‘Your Name.’ exhibition held in its ‘sacred place’ in Gifu

HIDA, Gifu Prefecture--A special exhibition showcasing how the blockbuster movie “Your Name.” was made is currently being held here as many of the anime's landscapes were based on those from Hida.

Jointly hosted by the city government and The Asahi Shimbun, the “Exhibition of ‘Your Name.' ” runs until Feb. 19 at the Hida City Museum of Art.

About 300 items used in the production are on display including storyboards drawn by director Makoto Shinkai, character settings showing a variety of facial expressions, and also detailed illustrations of the characters’ houses and smartphones.

Thanks to the anime’s huge success, Hida is booming with a great number of anime fans making “pilgrimages” to local spots associated with fictional locations featured in the movie.

“When you see the storyboards completed two years ago,you can tell that director Shinkai initially imagined an area around Takayama as a place near the story’s location,” said Chiharu Ochiai, from anime studio CoMix Wave Films Inc. which supervised the exhibition.

(The asahi shimbun)