Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved fantasy classic My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ) is set to air on Kinro Road Show (金曜ロードショー) on Friday, 21 August 2026 at 9:00 p.m. The broadcast will be uncut, making it perfect family viewing during the summer holidays. The film originally opened in Japanese cinemas on 16 April 1988.

Story

Satsuki is an energetic sixth-grader who moves to the countryside with her father and four-year-old sister Mei, hoping the clean country air will help their hospitalised mother recover. Their new home is a ramshackle old house standing beside a giant camphor tree.

Almost immediately after moving in, Mei discovers tiny black creatures hiding inside the house. A neighbour explains that these beings are called Soot Sprites (Susuwatari). The girls are thrilled by the mysterious encounter. Then one day, while playing in the garden, Mei spots two strange creatures and chases them to the roots of the great camphor tree — where she tumbles in and comes face to face with an enormous being named Totoro. When Satsuki tries to follow the same path, however, the opening in the roots has vanished…

Through a summer without their mother, Satsuki and Mei laugh, cry, and grow up, surrounded by the wonders of the forest — the mischievous Soot Sprites, the gentle giant Totoro, and the Catbus, a twelve-legged feline vehicle that races through the wind unseen by ordinary people. The moment the sisters soar into the sky alongside Totoro never fails to move audiences, no matter how many times they have seen it.

Broadcast Information

• Programme: Kinro Road Show (金曜ロードショー)
• Date & Time: Friday, 21 August 2026 at 9:00 p.m.
• Format: Uncut broadcast
• Original theatrical release: 16 April 1988

Voice Cast

• Satsuki: Noriko Hidaka
• Mei: Chika Sakamoto
• Father (Tōsan): Shigesato Itoi
• Mother (Kāsan): Sumi Shimamoto
• Granny (Bāchan): Tanie Kitabayashi
• Totoro: Hitoshi Takagi
• Kanta’s Mother: Yūko Maruyama
• Teacher: Machiko Washio
• Main House Granny: Reiko Suzuki
• Kanta’s Father: Masashi Hirose
• Kanta: Toshiyuki Amagasa
• Grass-cutter: Shigeru Chiba

Staff

• Original Story / Screenplay / Director: Hayao Miyazaki
• Producer: Yasuyoshi Tokuma
• Planning: Tatsumi Yamashita, Hideo Ogata
• Animation Director: Yoshiharu Satō
• Art Director: Kazuo Oga
• Music: Joe Hisaishi

Characters

Satsuki (voiced by Noriko Hidaka)

A lively sixth-grader who takes on household chores in place of her hospitalised mother.

Mei (voiced by Chika Sakamoto)

Satsuki’s four-year-old sister — curious and spirited, but stubborn, and sometimes shy around strangers.

Father (voiced by Shigesato Itoi)

A gentle, good-natured part-time university lecturer specialising in archaeology.

Mother (voiced by Sumi Shimamoto)

An intelligent and cultured woman currently recuperating at Shichikokuyama Hospital.

Granny (voiced by Tanie Kitabayashi)

Kanta’s grandmother, who has been looking after the house the family moves into.

Kanta (voiced by Toshiyuki Amagasa)

Satsuki’s classmate and next-door neighbour, the son of a farming family. He has a crush on Satsuki but struggles to show it.

Totoro (voiced by Hitoshi Takagi)

A mysterious giant creature that lives inside the great camphor tree of Tsukamori forest near the girls’ home.

Catbus

A fantastical being shaped like a bus but with the body of a cat and twelve legs. It can travel anywhere at incredible speed, though ordinary humans cannot see it.

Music

• Opening Theme: “Sanpo (さんぽ)” — performed by Azumi Inoue
• Ending Theme: “Tonari no Totoro (となりのトトロ)” — performed by Azumi Inoue