
room. The light is dim. He shuts the door
Jiro manages to stop the parasol and close it. behind him. He looks tired, perhaps a bit
Nahoko waves to him. depressed. He unties his shoes, steps up onto
The hotel restaurant. The adjoining room is At the edge of the forest, Jiro sees an easel, a NAHOKO
a bar. As Nahoko walks with her father to a folding chair, and a parasol. He looks for the Oh, | fine.
table, she notices Jiro already seated, having painter, but no one’s around.
his soup. Hans CASTORP, another guest, is at Inside the parasol, the two are getting soaked.
the table between Nahoko and Jiro, reading a The path continues into the woods, with a The parasol was meant to keep off sun, not
folded newspaper. tiny watercourse flowing next to it. A short rain. Nahoko has to speak loudly to be heard
walk brings Jiro to a clearing with a square over the downpour.
A waiter holds Nahoko’s chair. She keeps pool, the source of the stream. Water rises
gazing at Jiro. Jiro seems lost in thought. from the spring. NAHOKO
Nahoko notices the waiter holding her chair Kinu searched for you for years.
and finally sits. Nahoko stands before the pool, looking into She found you just before she got married.
the water. She turns and is surprised to find
A waiter delivers a huge watercress salad to Jiro there. Jiro smiles and nods. Nahoko NAHOKO
Castorp. Jiro glances toward him but can’t smiles and nods, but with tears in her eyes. She cried for joy after she dropped off
see Nahoko on the other side—the waiter is your shirt.
standing in the way. Castorp dives eagerly He steps toward her, but she turns away.
into his salad. Jiro absently munches a piece NAHOKO
of bread. JIRO You were our knight in shining armor that day.
(confused)
Castorp grins as he digs into his salad. Jiro I’m... I’m sorry. I'd better go. JIRO
can’t help glancing over at him. Castorp Your knight?
picks up his paper and reads as he eats. He turns to go.
Jiro finally notices Nahoko gazing at him. NAHOKO
He smiles and nods. Nahoko is startled. She NAHOKO Yes. Like a knight on a white horse.
puts on a properly formal smile and inclines (turns back to him) (ALT)
her head. Just as she does so, a waiter brings No, please. | was giving thanks to this spring. Yes, we were so scared, but you were so calm.
Jiro’s main course, putting an end to the
interaction. NAHOKO JIRO
| asked it to bring you here, to me. (looks up at the leaky umbrella)
Satomi opens his menu. Nahoko is still Well, I’m not doing much now to keep
looking across the room at Jiro. Jiro stops and slowly turns in surprise. you dry.
SATOMI (CONT'D) NAHOKO NAHOKO

What is it? (tears welling up) That’s okay. | don’t mind at all. Kinu will be
You haven’t changed at all from that day so excited when | tell her... | found our hero
NAHOKO years ago. You look just the same. again.
(casually - spreading her napkin)
Nothing. Just that man who caught the NAHOKO As they walk along under the parasol, the sky
parasol. We were so grateful for your help after the lightens and the rain suddenly lets up.
earthquake. | wanted to see you again and
SATOMI thank you. JIRO
He seems to be here by himself. (looks at the canvas)
JIRO Oh, your painting is ruined.
ALT/: Now | remember! On the train!
NAHOKO
SATOMI NAHOKO It’s not. I’ll always remember this day when |
What is it? (bows deeply) look at it.
| am Nahoko Satomi.
NAHOKO JIRO
(whispers) JIRO Look, it’s clearing up.
That man. | know him from somewhere. I’m Jiro Horikoshi.
The rain stops. Jiro lowers the parasol.
SATOMI Clouds gather. Raindrops on the white dust Nahoko looks up at the sky. The sun is
You do? Where? of the path. The rain rustles the leaves. coming out.
Gradually the rain rises to a downpour.
NAHOKO
Jiro and Nahoko make their way back to the (joyous)
REEL 5 hotel under the parasol. It’s pouring rain. Ooh...
Small white clouds float through a blue sky. JIRO NAHOKO

Jiro is out for a walk. He carries his jacket This umbrella is useless. Are you all right? (looks at the path)
over his arm. He seems to be searching for Ah!
something. The path follows a small stream.
258
The damp ground ends clearly in a line across
the path. Beyond that it’s dry. Entranced,
Nahoko skips ahead onto the dry ground.
NAHOKO
It’s like another land.
She turns to look at Jiro and sees a rainbow

in the sky behind him.
NAHOKO
Oh look!
They turn to look at the rainbow.
JIRO
I'd almost forgotten what rainbows look like. The person Jiro waits for does not come.
NAHOKO I’m Satomi. It’s so very good to meet you, Mr. JIRO
Life is wondrous, isn’t it? Horikoshi. (speaking slowly, clearly)
(ALT) Know how you feel. Japanese cigarettes
Sometimes life is wonderful. Dusk. The lights in the hotel are on. From always taste like home to me.
the garden, guests can be seen on the terrace
Jiro looks at her, suddenly moved. She turns and in the dining room. The dinner hour is CASTORP
to go. beginning. You visit Germany, yes? To Dessau.
NAHOKO Jiro comes down the stairs. He pauses to JIRO

Let’s go. My father’s probably worried sick. look for Nahoko and Satomi, but they haven’t Wow, you must be Sherlock Holmes.
arrived.
Jiro follows. CASTORP
The bar. It’s full of guests, Japanese and non- (knowingly)
Satomi emerges from the trees and hurries Japanese, chatting before dinner. Jiro strolls Well, you read German magazines about
toward them. He’s carrying two umbrellas. He through the bar and onto the terrace. He goes airplanes. All Japanese engineers visit
waves his walking stick in greeting. to the railing at the edge, looks out at the Dessau. It’s elementary, my dear Watson.
dark woods beyond, and takes a deep breath
NAHOKO of twilight air. He casually glances back at JIRO
There he is. the hotel. Guests are coming down to dinner. (laughs)
(calls to Satomi)
Father! Jiro sits where he can keep an eye on the CASTORP
(to Jiro) staircase and the dining room. He lights a (laughs)
Come, I'll introduce you. cigarette.
JIRO
She hurries toward Satomi. CASTORP (0.S.) You cracked the case.
May | sit here?
JIRO Castorp leans forward and lowers his voice.
(following after her) Jiro looks up to see a smiling Hans Castorp.
Okay. CASTORP
JIRO Dr. Junkers is in trouble.
Nahoko runs up to her father. (smiles)
Certainly. JIRO
SATOMI (tensing)
You’re soaking wet. Castorp puts his newspaper down and takes He is?
a seat. Jiro goes back to his cigarette and his
NAHOKO vigil. The smoking area just off the terrace is CASTORP
Oh, I’m fine. | was with Mr. Horikoshi. empty; everyone’s gone to dinner, but Nahoko He fights the hand that feeds him. And he
He saved me again. has not arrived. Jiro catches the aroma of will lose.
Castorp’s cigarette and glances at him.
JIRO JIRO
(joining them - takes off his hat and bows) Castorp smiles. English [Japanese in the He fights Mr. Hitler’s government?
Jiro Horikoshi. original] is not his first language.
Castorp peers intently at Jiro.
SATOMI CASTORP
(bows) German tobacco. I’ve been saving it.
Last one.
259
CASTORP SATOMI Jiro steps out onto the balcony of his room.
The Nazis are a gang of hoodlums. I’m sorry to keep you waiting. He looks up at the window of Nahoko’s room.
A light wind moves the curtains at the open
CASTORP SATOMI window.
(suddenly cheerful) Nahoko has a fever. We’ll have to cancel our
This is a good place. No mosquitos. Not hot. dinner plans. JIRO (V.0.)
Good watercress. Neither | nor you:
JIRO
CASTORP (worried) JIRO (V.0.)
A good place to forget bad things... isn’t that Oh, |’m sorry to hear that. But when the leaves hang trembling.
right? | hope she feels better soon. The wind is passing through.
Jiro extends his pack of cigarettes. Satomi’s expression suggests that Nahoko’s Jiro’s hands skillfully cut a folded sheet of
condition is worse than he’s letting on. paper with scissors.
JIRO (0.S.)
Cigarette? I’m afraid they’re Japanese. SATOMI He sits at the table on the balcony and puts
(uneasy) the finishing touches on a paper airplane. He
CASTORP (0.S.) The... doctor will be here soon. | must go. adjusts the pitch of the wings. [The poem is
(takes one) by Christina Rossetti (1872). The next line is
Thank you. He hurries away. Jiro’s improvisation. ]
Castorp lights up, exhales a cloud of smoke Jiro watches him go. He bows and turns back JIRO
and sits back. to Castorp. He’s gone. A thin line of smoke Let the wind carry these wings to you.
rises from the ashtray.
CASTORP Jiro walks slowly down the stairs from the Jiro sends the airplane off the balcony into
It is a nice night. Hier ist Der Zauberberg. terrace to the garden. He strolls along a the breeze. The airplane noses earthward,
gravel walk, stops, and gazes up at a lighted hits an updraft and soars higher. It circles
JIRO guest room window. The stars twinkle above back and lands on the roof above Jiro’s head,
The Magic Mountain. Thomas Mann? the hotel. He lingers for a few moments and close to the balcony. One of the wings sticks
walks on. out over the edge of the roof. It looks as if the
CASTORP wind might blow it away any moment.
That’s right. A good place for forgetting. Midnight. Jiro lies in his futon. He’s reading a
collection of poetry when he hears some sort Jiro steps up onto the wooden wall around the
Castorp looks once more as if he’s sizing Jiro of commotion. balcony to retrieve the plane. He holds onto
up. the roof with his right hand and stretches
The corridor outside Jiro’s door. At the far end out his left, but his reach is just short. He
CASTORP of the corridor, a nurse hurries past toward stretches further. One of his feet lifts off the
Make a war in China. Forget it. another wing, carrying a basin. balcony. He glances up at Nahoko’s balcony
Make a puppet state in Manchuria. Forget it. just as Nahoko, standing on the balcony,
Jiro listens tensely. He can’t contain his notices him. Their eyes meet.
Jiro winces slightly. curiosity and gets up to see what’s going on.
NAHOKO
CAPRONI (0.S.) The hotel corridor. One of the staff walks past (astonished)
Quit the League of Nations. Forget it. the end of the corridor carrying a bucket of Jiro?
Make the world your enemy. Forget it. ice. Jiro’s door opens. He leans out as silence
returns. He goes back inside and closes his JIRO
CASTORP door quietly. (happily)
Germany will blow up. Japan will blow up, too. Oh, Nahoko!
Jiro goes out on the balcony and looks up
JIRO at Satomi’s suite. A single light casts a soft The corner of the wall around the balcony
(concerned) glow. He sits down at a small table on the is rotted and comes away under Jiro’s feet.
Will Germany go to war again? balcony and gets out a cigarette. The glow of His hold on the roof keeps him from falling.
(ALT) the match lights up his face. Startled, Nahoko leans over her balcony.
Will Germany really go to war?
Morning. The Satomi table is empty. Castorp The paper airplane slips off the roof and
CASTORP reads the paper as he stirs his morning glides past Jiro. He reaches for it and misses.
Yes. They must be stopped. coffee. Jiro walks by, glances at the empty The plane glides downward. The wind catches
table, and goes upstairs to his room. As he it and it skitters upward.
Satomi appears on the terrace and hurries walks, he recalls a poem.
toward Jiro. Jiro turns toward him. Castorp strolls below Jiro’s balcony. He
JIRO (V.O.) notices the airplane and turns to watch as it
Jiro stands up. He senses something wrong. Who has seen the wind? dances in the breeze. The plane soars upward
and comes to rest behind Nahoko on her
260
balcony. She doesn’t notice it.
Nahoko is still watching Jiro standing

precariously above the ground.
NAHOKO
Be careful!
Jiro manages to hop back onto his balcony.

He waves cheerfully to Nahoko.
Nahoko smiles and waves back. Jiro

pantomimes the flight path of the paper
airplane onto her balcony. She’s is puzzled
at first, then turns to look behind her. She
smiles at Jiro and disappears from sight as
she goes to retrieve the plane. Naoko: “Nice catch.”
Nahoko launches the plane from her balcony. Jiro solemnly draws the paper airplane back Satomi arrives. Jiro stands as Satomi
It swoops and soars toward Castorp, who against the rubber band and releases it. approaches the table. Castorp’s newspaper
has been watching all along from below. He and cigarettes are there in front of an empty
rushes back and forth in an effort to catch it, The plane comes flying upward. Startled chair. Satomi bows and sits in another chair.
but when he finally does, he opens his hand by its speed, Nahoko makes a grab for it A waiter appears and Satomi orders. Jiro sits
to see that he’s crushed it. His mouth opens but misses. She watches the plane soaring down. Castorp winks at him and turns back to
in surprise. and diving. The plane heads back toward the keyboard.
her and she leans out to catch it. This time
CASTORP she succeeds, but almost topples over CASTORP
Ohh! the balcony. Her straw hat comes off. She (sings)
watches it fall. Das gibt’s nur einmal, das kommt nicht
A few days later, afternoon. The air is sultry. wieder
Jiro walks past the terrace, armed with a Jiro dashes forward to catch her, then rushes
sturdier, more elaborate paper airplane. back to chase after her hat. He recovers it JIRO
On the terrace, Castorp looks up from his like a running back catching a long bomb. Das ist vielleicht nur Traumerei!
newspaper and smiles. He runs and falls into a bush, but we can see
that he got the hat. SATOMI
Jiro strolls beneath Nahoko’s balcony. Castorp Das kann das Leben nur einmal geben
glances at him from the terrace. Jiro stops NAHOKO
and looks up. On the balcony, the edge Nice catch. CASTORP
of a yellow parasol is visible. The parasol (laughs) Vielleicht ist es morgen schon vorbei!
disappears. Nahoko appears at the edge of
the balcony wearing a straw hat. She waves at Jiro stops beneath Nahoko’s balcony. He JIRO/SATOMI/CASTORP
Jiro. holds a hat in each hand, ceremoniously Das kann das Leben nur einmal...
places Nahoko’s hat on his head, smiles and
Jiro holds up the new airplane and bows. bows. Castorp stops playing, rises and turns to Jiro.
Nahoko giggles with anticipation and leans He sings the last verse slowly.
out over the balcony. Nahoko launches the paper airplane. Jiro runs
after it. CASTORP
Jiro puts a rubber band in a notch on the Denn jeder Fruhling hat nur einen Mai!
airplane’s nose and draws it back. He aims Castorp has been watching all this from the
the plane and lets fly. terrace. He looks up at the sky with a smile He empties his glass and heads for Jiro’s
and shrugs his shoulders. table.
The plane flies straight toward Nahoko, then
suddenly banks and dives. She reaches for Castorp’s hands on the keyboard, playing the Castorp shakes hands briefly with Jiro, sits
it but misses. The plane circles back toward piano. down and bows to Satomi.
Jiro. He reaches high to catch it, loses his
balance, and falls backward into the bushes Later that evening. The hotel is holding a SATOMI
off the path. party. There are lanterns, confetti on the floor, Bravo!
guests dancing. Castorp plays a tune from
Nahoko leans over the balcony and looks The Congress Dances, a German hit film. A CASTORP
down at him. foreign woman dances like the star of the ls your daughter feeling better?
movie. Castorp glances over at Jiro’s table
NAHOKO and smiles. SATOMI
(laughs) Yes, much better, thank you.
261
CASTORP The men turn toward her voice. CASTORP
Of course! This is a summer... to remember!
Nahoko slowly descends the stairs and stops
CASTORP in the middle. Nahoko at the top of the embankment,
(to Jiro - grinning) painting. The wind sways the grass. Jiro
This is the magic mountain. It cures everyone. NAHOKO comes climbing up the slope. He looks at the
I'd like you to approve, too. canvas. Nahoko looks at him as if to say, what
JIRO do you think? He kisses her impulsively.
(smiles - he’s in love) CASTORP
| think you’re right. Now there’s a beauty. Late summer, 1934. The Mitsubishi aircraft
plant. Lunch hour. Smoke rises from the
CASTORP Satomi is aghast. Jiro goes to the stairs and chimneys. Barges ply the canal. Jiro walks
(to Satomi) looks up at Nahoko across the bannister. toward one of the buildings with a rolled-up
At the beginning, this young man was very sheet of tracing paper.
gloomy. Now he is very happy. Nahoko comes down the stairs to Jiro.
Jiro walks past one of the assembly buildings.
CASTORP NAHOKO A Ki-1 bomber is visible inside, looking like
(looks at Jiro) (to Jiro) a prehistoric fish. The workmen relax on their
Because he’s in love. But Jiro, there’s something you need to break.
understand.
JIRO Honjo stands outside the entrance to the next
Yes. JIRO assembly hangar. He waves at Jiro. One year
(ALT) Anything. has passed since they last met.
Well.
NAHOKO HONJO
Satomi peers at Jiro questioningly. (calmly) Long lost Jiro!
My mother died of tuberculosis two years ago.
CASTORP | have it too. JIRO
(to Jiro) (running toward him)
But summer love is seasonal. You will go JIRO Honjo!
down the mountain and forget all about it. (not swayed)
Nahoko, nothing is going to stop me from HONJO
Satomi looks at Castorp, then at Jiro, with loving you. When did you get back?
increasing apprehension.
NAHOKO JIRO
JIRO (with joy) Two days ago.
Not true. I’ve loved you since the day the wind brought
you to me. HONJO
SATOMI Hot, isn’t it? He enters the hangar, followed
This love you’re talking about wouldn’t be my JIRO by Jiro.
daughter, would it? (softly, with a smile)
Please marry me. Inside the hangar, the ventilation fan revolves
Castorp looks triumphant. Jiro turns to slowly.
Satomi. NAHOKO
(without any hesitation) HONJO
JIRO (0.S.) Yes. But first I’m going to get well. Will you Come take a look.
Yes. | love her very much. wait for me?
Honjo’s first aircraft, a heavy bomber (later
CASTORP JIRO the Mitsubishi G3M). Its Duralumin skin
(happily) | will. gleams. It is clearly far more advanced than
Oh! the Ki-1. Jiro and Honjo walk up to the
Jiro lays his hand on Nahoko’s hand on the twin-engine bomber. Jiro looks up, visibly
Satomi looks dumbfounded. bannister. impressed.
JIRO JIRO (0.S.) JIRO

(confident) Even if it takes a hundred years. She’s beautiful.
And | hope you'll approve, Mr. Satomi.
Castorp shakes Satomi’s hand. Satomi is Jiro walks around the plane, scanning it with
SATOMI dazed. His eyes are misty. a practiced eye.
(flustered)
But... | don’t... CASTORP OUT
Congratulations! He is a nice young man and
NAHOKO (0.S.) your daughter is wonderful.
Father!
262
JIRO
Good clean lines.
HONJO
They gave me free rein.
So | designed something radical.
But it won’t amount to anything
if she doesn’t fly.
Jiro climbs a wide stepladder to the rear of

the plane to get a better view.
His chest swells with emotion and

enthusiasm.
JIRO
Oh, she'll fly. | feel the wind rising. Honjo: “Jiro, as usual, that's a great idea.”
As he speaks, Jiro is surrounded by blue skies JIRO KUROKAWA

and white clouds. The wind ruffles his hair. A spring about this stiff should be fine. Get back to the office.
In Jiro’s vision, the building disappears. The HONJO JIRO

bomber flies through the air and he watches Jiro, as usual, that’s a great idea. Coming. Thanks, Honjo.
from behind. The bomber climbs, flashing in
the sun. Jiro and Honjo watch side by side as JIRO HONJO
the bomber flies away. You should use it. (waving as Jiro runs out after Kurokawa)
Come to the house for a drink next time.
The vision ends. HONJO
(grins) JIRO (0.S.)
JIRO Thanks, pal, but not this time. Sure.
You’ve closed the gap, Honjo. In one huge
step. JIRO A bicycle is parked outside. A siren
(regretful) (surprised) announces the end of lunch hour.
My plane was just a tin duckling. Hmm?
(more cheerful) KUROKAWA
Look, | have an idea for you. HONJO Jiro, you pedal.
| thought of it too late to use in my plane. (rolls up the diagram)
I'll keep these but I’m not going to use them Jiro gets on the bike. Kurokawa hops on the
He hands the roll of tracing paper to Honjo. before you. This belongs in your next plane. back.
Honjo unrolls it and looks at the diagram.
JIRO Jiro pedals past workers returning to their
A diagram of an aircraft component, part (nods, appreciating Honjo’s friendship) tasks.
of the fuselage. Honjo studies the diagram Thanks, Honjo.
intently as Jiro explains. KUROKAWA
HONJO The Secret Police are looking for you.
JIRO (grins)
It’s a way to reduce drag by using flathead You're welcome. But hurry up. JIRO
screws on all the access hatches and the What?
fueling port. Kurokawa rushes in. He’s in a panic.
KUROKAWA
A simulation of Jiro’s idea. Several access KUROKAWA The thought crime boys.
panels on the wing open. One has four screws Jiro! Where are you!?
holding it shut. The four screws unscrew, rise JIRO
and fade away. Close up of one panel secured HONJO (glances back in surprise)
by a single flathead screw sealing a hinged (descends the stepladder - sees Kurokawa) But why me?
hatch. Mr. Kurokawa.
(to Jiro) KUROKAWA
Jiro points to the diagram. Jiro. Didn't ask! | told them you were away.
JIRO (0.S.) JIRO The feet of two men descend the stairs of the
And maintenance will be easy with a hinge on (coming down the ladder - to Kurokawa) main building. White shoes and trousers.
one side. Yes?
263
The white-suited men jump into a black car. KUROKAWA HATTORI
The car pulls away. [Jiro is being investigated (frustrated) Okay, Jiro.
due to his friendliness toward Castorp, who Mmm!
may be a spy working for the Soviets. The Jiro struggles up from his hiding place
model would be the real-life spy Richard Kurokawa closes the door reluctantly and between Hattori and Kurokawa. Both men
Sorge.] goes to the table to see what's just arrived. peer warily out of the car, like secret agents
on a mission.
Kurokawa watches them go from the window Jiro’s hands, opening the box. Newspaper is
of a room on the third floor. Jiro sits at a table packed around an object. Jiro pulls the paper JIRO
behind him. away to reveal a dull-silver metal object. (exhales with relief)
KUROKAWA Everyone peers into the box. HATTORI

(watching the car) You should keep a low profile for a few days
They’re just pretending to leave. DAIKICHI just in case.
We won't fall for that. You’ll work up here (impressed reaction)
today. I’m having your things brought in. HATTORI
Jiro gently lifts an extruded Duralumin flange We’ll try to smooth things over.
JIRO from the box and examines it carefully.
Why are they after me? KUROKAWA
| don’t understand. SONE I'll put you up at my house.
It’s perfect.
Kurokawa walks to the door and puts his hand JIRO
on the knob. CHUKICHI But... can we stop by my apartment and
Yeah, | wish we’d had that a year ago. check my mail?
KUROKAWA
They arrested some of my friends. None of KUBO HATTORI
them understood why. What do you think, Jiro? (looks at Jiro intently)
Is it sensitive?
A knock. Kurokawa puts his ear to the door as JIRO
if listening for the code word. (happily) JIRO
Our next plane will be a full-grown duck, not Yes, it’s very sensitive.
KUROKAWA a duckling.
(whispers) KUROKAWA
Quietly. SONE/KUBO/DAIKICHI/CHUKICHI The police will be opening all your mail.
(laugh)
Two cheerful young engineers, SONE and JIRO
KUBO, enter carrying a drawing board, KUBO It’s from my fiancée.
tracing paper, etc. A full metal duck.
Kurokawa’s mouth opens in astonishment.
SONE SONE
(loudly) Mr. Kurokawa, what do you think? JIRO
Here’s your stuff! (half to himself - indignant)
KUROKAWA This is outrageous. Such things shouldn’t
SONE (takes the flange from Jiro) happen in a modern country.
(putting Jiro’s things on the table) | think it’s quite a luxury to use extruded
| think we got everything. aluminum alloy. HATTORI
(bursts out laughing)
KUBO KUROKAWA You’re engaged?
I'll go back and check. (to everyone)
That's it. Back to work. HATTORI
KUROKAWA (goes on laughing)
(loudly) REEL 6
No, just leave it and go! KUROKAWA
Dusk. Workers stream out the gate of the You’re human after all!
As Kurokawa stands by the open door, Mitsubishi plant on foot and bicycle. A car
another young man (DAIKICHI) rushes in with pulls through the gate. The windows are open. HATTORI
a wooden box, followed by CHUKICHI. Hattori and Kurokawa are in the back seat. | can’t believe it!
DAIKICHI KUROKAWA KUROKAWA

Jiro, the flange is here! (looking behind them) | thought you would marry an airplane!
The coast looks clear.
CHUKICHI HATTORI/KUROKAWA/DRIVER
Let’s take a look! (laugh heartily)
264
JIRO
That’s not funny.
KUROKAWA
(serious again)
Of course it’s not funny. The police are
waiting for you at your apartment. If they
want to read your love letters, let them!
HATTORI
Jiro, we need you to re-focus on the fighter
project.
HATTORI
That’s why we sent you away to rest after the
crash.
Jiro becomes increasingly panicked as he listens to Kurokawa.
HATTORI
The company will do everything to protect Day. A telephone on the wall in a corridor of JIRO
you— the house rings. Mrs. Kurokawa runs to the Yes.
phone.
Jiro’s indignant expression changes to
Kurokawa at his desk in the office.
concern as he realizes the seriousness of his Jiro’s room. Mrs. Kurokawa appears in the
predicament. doorway. KUROKAWA
“Nahoko... has had a lung...”
Kurokawa completes Hattori’s words: MRS. KUROKAWA
Jiro, you have a telephone call. Close-up of the telegram.
KUROKAWA
If you keep your mind on your work. Jiro is sitting at the table working on KUROKAWA (0.S.)
something. “Hemorrhage. Satomi.”
Jiro writes a letter with a fountain pen. The
page reads: JIRO Jiro’s vision of Nahoko’s hemorrhage. Blood
Coming... spills onto a canvas.
JIRO (V.0.)
| can’t bear being apart from you. Why do Mrs. Kurokawa shows Jiro to the phone. The Nahoko on her hill above the reservoir in
you suppose the police are looking for Mr. receiver is off the hook. Karuizawa. Blood pours from her mouth onto
Castorp?
the canvas.
MRS. KUROKAWA
Jiro in his room at Kurokawa’s house, seated The telephone is there. Jiro is dazed. He stands holding the receiver.
before a low table. He stops his pen and looks
into the distance. JIRO KUROKAWA (0.S.)
Thank you, Mrs. Kurokawa. Jiro? Are you still there?
JIRO (V.O.) (picks up receiver)
He left so suddenly. Hello? JIRO
(mechanically)
Flashback. Jiro and Nahoko out for a walk Mrs. Kurokawa withdraws. Thank you. | have to go.
at the resort. A car honks its horn. They turn
to see Castorp flash by in an open car. He KUROKAWA (0.S.) KUROKAWA (0.S.)
raises a hand in farewell. Nahoko waves back, Jiro? It’s me. You have a telegram. (as Jiro hangs up)
followed by a slightly dazed Jiro (Castorp
Jiro, wait...
hadn’t told them about his departure). JIRO
(numb) Jiro hangs up and stands there stunned. Mrs.
Jiro continues writing. Yes? Kurokawa approaches him.
JIRO (V.0.) KUROKAWA (0.S.) MRS. KUROKAWA

| pray every day that he managed to leave Your landlord received it two days ago and (concerned)
Japan safely. brought it here just now. What is it?
Night. From Kurokawa’s garden, Jiro can be JIRO On hearing her voice, Jiro comes to his
seen writing. MRS. KUROKAWA brings Jiro a Would you read it? senses.
cup of tea.
KUROKAWA (0.S.) JIRO

Now? What’s the quickest way to get to Tokyo?
265
MRS. KUROKAWA NAHOKO Take care, darling.
Tokyo? Today? Darling!
JIRO
JIRO They embrace. She strokes his hair. Sleep well.
Yes. | have to be there as soon as possible.
They kiss. SATOMI
MRS. KUROKAWA I'll see you out.
Let me see. If you take the noon bus you can JIRO
catch the express. |’ll send someone to hold I’m sorry | wasn’t here sooner. The two men exit through the door to the
the bus for you. Go get your things. garden as Nahoko watches them go.
NAHOKO
JIRO (murmurs sadly) SATOMI (0.S.)
Thank you! You'll catch it. You'd better hurry if you're going to catch the
last train, Jiro.
MRS. KUROKAWA JIRO
(walks off, calling her servant) You're beautiful. Satomi and Jiro stand at the front gate.
Jiya! Quickly! She shakes her head sadly (No, I’m not
beautiful.) JIRO
Jiro dashes back to his room and begins | wish | could look after her, Mr. Satomi. She
changing frantically into street clothes. His JIRO looks so pale.
eyes well up with tears. He’s in such a hurry | love you.
that he has difficulty buttoning his shirt. He SATOMI
tramples on his papers and falls over, but She holds him tight. Her eyes fill with tears. The last thing Nahoko wants is to be a burden
is in such a hurry that he doesn’t care. He to you. You'd better go.
throws a few things into his briefcase. Satomi removes his shoes in the entryway as
the head maid takes his hat and briefcase. Jiro bows and leaves. Satomi watches him go.
The bus waiting at the bus stop. The
conductor leans out the door impatiently. Jiro SATOMI Nahoko sits on her bed looking down at her
comes running and boards the bus. The door Jiro? Through the garden? lap. The sound of Satomi’s clogs from the
closes and the bus drives off in a cloud of garden. He enters.
dust. The elderly servant sent to hold the bus Satomi, now changed out of his street
bows. clothes, goes down the corridor toward SATOMI
Nahoko’s room. He knocks on the doorframe, Nahoko? Are you all right?
The express to Tokyo crosses an iron bridge. then enters the room.
Satomi comes and sits in the chair next to
Jiro sits in the open air on the steps of the NAHOKO (0.S.) Nahoko.
car outside the passenger compartment. He (laughs happily)
works his slide rule and makes notations Come in, Father. NAHOKO
using his briefcase as a desk. Tears fall on I’m going to the sanatorium in the mountains.
the paper. Nahoko sits on her bed. Jiro sits in a chair The one the doctor recommended.
next to the bed.
Jiro’s tears flow freely. The wind blows them SATOMI
away. The express races toward Tokyo. NAHOKO But why? It’s so far. You’Il be there by yourself.
Look! Look who’s here!
Evening, around nine p.m. Yoyogi-Uehara Jiro came all the way from Nagoya. But he NAHOKO
Station, Tokyo. A train pulls in. Jiro gets off has to leave right away. Because | want to get better, Father. | want to
and hurries toward Nahoko’s house. have a life with Jiro.
Jiro stands and nods to Satomi.
A large, Western-style residence. Jiro spots Jiro walks through the dark neighborhood.
a light in a room looking out on the garden. JIRO
He enters the front gate and makes his way (to Nahoko) Morning. Jiro and Kurokawa hurry to meetings
where the French doors of the room face the I'll use the front door next time. at Mitsubishi headquarters. Jiro is straight
garden. off the night train from Tokyo and his suit is
NAHOKO wrinkled.
Nahoko lies under a coverlet in bed, eyes The garden is faster.
are closed. She senses a presence and looks KUROKAWA
toward the garden. Jiro climbs the steps from JIRO Just made it.
the garden. He sees Nahoko, kicks his shoes (gently) (0.S.)
off, and runs toward her. Okay, the garden it is. The whole board is waiting.
Nahoko is surprised and overjoyed. He throws NAHOKO The boardroom. Some directors read
himself into her arms. (they touch hands) the Navy’s specifications for its fighter
competition for 1934. Others are arguing.
[The specifications for the aircraft, which
266
became the Mitsubishi A5M, called for
a seemingly impossible combination of
capabilities.] Hattori is present, and along
with Kurokawa is looking very tense. Jiro
seems confident and relaxed.
BOARD MEMBERS
(talking at once)
PRESIDENT
(to Jiro)
So, are you ready?
Jiro smiles dutifully and sits ramrod straight.
JIRO
I'll do my best. The design takes off into the air.
Jiro and Kurokawa stride down the hall to landing gear, etc. The department is clustered JIRO (0.S.)
another conference room. around Jiro in a semicircle. It is built to reach two hundred and seventy
knots.
KUROKAWA DESIGN TEAM
Now the Navy. They’re the client. (hearty laughter) DAIKICHI
That’s five hundred kilometers an hour!
A group of naval officers argue over whether JIRO
the specifications are appropriate. [At the ...S0 | gave up on that idea. Kurokawa and Hattori, standing behind the
time, there was little consensus within the circle, look astonished.
Japanese Imperial Navy as to what sort of DESIGN TEAM
fighter was needed.] (laugh) KUBO
| thought the Navy only asked for two twenty
NAVAL OFFICERS Kurokawa stands by the door with a dour knots?
(ad lib - arguing about the prime requirements expression. He’d like to participate but holds
for a fighter) himself back—it’s time for the new generation JIRO
to show what it can do. Hattori peeks in. (confident - smiling)
NAVAL OFFICER A Two twenty will be obsolete by next week.
It needs more firepower! DESIGN TEAM
More artillery! (laugh) DESIGN TEAM (0.S.)
More guns! (chuckle)
HATTORI
NAVAL OFFICER B Everyone’s here rather late. JIRO
Speed! It must have speed! The wing load is one hundred and twenty
KUROKAWA kilos per square meter.
NAVAL OFFICER C Jiro doing a review with the team.
It must look imposing! Threatening! Like a DESIGN TEAM
hawk! HATTORI (impressed/surprised reactions)
(intrigued)
JIRO Oh? JIRO
(same delivery) Minimal drag is the key...
I'll do my best. The design team gazes up at Jiro with fire in
their eyes, eagerly taking in every word he JIRO (0.S.)
Jiro and Kurokawa walk quickly down the says. Jiro is in his element. | pushed the design to the limits of
corridor. technology.
JIRO
KUROKAWA | wanted this design to use the latest A vision of a silver aircraft. Landing gear
You weren't even listening. aeronautical advances. Take a look. descend from the wings. The lines suggest
Jiro’s future Zero fighter, the Mitsubishi A6M.
JIRO Jiro points to a sketch of retractable landing
Nope. gear. The fighter’s split flaps descend, changing the
flow of air over the wings.
Night. The design room. Jiro stands in front SONE (0.S.)
of an easel with a large sheet of tracing Retractable undercarriage!?
paper tacked to it. The paper is covered with
calculations and da Vinci-like drawings of
different airplane designs—wing sections,
267
JIRO (0.S.) KUROKAWA DESIGN TEAM
With split flaps, and slats on the leading (disappointed) (raising hands)
edges. He nearly had it. Question!
| have a question!
With slats deployed, the airflow at the wing JIRO (etc.)
tips moves smoothly over the wing. (taking charge)
But we are not going to give up because our Hattori and Kurokawa walk down the dimly lit
The silver fighter flies over the heads of the engines are underpowered. Instead we'll build corridor outside the design room.
design team. They turn to watch it fly slowly a light, strong airframe.
past. HATTORI
JIRO (0.S.) | must say, that was interesting.
A vast green landscape. The fighter flies low We’ll cut every ounce of excess weight and
over the ground. Its entire skin is Duralumin. minimize drag with a smooth skin. KUROKAWA
The resemblance to the future Zero fighter is It was inspiring.
striking. JIRO (0.S.)
We’re going to build an all-metal fighter, boys. Winter. A sanatorium at the foot of the
A deep blue ocean. The fighter flies low, Like nothing the world has ever seen. Yatsugatake range in Nagano Prefecture.
overtaking a destroyer and a torpedo boat that On the sun deck, TB patients are lined up
are trailing white wakes. The team erupts, excited. on lounge chairs, wearing woolen caps and
wrapped in blankets.
End of vision. The design room returns. DESIGN TEAM (0.S.)
The team is elated. A variety of reactions: (raise hands) One of the patients is Nahoko. A nurse brings
laughing, talking, nodding, looks of resolve. | have a question! her mail.
Kurokawa is deeply impressed. (etc.)
But how can we cut more drag? NURSE
DESIGN TEAM Today’s letter, Miss Satomi.
(excited buzz) JIRO
Whoah! (holds up a hand for silence) NAHOKO
Mr. Hirayama, if you please. (takes the letter)
DESIGN TEAM Thank you.
(excited buzz) HIRAYAMA leaves his place in the circle and
Come on! What's stopping us!? faces them. Under the blanket, Nahoko opens the
envelope and starts reading the letter. Her
JIRO JIRO face darkens with disappointment as she
(thoughtful - looks at his calculations) Mr. Hirayama is our production engineer. reads. Snowflakes begin swirling in the air.
Well, weight becomes the big problem. Her face appears from under the blankets.
HIRAYAMA Her expression is sad. It starts snowing in
The room falls silent. The team looks (bows) earnest.
expectantly at Jiro. Thank you.
Dawn. The sky outside the sanatorium is cold
JIRO JIRO and clear.
(smiling) He's going to tell us about the new rivets he’s
We could always leave out the guns. developing. The main entrance. The door opens quietly
and Nahoko steps out, dressed for cold
DESIGN TEAM HIRAYAMA weather. She closes the door softly and
(laugh) | believe it is possible to match the strength hurries away toward town and the train
of conventional rivets with rivets that are station.
HATTORI/DESIGN TEAM flush.
(laugh) The design room at Mitsubishi. The room is
HATTORI full of energy. Everyone is working hard.
Kurokawa is silent, but deeply moved. (whispers)
What is he talking about? Jiro reviews a drawing as a young engineer
JIRO passionately explains his idea. An ASSISTANT
So | decided to put this design on the shelf. KUROKAWA approaches the desk.
(whispers)
DESIGN TEAM A new way to cut drag. ASSISTANT
(various reactions: laughter, surprise, Chief, you have a phone call.
applause) JIRO
We're going to skin the entire plane with flush JIRO
HATTORI rivets to make a nimble, fast aircraft. Ill call back.
(to Kurokawa)
Too bad. Great idea. ASSISTANT
| think it’s an emergency.
268
The offices of the design department. Jiro is
on the phone.
JIRO
Hello, Mr. Satomi. Good to hear from you.
(tensing)
Yes? What?
Dusk. Nagoya Station. Trains arrive and

depart.
The passenger compartment of a train

approaching the platform. People stand and
gather their luggage to debark. Nahoko sits
looking out the window, tense and expectant.
In the fading light, the train pulls slowly into Kurokawa: “| simply can’t approve of an unmarried couple living together.”
the station. It stops and passengers debark,
laden with luggage. Nahoko is the last off. Night. Nahoko and Jiro in a taxi heading for JIRO
She steps onto the platform as people stream the suburbs. We will marry tonight. Mr. Kurokawa, Mrs.
by and looks uncertainly around her. She
Kurokawa—will you please be our witnesses?
starts walking. The entryway of the Kurokawa residence. Jiro
opens the door and steps inside, followed by KUROKAWA
Jiro pushes through the crowd on the platform. Nahoko. He closes the sliding glass door. (dumbfounded)
He spots Nahoko and runs toward her,
What!? Tonight!? We—!!
bumping into people going the other way. She Mrs. Kurokawa meets them in the entryway.
sees him. They run into each other's arms. MRS. KUROKAWA
MRS. KUROKAWA (interrupting)
NAHOKO You must be Nahoko. We would be honored, dear! Nahoko was very
(face buried in his chest) brave to travel all this way to be with Jiro.
Jiro! Jiro! NAHOKO
(bows) NAHOKO
JIRO Pleased to meet you. (glances thankfully at Mrs. K)
(takes her hands in his)
My doctors know about this.
I’m here, now. I’m here. MRS. KUROKAWA And my father has given his blessing.
I’m glad you’re here.
He puts his arm around her.
JIRO
KUROKAWA Please help us.
JIRO (joining them)
Are you all right? Can you walk? Jiro? Kurokawa is stunned. His wife nods to the
(ALT) couple.
Are you all right, my love? Can you walk? JIRO
Mr. and Mrs. Kurokawa, we have a request. MRS. KUROKAWA
NAHOKO
(to Mr. K)
(smiles and nods) The main room of the residence. Nahoko and The bride and | have work to do, and so do
Mm-hm.
Jiro sit opposite Kurokawa, across a sunken you.
hearth. A kettle steams over-the charcoal. (to Nahoko - standing up)
JIRO Mrs. Kurokawa sits to her husband’s right. Come, Nahoko.
Come.
KUROKAWA Outside the main room. Shadows on the shoji

Jiro and Nahoko walk along the platform. Hmm... doors. The door opens and Mrs. Kurokawa
steps out, followed by Nahoko.
NAHOKO MRS. KUROKAWA
I’m going right back. | just needed to see you. (hands him a cup of tea) MRS. KUROKAWA
We have plenty of room, dear. (cheerfully but quietly)
JIRO Don’t mind him, he’s always like that.
Don’t go back. KUROKAWA
(serious) In the main room the men are silent. Steam
She looks up at him with surprise. This is | know that we have the room! That’s not the rises from the kettle. The clock’s pendulum
more than she hoped for. problem at all. | simply can’t approve of an swings back and forth.
unmarried couple living together.
JIRO
We should be together. Mrs. Kurokawa smiles at Nahoko.
269
KUROKAWA (nervous - he forgets to use the formal style) NAHOKO
If you care about her at all, Jiro, you'll send If that’s what she wants, come in. This feels like a wonderful dream.
her back on the morning train. The room is spinning.
MRS. KUROKAWA
JIRO Then they shall exchange vows. JIRO
I'd have to give up the fighter project, Better get some rest, then.
Mr. Kurokawa. Because | would go with her. She opens the door wider, revealing Nahoko.
NAHOKO
KUROKAWA Nahoko stands before Jiro in her wedding (gently)
(sharply) finery. He gasps, jumps up, and helps her Come here.
Is that your heart or your ego talking? over to their seats on the floor. Mrs. Kurokawa
(ALT) enters. JIRO
Is that your heart or your head talking? But... are you sure?
JIRO
JIRO (eyes misting) NAHOKO
Nahoko doesn’t have much time. We’ve made You are beautiful. (throws back her futon)
our decision. Come here.
Mrs. Kurokawa closes the door. Sake is
Kurokawa is silent for a moment. He stands poured into the nuptial cup. Nahoko slowly Jiro turns off the ceiling light and disappears
up. raises it to her lips and sips. She offers out of frame.
it to Jiro. He takes it and drinks the rest,
KUROKAWA not knowing the proper procedure. Nahoko A balmy autumn day. A bus moves along
| see. rises and moves to sit before Mr. and Mrs. the same road Jiro and Nahoko took to the
Kurokawa. She places her hands before her Kurokawa house.
KUROKAWA on the tatami, preparing to bow. Jiro hurriedly
(joyous resolve - almost shouting) follows her example. Nahoko bows deeply Kayo on the bus. She’s wearing a beret and
All right. On with the wedding! before the Kurokawas. has a package wrapped in cloth on her lap.
Against a background of swirling snowflakes, Nahoko raises her eyes to the witnesses. She signals the conductress that she wants to
Mrs. Kurokawa proceeds slowly along a get off. She stands and looks out the window
connecting corridor, holding a lantern and NAHOKO at the farmland passing by.
followed by Nahoko, who wears an improvised Mr. Kurokawa, Mrs. Kurokawa. All Jiro and
wedding gown garlanded with flowers. | have in this world is each other. | cannot The bus stop. Kayo gets off the bus. It drives
thank you enough for letting us into your on. She starts walking.
Kurokawa sees them approaching. He’s home. We will never forget our debt to you.
holding a tray with a bottle of sake and a cup REEL 7
for the nuptial exchange. She bows again, hiding her tears.
Kayo sits alone by the hearth in the main
KUROKAWA MRS. KUROKAWA room of the Kurokawa home. It is around
Here they come. Come now, there is no debt to repay. eleven p.m.
We are both happy that you have found each
Jiro waits in his room for the arrival of his other. She hears someone returning and turns.
bride. Kurokawa rushes in with the tray, (touches Mr. K lightly) Jiro opens the door. He’s carrying a large
closes the shoji door and takes his seat. Aren’t we, dear? document tube, hat, coat, and briefcase. As
he closes the door, he notices Kayo.
KUROKAWA KUROKAWA
She’s coming! (trying to hold back tears) JIRO (0.S.)
Yes... yes! Kayo!
Mrs. Kurokawa and Nahoko approach the You’re both very... brave. This is wonderful.
shoji door to the room. Mrs. Kurokawa kneels KAYO
and slides open the door, holding the lantern. Clouds move through the night sky, lit by the (completely steamed)
full moon. You’re going to tell me you completely forgot
MRS. KUROKAWA | was coming?
Hear me. | bring to you a lovely maiden who Jiro’s room, seen from the moonlit garden. He
has come from the mountains to be with her closes the shutters. JIRO
beloved. She has given up everything for him. (coming into the room)
What say you? Jiro and Nahoko’s outer garments hang on a Yes. |... completely forgot... you were coming.
rack in the bedroom. Nahoko is already in her
KUROKAWA futon. He sits down by the hearth.
(nervous)
Hear me. The man | present is an insensitive JIRO
chucklehead without even a home to call his You must be exhausted.
own.
270
KAYO
You're so insensitive.
(ALT)
I’m not surprised.
She bows formally. He returns the bow.
JIRO
Congratulations on finishing medical school.
KAYO
Congratulations on your marriage.
| came to thank the Kurokawas on behalf of
the family.
JIRO
Are they still up?
Mrs. Kurokawa: “Then they shall exchange vows.”
KAYO
They've gone to bed. I’m glad you’re here. for me.
(spreads her arms)
JIRO He leaves her sitting by the hearth. (happily)
So you met Nahoko? | feel like a part of your family.
Nahoko lies in her futon in the darkened
KAYO bedroom. She opens her eyes and looks In the bedroom, Jiro puts a cloth over the
Yes. toward the door. It opens. Light from the next light hanging from the ceiling. Nahoko is
room. back in her futon.
Angry, formality ends as Kayo exclaims:
Jiro stands in the door. JIRO
KAYO Is that too bright?
Jiro, what are you going to do!? She’s alone in JIRO
that room all day! (softly) NAHOKO
I’m home. (smiles)
KAYO No, that’s fine.
You wouldn't know it because you come home NAHOKO
so late! And she puts rouge on her cheeks in | must have dozed off. A circle of light falls on the table next to the
the morning so you won’t worry! futon. Jiro sits at the table and extracts a
JIRO sheaf of plans from the tube. He stares at
KAYO Go back to sleep. them intently.
Nahoko’s condition is much worse than you
think, Jiro! | know because at school I’ve He closes the door. JIRO
watched people... | have to finish the design by tomorrow.
(starts to sob) In the next room, Jiro is taking off his shirt.
She's my sister, now. And | really like her. Nahoko enters and puts a robe over his NAHOKO
How can you do this to her? shoulders. Your mackerel bones?
Jiro just gazes at her without answering. JIRO JIRO

Oh please don’t get up. (laughs)
KAYO (CONT'D) You remembered. | think | have a way to
Does she really have to stay here? NAHOKO make it a bit lighter.
| want to. Did you see your sister?
JIRO NAHOKO
Yes. JIRO Come a little closer.
Yes.
JIRO JIRO
Because each day is very precious to us now. NAHOKO (moving the table closer)
(folding his clothes) Mm-hm.
Kayo looks stricken as the implications of this | like her a lot. Confident and strong.
sink in. She’s got such a bright future. Nahoko’s hand appears from under the futon.
| told her | wanted her to be my doctor.
JIRO NAHOKO (0.S.)
Get some rest. We can talk more in the NAHOKO Give me your hand.
morning. And she brought me a gift from your mother.
(beat) This nightgown and robe, see? She made it Jiro puts his left hand in hers. She holds it
tight.
Al
NAHOKO Jiro lights a cigarette with one hand and JIRO
| like to look at you while you work. exhales a cloud of smoke. But what about the wings?
Jiro uses his free hand to work the slide rule. Night. The Mitsubishi assembly plant. Two HONJO
He puts it down and jots some figures. workers install rivets on Jiro’s prototype That’s what keeps me up at night. The wings
fighter. The wing assembly is held in place still carry all the fuel. And | can’t shield them
JIRO with clamps. Honjo appears and strolls because she has to fly over 1800 miles with a
In a contest for one-handed slide rule users |’d around the plane, inspecting it. Jiro talks huge payload. We can’t add even an ounce of
win first prize for sure. to one of the workers as they peer at the weight.
undercarriage.
JIRO A formation of Honjo’s bombers. Each carries
Look at that. | think | can make each rib half JIRO bombs on racks under the fuselage.
an ounce lighter. Hey, Honjo.
HONJO (0.S.)
NAHOKO HONJO So without a redesign, Japan’s first advanced
Really? That’s good. Can | take a look? bomber only needs two or three hits and
she’ll burn like a torch.
JIRO JIRO
Thirty ribs almost make a pound. Sure. | hear good things about your heavy In the air somewhere in China. Smoke
bomber. rises from a bombing attack on a city. The
NAHOKO formation of bombers approach the city. A
See, | knew it. HONJO swarm of Soviet-made i15 fighters attacks the
It’s not bad. bombers. A few tracer bullets strike the wing
NAHOKO of a bomber. It bursts into flame and plunges
You work better when you’re holding my hand. HONJO earthward.
(walking around the plane)
Jiro is trying to concentrate, but Nahoko is She’s beautiful, Jiro. Like a work of art. Jiro and Honjo walking side by side.
making it hard for him.
HONJO JIRO
JIRO (stroking the metal skin) Who are they going to bomb?
(jotting figures - murmurs) The infamous flush riveting.
You’re right. If only | could leave my hand HONJO
here for the test flight. HONJO (0.S.) China. Russia. Britain. The Netherlands.
Feels a little rough. America.
He looks at her and leans toward her
suddenly. He gives her a kiss. JIRO JIRO
Yeah, we’re still learning how to do it. Japan wil/ blow up.
JIRO
I'll keep holding your hand. You should get HONJO The men reach the entrance to the building.
some sleep. You'll get it. You’ve already left the Germans
behind. I’m still stuck with them. HONJO
NAHOKO We're not arms merchants. We just want to
You won’t let go? HONJO build good aircraft.
This design is classic Jiro, right down to the
JIRO mackerel bones. JIRO
No. | won’t let go. You're right.
HONJO
Jiro works on his plans. Minutes pass in Hey, pal. Is it all right if | use your flush rivets HONJO
silence. and that spring loaded hatch? (walking off)
See you, pal. | need to lie down.
JIRO JIRO
| need a cigarette. Can | let go for a minute? Of course. JIRO
(going inside)
NAHOKO The two friends walk from the assembly Sleep well, all right?
No. Smoke here. building toward the design department.
Jiro at his desk. The other engineers are
JIRO JIRO heading home.
It's not good for you. A redesign?
DESIGNER A
NAHOKO HONJO We’re calling it a day, boss.
| don’t care. Yeah. | wanted to redo the whole thing, but
they’ll only let me touch the fuselage. DESIGNER B
Good night, sir.
272
JIRO
Night.
Dusk. The cherry trees are blooming in the

Kurokawas’ garden.
Nahoko in her futon in the dim light of the

bedroom. He sits quietly next to her.
She opens her eyes and smiles. She’s lost

weight.
NAHOKO
Welcome home.
JIRO
My plane’s finished. Now we’ll see how she Naoko: “I’m sure it will fly beautifully.” Jiro: “Yes, she will.”
flies.
Dawn. A team of oxen transport Jiro’s NAHOKO
NAHOKO prototype to the field. Jiro kisses Nahoko Yes. I'll be back soon.
Congratulations. You've worked so hard. goodbye.
She picks up her coat and hat and goes out.
He lies down next to her with his arm for a JIRO
pillow. I'm off. Nahoko steps out the front door. She closes
the door quietly, puts her hat on, and walks
JIRO NAHOKO out of the gate with her hands in her pockets
The oxen are taking her to the field now. 1’ll Good luck. and down the road.
probably have to spend a few nights there.
Jiro waves his hat to Nahoko as he heads off. A bus drives along the same road. Inside the
NAHOKO Nahoko waves to him until he is out of sight. bus, Kayo glances out the window and sees
You must be tired, my love. Nahoko. She leaps to her feet in surprise;
The main room of the house. Mrs. Kurokawa Nahoko is quite far from the house. Nahoko
JIRO and her staff are preparing a celebratory meal crosses the road and disappears.
(closes his eyes) for the anticipated successful flight. Mrs.
Just a little. Kurokawa looks up to see Nahoko. The entryway of the house. Kayo has just
given Mrs. Kurokawa her report.
Nahoko strokes his face. He’s dropping off MRS. KUROKAWA
already. Nahoko. You’re up. MRS. KUROKAWA
(pale - concerned)
NAHOKO Nahoko is wearing the same clothes she Then please come in.
I’m sure it will fly beautifully. arrived in. Her coat and hat are on the floor
beside her. Kayo hurriedly steps out of her shoes.
JIRO
Yes, she will. NAHOKO Mrs. Kurokawa hurries down the corridor to
Yes, I’m feeling much better today, Mrs. Nahoko’s room, followed by Kayo.
He opens his eyes sleepily and gazes at her. Kurokawa, so | thought I'd take a walk.
She throws the door open.
JIRO MRS. KUROKAWA
| couldn’t have done it without you here. Be careful. Don’t tire yourself out. It’s a big MRS. KUROKAWA
day. Oh no.
NAHOKO
| love you, Jiro. NAHOKO The room is tidy and neat.
| won't.
JIRO Mrs. Kurokawa sinks to the floor. Kayo spots
(drops off) NAHOKO something in the next room.
Nahoko... The room’s still a mess. But I'll straighten up
when | get back. Kayo finds three letters on the table, one each
The next moment he’s asleep. Nahoko gently addressed to her, Jiro and Mrs. Kurokawa.
removes his glasses and puts them next to MRS. KUROKAWA
her pillow. All right. Kayo’s coming today, you know. For KAYO
her brother’s celebration. She left letters! This one is for me.
She moves her futon to cover Jiro. She lies on
her side next to him and puts an arm over him.
273
Kayo takes the letter addressed to her from TIMEKEEPER Jiro smiles.
the envelope. She quickly scans the letter The numbers are off the charts! We’re
and turns pale. checking them again. The team continues to cheer. Spring, 1935.
Japan’s first modern fighter is born.
KAYO Jiro keeps looking at the sky.
She says she’s going back to the sanatorium! 1945. B-29s send contrails across the sky
I'll find her! HATTORI above a city ablaze.
(yells)
Kayo rushes past Mrs. Kurokawa, still holding How fast!? Jiro’s dream. A field covered with aircraft
the letter. Mrs. Kurokawa is leaning against wreckage. A solitary figure picks his way
the door frame as if stricken by the situation. TIMEKEEPER (0.S.) through the wreckage.
She calls to Kayo in a commanding voice. Two four oh.
Scraps of Duralumin protrude from the long
MRS. KUROKAWA KUROKAWA grass. The grass waves in the wind.
No. Let her go. (surprised)
Two forty! Jiro walks slowly among the wreckage. He
Kayo stops and turns. She looks about to cry. climbs a hill. The setting sun lights the
Everyone except Jiro runs over to the clouds from below.
MRS. KUROKAWA timekeeper’s table to confirm the results. Jiro
We shouldn’t do anything until her train watches as the fighter descends for landing. Caproni waits at the top of the hill. He turns
leavés. and calls to Jiro.
(after a pause) The plane comes in for a landing.
She wants him to remember her as she was. CAPRONI
Jiro’s face shines with pride. He suddenly We meet again, Japanese boy.
Kayo looks torn. She runs off. starts, as if someone whispered in his ear.
He turns and looks behind him. [Note: It JIRO
She dashes out of the house and looks down is a few days after Nahoko quietly left the Hello, Mr. Caproni.
the road. Kurokawa residence. Jiro has a premonition
of her death here.] They stand together at the top of the hill.
Kayo stands in the middle of the road holding
Nahoko’s letter. The fighter is over the strip. Jiro isn’t JIRO
watching—he’s staring off into the distance. | remember this place.
KAYO He seems dazed. The rest of the group runs This is where we first met.
(brokenhearted sobbing) past him toward the fighter, which is now on
the ground. Everyone is overjoyed. Hattori CAPRONI
The spring countryside passes by the window looks up from the timing data and grins. Yes. Our kingdom of dreams.
of a train.
TEAM MEMBERS JIRO
Nahoko sits alone looking out the train (cheering, clapping) Now it’s the land of the dead.
window. Unbelievable!
Fantastic! We did it! CAPRONI
Jiro’s fighter prototype on its test flight. It (etc.) Not quite. In some ways, yes. But what about
performs a perfect Immelmann turn. The your ten years in the sun? Did you live them
spring landscape, cherry blossoms, and the The team is throwing their hats in the air. well?
Kiso River spread out below. The fighter is Kurokawa runs up to Jiro.
supremely airworthy. It climbs nimbly toward JIRO
the clouds and emerges into the sunlight. KUROKAWA Yes. Things fell apart toward the end, though.
Hey, Jiro!
Jiro, Kurokawa, and Hattori watch from the CAPRONI
ground along with the mechanics and design Jiro doesn’t respond. Kurokawa grabs his arm That’s what happens when you lose a war.
staff. and turns him toward the plane. There’s your Zero fighter.
HATTORI KUROKAWA A vision. A swarm of Zero fighters flies

Wonderful. Just look at her—a true Japanese Jiro. across the plain. Caproni looks impressed.
fighter. Jiro watches sadly. One of the pilots raises a
The pilot strides rapidly over to Jiro. The staff hand. Jiro waves back. Caproni touches the
Kurokawa turns to the timekeepers a few gathers around them. rim of his hat.
yards away and yells. Hattori turns to look at
the timekeepers too. TEST PILOT The Zeros climb into a cloudless, deep blue
(shakes Jiro’s hand) sky. Thousands of planes stream past high
KUROKAWA She flies like a dream. Thank you. above. The Zeros climb to join them.
What about speed? How did she do?
274
Sunny, healthy Naoko.
Jiro and Caproni watch them go. Jiro’s hand one, just a few months from late 1934 to CAPRONI
falls to his side. early 1935.) She was beautiful, like the wind.
CAPRONI NAHOKO Jiro’s face is ecstatic, like a child again. He

Truly... a masterful design. You must live, darling. gazes in the direction where Nahoko stood.
JIRO Clouds stream by in the strong wind. Jiro JIRO

Not a single one returned. wants to run to her but seems unable to leave (murmurs)
the spot where he’s standing. Thank you. Thank you.
CAPRONI
There was nothing to return to. Airplanes are Nahoko seems to be swaying, flickering. Shadows of clouds moving across the plain.
beautiful, cursed dreams waiting for the sky Caproni beckons to Jiro.
to swallow them up. NAHOKO
You must live. CAPRONI
CAPRONI You must live, Jiro. But now, shall we drop
Someone is waiting for you. Jiro leans forward and nods again and again. by my house? | have some very excellent
wine.
Caproni motions with his jaw. Jiro’s gaze JIRO
follows. (murmurs, acknowledging Nahoko) Together they walk down the hill and out of
sight.
A woman with a white parasol walks toward Nahoko’s face. She looks joyous and relieved.
them around the windswept plain. She The wind blows her hair. END
gets closer—it’s Nahoko. She’s smiling and
waving. The wind carries her parasol into the air. A
blue summer sky with white clouds.
Jiro takes a step forward. The wind is blowing
hard. Nahoko seems to fade away and unite with
the wind.
JIRO
(murmurs) The parasol lies on the grass. The wind
Nahoko... tumbles it over and over. It grows smaller in
the distance and disappears.
CAPRONI
She's been waiting here a long time. Jiro and Caproni look out over the plain.
Clouds stream by.
Nahoko looks young, beautiful, healthy. [Note:
Jiro and Nahoko’s marriage was a very short
Als,
Who has seen the wind?
N ei ni iG
Who has seen the wind? ;
hen thetrees
bow down their heads, aa 7
The song Jiro hums while he is making his paper airplane when he
is in Karuizawa. It is “Who Has Seen the Wind?” by English poet
Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), translated into Japanese by poet
and songwriter Yaso Saijo (1892-1970). It was published in the April
1921 issue of the fairy tale and nursery rhyme magazine Akai Tori.
“Hikoki Gumo
(1973/under the
track on side B. Yu
to her on the piano
Hayashi, and Shiger'
HIKOUKIGUMO
Lyrics : Yumi Arai
Music : Yumi Arai
©1973 by ALFA MUSIC, INC.
For Australia and New Zealand: Sony/ATV )

(ABN 93 080 392 230) Locked Bag 7300, Da
International copyright secured. All rights res
276 : =
PRODUCTION STAFF COLOR DESIGN
Credits SUPERVISING ANIMATOR

Michiyo Yasuda
COLOR SETTING
Kitaro Kosaka Kanako Takayanagi Fumiko Numahata
COLOR SETTING ASSISTANTS
KEY ANIMATION Kazuko Karube Yukie Tamura Yuki Kashima
Takeshi Inamura Akihiko Yamashita Megumi Kagawa DIGITAL INK AND PAINT CHECK
Atsuko Tanaka Kenichi Yamada Eiji Yamamori Misato Aita
Studio Ghibli, Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DYMP, Kazuyoshi Onoda Hiromasa Yonebayashi Masafumi Yokota
Walt Disney Japan, Mitsubishi, Toho and KDDI present Makiko Futaki Hideaki Yoshio Shogo Furuya
Atsushi Tamura Taichi Furumata Fumie Imai DIGITAL INK AND PAINT
KAZE TACHINU (THE WIND RISES) Shunsuke Hirota Satoko Miura Akiyo Okuda Hiromi Takahashi = Naomi Mori Rie Kojo
Katsuya Kondo Shinji Otsuka Hiroaki Ishii Junya Saito Eiko Matsushima
Takeshi Nakamura Yuki Komatsu Tomoya Shinmi
Kazuhide Tomonaga Kiyotaka Oshiyama Yoshimi Itazu Nana Takei
Hideki Hamasu Sachiko Sugino Tsutomu Awada
A Tribute to Jiro Horikoshi and Tatsuo Hori Hiroomi Yamakawa Shinya Ohira Hiroyuki Aoyama Yukiko Kakita Kumi Nanjo Akiko Shimizu
Atsuko Otani Hiroko Minowa Michiyo Suzuki Yoshimi Shibata Natsumi Watanabe _ Natsuko Inohara
Masaaki Endo Kazuki Hoshino Takeshi Honda Yuina lizuka Ritsuki Miyamoto Kotaro Beppu
SUPPORTING DIGITAL INK AND PAINT STUDIO

VOICES ANIMATION CHECK T2 Studio / Kentaro Takahashi
Hitomi Tateno
Hideaki Anno IN-BETWEEN / CLEAN-UP ANIMATION DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL IMAGING

Miori Takimoto Rie Nakagome Akiko Teshima Mayumi Omura Atsushi Okui
Masaya Saito Alexandra Weihrauch Katsutoshi Nakamura
Hidetoshi Nishijima Mariko Matsuo Makiko Suzuki Kaori Fujii DIGITAL CAMERA AND COMPOSITE OPERATORS
Masahiko Nishimura Minoru Ohashi Shinichiro Yamada Moyo Takahashi Junji Yabuta Atsushi Tamura Hidenori Shibahara
Stephen Alpert Asami Ishikado Megumi Higaki Masako Akita COMPUTER GRAPHICS
Masayo Ando Yui Osaki Emi Ota Norihiko Miyoshi Miki Umezawa Yoichi Senzui
Morio Kazama Yasumi Ogura Naoko Kawahara Sachiko Kunitake SPECIAL EFFECTS
Keiko Takeshita Misa Koyasu Kengo Takehana Emi Tamura Keiko ltogawa
Mirai Shida Shoko Nagasawa Tomoyo Nishita Yoshie Noguchi PROGRAMMERS
Jun Kunimura Shiori Fujisawa Yui Matsuura Asako Matsumura Masafumi Inoue Shun lwasawa
Naoya Wada Miki Ito Misaki Kikuta
Shinobu Otake Yuko Tagawa Mitsuki Chiba Yeefeng Chan SUPPORTING DIGITAL CAMERA AND COMPOSITE OPERATORS
Mansai Nomura Ryosuke Tsuchiya Yuka Matsumura Yojiro Arai Assez Finaud Fabric.
Atsuko Okui Kanae Ouchi
Seiko Azuma Sumie Nishido Kiyoko Makita
Katsuhiko Tamura Teruo Seki Yasuhiro Ohara Yayoi Toki Keiko Tomizawa Hisako Yaji
Masahiro Yoshino Yasumasa Oba Akiyoshi Sakurai Maya Fujimori Mariko Suzuki SOUND DESIGNER / SOUND RE-RECORDING MIXER
Tetsuro Ishibashi Fumihiro Awano Kazumasa Sagawa Koji Kasamatsu
Yuichi Saito Tomonori Yanagibashi Kensuke Komai Kumiko Tanihira Yukari Yamaura Mai Nakazato
Akane Fujisaki Haruka Shibuya Ayako Umemura Masami Nakanishi Masakiyo Koyama Akane Otani DIALOGUE RECORDING DIRECTOR
Sascha Berndt Otto Mayu lino Ayaka Saito Yukari Furiya Rie Eyama Eriko Kimura
Kaichi Kaburagi Taichi Umezawa Maki Shinta Kumiko Terada Kaori Ito Yu Okuwaki
Kanako Takagi Kentaro Takagi Setsuya Tanabe Shotaro Imai Natsumi Kan DIALOGUE RECORDING ENGINEER
Ayano Sugai Naoki Fuchigami Ryuji lwabuchi Hajime Takagi
Ryuichi Yamauchi —‘Tatsumasa Shirota Hirofumi Yamada DIALOGUE RECORDING ASSISTANT ENGINEER
Haruyasu Watanabe Shuichi Onda Taichi Sato Shuji Suzuki
FOLEY ARTIST
SUPPORTING ANIMATION STUDIOS Mika Yamaguchi
Anime Torotoro Studio Takuranke Nakamura Production ASSISTANT TO SOUND DESIGNER
Telecom Animation Film Studio Khara Reiji Kitazato
SOUND EFFECTS PRODUCTION
digitalcircus
ART DIRECTOR RE-RECORDING STUDIO
Yoji Takeshige Toho Studios Post-Production Center
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
BACKGROUNDS Fusako Kitagawa
Noboru Yoshida Takashi Omori Yumi Ishii TECHNICAL SUPPORT ASSISTANT
Shiho Sato Yoichi Nishikawa Yoshikazu Fukutome Daisuke Yokoyama
Mitsuo Yoshino Kikuyo Yano Sayaka Hirahara VIDEO PLAYBACK OPERATOR
Ryoko Ina Naomi Kasugai Masako Nakazato Hideho Kikuchi
STUDIO COORDINATOR
Tatsuya Kushida Satoko Nakamura Yuka Nitta Sadaaki Nishinoo Chiaki Tachikawa
Ayae Kanbe Sadaaki Honma Kiyoshi Sameshima CASTING
Yoichi Watanabe Yuxuan Liu Ryuji Hayashi Takuro Okada
SOUND PRODUCTION SUPPORT
HARMONY TREATMENT Tohokushinsha Film —Tokyo T.V. Center
Noriko Takaya Toho Studios Toho Studio Service Nichion
CONDUCTOR, PIANO Hikari Hayama Sueko Numazawa Masako Fujita Hakuhodo DY Media Partners
Joe Hisaishi Kiyoko Tsuge Keiko Kido Shunichi Iwasaki Hisao Omori Akio Kobayashi Yoshikuni Murata
MUSIC PERFORMED BY Tsuneo Sawai Michio Yamamoto _ Toshihiro Komatsu Madoka Hosoya
Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Masato Tachibana
MUSIC RECORDING ENGINEER FINANCE MANAGER
Suminobu Hamada Noriyoshi Tamagawa Walt Disney Japan
MUSIC RECORDED AT ACCOUNTING Paul Candland Takayuki Tsukagoshi Masami Takahashi
Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Victor Studio Takayasu Ito Akio Ichimura Satoshi Otsuka Koji Kishimoto Yuko Muranaka Yukio Yamashita
MUSIC PRODUCTION Hiromi Ito Junko Ito Hidetaka Kokubu Ayako Dan
Wonder City CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT
Maki Fujisawa Yasuhiro Maeda Akiko Suzawa Kazumi Inaki d-rights
SYSTEM MANAGEMENT Daizo Suzuki Toru Itabashi Toshiya Takasaki
SONG Noriyuki Kitakawachi Yugo Hayashi Shoji Makihara Kino Arai Asako Hio
“Das gibt’s nur einmal”
LYRICS BY OVERSEAS PROMOTION MANAGERS Toho
Robert Gilbert Geoffrey Wexler Mikiko Takeda Hideyuki Takai Yoshishige Shimatani Satoshi Chida
COMPOSED BY OVERSEAS PROMOTION Minami Ichikawa Shimpei Ise Taichi Ueda
Werner Richard Heymannn Nao Amisaki Evan Ma Noriko Tsushi Hikaru Onoda
©1931 by Universal Music Publ. Group Germany Satoko Takano
POETRY RECITAL KDDI
“Who has seen the wind?” AUDITOR Makoto Takahashi Toshitake Amamiya Takashi Suga
ORIGINAL POEM BY Hirotaka Nakao Koichi Kawakami Masako Yano Shingo Niori
Christina Rossetti Jun Okabe San Kim Takahiro Kishi
JAPANESE TRANSLATION BY With Gratitude to Tadao and Nobuko Horikoshi Takahiro Hirato
Yaso Saijo (Nippon Columbia)
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Makoto Abe Kaku Arakawa Tomoe lijima ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
EDITING Fumiko Isomae Miyuki Ito Shinsaku Ueda Seiji Okuda Ryoichi Fukuyama —-Naoya Fujimaki
Takeshi Seyama Hitomi Ueno Yoshito Oyama Tomoko Okada
EDITING ASSISTANTS Koichi Katsushima Hiroshi Kadowaki Osamu Kawada
Rie Matsubara Hiromi Sasaki Seigo Kimata Kana Kimura Naho Kimura DIGITAL LAB
Takeyasu Koganezawa Ai Kodama Hideaki Kobayashi IMAGICA
LINE PRODUCER Jiro Koyasu Nobue Saito Yoshichika Sakamoto DATA CONFORM
Tamaki Kojo Toshikazu Sato Yuki Sato Taketoshi Sado Naoto Hosonuma
PRODUCTION DESK Masahiro Shinoki Yasuhiro Suzuki Mami Sunada DATA MANAGEMENT
Yumiko Miyoshi Seiichiro Sekine Tadashi Setomitsu Hideo Tanaka Sho Ogoshi
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Michiko Nagai Atsuhiko Nakata Satoshi Nakano COLOR MANAGEMENT
Kenji Imura Takao Sakamoto Kyohei Ito Keiko Niwa Yoshiyuki Hatori Yasuhisa Harada Wataru Matsumoto Toshiki Yura
Mine Shibuya Emi Gunji Takashi Hiraoka Takahiro Hirao Haruna Hirose DIGITAL CINEMA MASTERING
ASSISTANTS TO THE DIRECTOR Tomomi Fukao Tadahiro Hoshi Satoshi Matsushita Mizue Yamada Takafumi Yano
Ryosuke Kiyokawa Shintaro Nakazawa Hiroshi Miyashita Naoya Moritani Masaki Morita LAB COORDINATION
Maiko Yahata Hiroki Yamamoto Keizo Yoshikawa Yuriko Sato
PRODUCTION MANAGER Katsuhiko Yoshida Norifumi Yoshida Kenichi Yoda LAB MANAGEMENT
Shinsuke Nonaka Monthly Magazine Model Graphix Kazunori Nagasawa
PRODUCTION ADMINISTRATION
Taisei Ishiseko Toshiyuki Kawabata Daisuke Nishikata PROMOTIONAL SPONSOR
Tetsu Shinagawa Minako Nagasawa Yoichiro Kugimiya KDDI
ASSISTANTS TO THE PRODUCER THEME SONG
Nobuko Shiraki Chieko Tamura Yoko thira SPECIAL MEDIA SUPPORT “Hikoki Gumo”
Shuhei Tadano Chiaki Okuda Lawson The Yomiuri Shimbun LYRICS, MUSIC AND PERFORMED BY
PRODUCER IN TRAINING Yumi Arai
Nobuo Kawakami ADVERTISING PRODUCERS (EMI Records Japan)
PUBLIC RELATIONS Akito Takahashi Tomoko Hosokawa
Shin Hashida Setsuko Kurihara Nozomu Ito MUSIC
Yumiko Nishimura Chihiro Tsukue Kazumi Kobayashi ADVERTISING Joe Hisaishi
MERCHANDISING DEVELOPMENT Kenichi Arao Saori Ueda Rieko Matsuki (Original Soundtrack Album / Tokuma Japan Communications)
Tomomi Imai Koichi Asano Mika Yasuda Yukari Nishikawa Yukio Shinohara *Genji Sakai
Naomi Atsuta Kazue Tsukagoshi Yukari Nomura
Masaru Yabe Michiyo Koyanagi Mieko Hara
PUBLISHING MANAGER Hiroshi Yajima Hiroyuki Orihara Aya Maruyama PRODUCTION
Yukari Tai Hajime Murata Aki Tsutagawa Shoichiro Saito Koji Hoshino Studio Ghibli
PUBLISHING Fumino Watanabe
Hisanori Nukada Chikashi Saito Kyoko Hirabayashi
Yuri Morita Masumi Takakura FILM PREVIEW PRODUCTION
SPECIAL EVENTS Keiichi Itagaki PRODUCER
Kazuyoshi Tanaka —-Kan Miyoshi Ryoko Tsutsui Toshio Suzuki
Kenzo Ochiai Takayuki Aoki Ayano Fujiwara
Noriko Takami “THE WIND RISES” PRODUCTION COMMITTEE
Nippon Television Network
PERSONNEL MANAGER Yoshio Okubo Hiroshi Watanabe Tomoko Jo ORIGINAL STORY AND SCREENPLAY WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY
Yuichiro Mochizuki Suzuko Fujimoto Hiroko Miyazaki Nana Keneshima Hayao Miyazaki
STUDIO ADMINISTRATION Naoki Iwasa Naoto Hatakeyama Mayumi Hirakata
Miyuki Shimamiya —_Hisayo Ito Satomi Sasaki
Tamami Yamamoto — Hiroyuki Saito Yukiko Miyasaka Dentsu
Natsuki Ebisawa Miyuki Ishii Saori Uchida Tadashi Ishii Yoshio Takada Toshihiro Yamamoto
Yuko Nomura Ryuhei Yamazaki Tokuko Sato Yutaka Ishikawa Shuichi Machida Ryuichi Ikeda
Masahiro Suzuki Tomomi Hagihara Maho Honobe Akitoshi Maeda Misato Kamei
THE ART OF
THE WIND RISESBased on a Studio Ghibli Film by Hayao Miyazaki
English Adaptation/Jocelyne Allen

Design & Layout/Yukiko Whitley
Copy Editor/Rebecca Downer
Editors/Nick Mamatas, Michael Montesa
Sr. Editorial Director/Masumi Washington
Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises)

Copyright © 2013 Nibariki - GNDHDDTK
All rights reserved.
© 2013 Studio Ghibli

First published in Japan by Studio Ghibli Inc.
No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without
written permission from the copyright holders.
Printed in China
Published by VIZ Media, LLC

1355 Market Street, Suite 200
San Francisco, CA 94103
First printing, April 2014

Second printing, August 2014
Visit www.viz.com
$34.99 USA $39.99 CAN £25.00 UK
ISBN-13: 978-1-4215-7175-1
53499
mepia 9™ 781421 ~ 571751

The Art of The Wind Rises

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RIS

i oes CH an ee eee re THE ART OF

About this book

Jiro Horikoshi (boyhood to middle age)

Older Gianni Caproni

Notes on the Film’s Look

Production for The Wind Rises started in 2008, with Hayao

The main staff on the film consisted of supervising

as, BRR eRe f

(Ao Basi Veo

f77) en. Babes

5/Jiro, the dashing pilot.

Taisho era views

Jiro’s elementary school

Jiro’s elementary school

= NEB nent ORaa a

: Fangs shaw ce BT, Gate farBRae

1/Jiro and Kayo, close siblings. [Concept sketches]

1/An elegant figure like a symbol of the halcyon days

P43-1/Rough sketches of “Uncle Caproni,” as Miyazaki fondly referred to

Miyazaki drew Caproni in his concept sketches, so we pulled him together in

& (e) exe! ca a =

1-4/In Jiro’s dream, he rides in the plane with Caproni.

sire Horikoshi: Twenty Years Old

1/Honjo during his university days. [Character design]

| created the character of Honjo referring to the pictures in the

5/The power units in the front start up.

In the beginning, | started with something cartoonish, which

Concept art Layout

Cel book A Cel book B

Cel book C Cel book D

Cel books and BG

yiro Horikoshi: Twenty-Two Years Old

Tokyo Imperial University

Jiro Horikoshi: Twenty-Four Years Old

1, 2/The Class 9600 steam locomotive Jiro

around by senior e ngineer Kurokawa and grins.

Jiro’s first task

The model for the senior engineer Kurokawa is

Hanriot training aircraft

For scenes with planes flying, even Falcon fighter plane

1/The imposing figure of the G.38 in the enormous Junkers hangar.

1-2/Jiro, having gotten the order to return to Japan, rides an S3/6,

Caproni’s Bomber Both bomber and passenger planes were built,

| decided to do the work here with the

Color design “cast list”

Color design screen

Continued on page 183 |

1, 2/Hosho moving across the ocean.

1/The anchored Nagato can be seen

1-6/The 1MF10 test flight is carried out as Jiro

Tatsuya Kushida was in charge of the scenery for the woods

1/Castorp rough sketches. [Concept sketches]

| paid attention to the depictions of light and shadows, centering

Loading the animation

60 chm Cem &

Loading the background art Checking the finished image

Jiro Horikoshi: Thirty-One Years Old

1/Mitsubishi Ki-1 assembled in the factory.