Yoshitoshi Shinomiya Opens Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival, Frantically Photographs Presidential Office at Night Fearing Reprimand
Animation director Yoshitoshi Shinomiya attended the Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival in Taiwan to present his debut feature. He shared anecdotes about photographing architecture at night and his views on human creativity in the AI era.
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- 📰 Published: April 10, 2026 at 22:37
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His debut feature animated film, which took 10 years to complete, is the first film he has written, directed, and served as art director for. Shinomiya previously worked on art design for "Your Name" and "The Garden of Words". It is also the first Japanese animation to be nominated for the main competition of one of the three major international film festivals since Hayao Miyazaki and Makoto Shinkai.
In an interview, Yoshitoshi Shinomiya said that after arriving in Taiwan, he ate beef noodle soup. Because he loves buildings, and has a particular fondness for architecture from the Japanese colonial period, "The hotel I stayed at happened to be near the Presidential Office, so I wandered around the Presidential Office until 3 a.m. I kept taking pictures, and was very worried about being scolded or yelled at by the guards."
His film was selected for the main competition at this year's Berlin International Film Festival. Shinomiya noted a difference between European and Japanese audiences during the screening in Berlin: "When screened in Japan, the audience waits until the text cards finish before making a sound, but in Europe, as soon as the movie ends, the audience starts discussing it. This is a very special aspect."
Regarding the impact of AI, Shinomiya said that one day his child was watching an animation and suddenly said, "This is made by humans!" This made him suddenly realize that children care about what humans can do. "Of course I have confusions about the AI generation, but I think what we really need to care about is what humans can still do in such a situation." (Editor: Hsieh Ya-chu) 1150410
In an interview, Yoshitoshi Shinomiya said that after arriving in Taiwan, he ate beef noodle soup. Because he loves buildings, and has a particular fondness for architecture from the Japanese colonial period, "The hotel I stayed at happened to be near the Presidential Office, so I wandered around the Presidential Office until 3 a.m. I kept taking pictures, and was very worried about being scolded or yelled at by the guards."
His film was selected for the main competition at this year's Berlin International Film Festival. Shinomiya noted a difference between European and Japanese audiences during the screening in Berlin: "When screened in Japan, the audience waits until the text cards finish before making a sound, but in Europe, as soon as the movie ends, the audience starts discussing it. This is a very special aspect."
Regarding the impact of AI, Shinomiya said that one day his child was watching an animation and suddenly said, "This is made by humans!" This made him suddenly realize that children care about what humans can do. "Of course I have confusions about the AI generation, but I think what we really need to care about is what humans can still do in such a situation." (Editor: Hsieh Ya-chu) 1150410