The official YouTube channel of Fukushima Prefecture has begun streaming Fukufuku no Chizu (Map of Fukufuku), a new anime short directed by Sunao Katabuchi, with English subtitles. The short had previously been posted in Japanese on its official website on March 24.
Background
The film serves as the second “brand movie” for Fukushima Prefecture’s variety magazine Fukushima Map. It made its public debut at a “Completion Announcement Event” on March 5 at the Forum Fukushima 5 theater.
Synopsis
The short follows Sophie, a French philosopher visiting Fukushima Prefecture for the first time to attend a friend’s wedding. After losing her way, Sophie is guided by a mysterious “friend” and a “map,” leading her on a series of detours and stops throughout the region. Through these encounters, she gradually comes to understand that everything she sees in Fukushima is a “culture” — something created by someone and passed down through generations.
Staff
Katabuchi directed and wrote the script for the short at studio CONTRAIL, reuniting with several collaborators from his film In This Corner of the World:
- Chie Uratani — assistant director
- Fumiyo Kouno (manga creator) — original character designs
- kotringo — music composition
- Izumi Seguchi (Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie, maboroshi) — character designer and animation director
- Mayu Ōta (in-between animator, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba) and Moe Maruta (in-between animator, Jujutsu Kaisen 0) — assistant animation directors
- Kiyomi Ōta (background art on Only Yesterday, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke) — art director
Katabuchi’s Connection to Fukushima
Katabuchi has long maintained ties to the regions affected by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. He previously served as animation director for “Hana wa Saku,” NHK’s reconstruction support song for its Great East Japan Earthquake Project.
His directing credits include Black Lagoon, Black Lagoon: Roberta’s Blood Trail, Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage, Mai Mai Miracle, Princess Arete, and Meiken Lassie, as well as the critically acclaimed In This Corner of the World (2016) and its extended cut In This Corner (and Other Corners) of the World, which opened in Japan in December 2019.
His latest feature-length animated film, The Mourning Children: Nagiko and the Girls Wearing Tsurubami Black (Tsurubami-Iro no Nagiko-tachi), is set to screen as a “WIP (work in progress) feature” at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in April 2025.
The First Fukushima Map Brand Movie
The first brand movie for Fukushima Map was directed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama — a Fukushima native and director of the anime film Look Back — titled “Aka no Kioku” (The Red That Remembers), which also debuted in March 2025.
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