Studio Ghibli Finds New President Amid Recent Scandals
It looks like Studio Ghibli is bracing itself against the world as reports continue surfacing about its latest scandal. Not long ago, the anime company came under fire thanks to a controversy involving its theme park, and that scandal was followed by one involving Studio Ghibli's founders. Reports went live alleging Studio Ghibli's longtime president was exiting the company due to conflicts with co-founder Toshio Suzuki. And now, Studio Ghibli has announced Suzuki is stepping up to become the company's president.
The information was shared with fans this week thanks to the official Studio Ghibli website. It was there Studio Ghibli's now ex-president Koji Hoshino addressed his leave. As expected, the president left his post at the end of March, but he will continue working at Studio Ghibli as a shareholders' representative through June.
"I, Koji Hoshino, will resign as a director of Studio Ghibli and leave Ghibli at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in June. Prior to that, I will be retiring from my position as Studio Ghibli's president and chairman at the end of March, but I will continue to serve as a representative until the general meeting of shareholders," the letter reads.
"Since taking office in February 2008, I have been striving to manage the studio for 15 years. With the completion of the film How Do You Live, I decided that this was the only time to leave Ghibli. From now on, I hope that I will entrust management to my successor and lead the new Ghibli. On a personal note, I Hoshino will turn 67 this May. In the future, I intend to take on challenges in new fields by making use of my experience and personal connections."
This letter was hardly a surprise as Hoshino notified fans of he was leaving Studio Ghibli earlier this year. However, the update about Suzuki taking over the role as president is new. The man has been with Studio Ghibli since the start as he co-founded the company with others like director Hayao Miyazaki. Since then, Suzuki has been a producer of Studio Ghibli's films and acted as a spokesperson for the brand time after time. However, recent reports from Japan have put Suzuki's reputation into question as of late.
Shujo Prime, a well-known publication in Japan, was the trade that outed Hoshino's leave from Studio Ghibli earlier this year. The paper claimed Hoshino was exiting as president due to internal conflicts with Suzuki regarding misappropriated funds. Shujo Prime went on to detail Suzuki's personal conflict within the company as his longtime girlfriend has risen the ranks at Studio Ghibli. Speaking with the paper anonymously, sources close to Studio Ghibli critiqued Suzuki's favoritism towards his lover. Studio Ghibli has not commented on these allegations or the reports of Suzuki's mishandled funds.
It seems the situation at Studio Ghibli is a tense one as the company is weathering scandal after scandal. The timing of this couldn't be worse given its big summer comeback. If you did not know, Miyazaki is slated to debut their next feature film this summer as How Do You Live will debut in July.
What do you make of this latest Studio Ghibli update? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
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