Manga & Anime

Director of Annie-Nominated ‘Look Back’ Creates Short Film for Disaster-Hit Fukushima Prefecture

Courtesy of the Fukushima prefectural government
An image from “Aka no Kiwoku,” a short film created by Kiyotaka Oshiyama

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:25 JST, March 17, 2025

FUKUSHIMA — A new animation created by Kiyotaka Oshiyama — known as the director of blockbuster anime movie “Look Back” — will be released on March 27 as part of efforts to promote disaster-hit Fukushima Prefecture, the prefectural government said Wednesday.

The short film, titled “Aka no Kiwoku,” is a special project of the Fukushima Map, a publication that provides various information on the prefecture with colorful illustrations.

Courtesy of the Fukushima prefectural government
Kiyotaka Oshiyama

“Look Back,” which became a big hit after landing in theaters in June last year, has received great acclaim, including a nomination for the Annie Awards, a prestigious U.S. award in animation. In addition to directing, Oshiyama also wrote the script and drew the animation for “Aka no Kiwoku.” This new film centers on a single woman who works as a graphic designer in Tokyo and is looking back at her origins. It also features Akabeko, a red cow folk craft of the Aizu region in the prefecture.

When the prefecture was hit hard by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Oshiyama, a native of Motomiya in the prefecture, was working in Tokyo and could not do anything for his family and others affected by the disaster. Such feelings led him to make this film, he said.

“I hope this film will give people an opportunity to reconfirm something crucial that they almost forgot,” Oshiyama said.

The new film can be viewed on the prefectural government’s official YouTube channel and the website of the Fukushima Map Tomonokai, which is in charge of the publication.