Portal:Studio Ghibli/Selected biography/11

Kitarō Kōsaka (高坂 希太郎, Kōsaka Kitarō, born February 28, 1962 in Kanagawa Prefecture) is a Japanese animator and film director. He began his career in 1979 with the studio Oh! Production. He left the studio in 1986 to become a freelance animator, working on numerous projects as a key and supervising animation director for Studio Ghibli, including on Castle in the Sky, Grave of the Fireflies, Pom Poko, Whisper of the Heart, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, From up on Poppy Hill, and The Wind Rises. He has stated that he is a fan of the works of Hayao Miyazaki.

In 2003, he directed the cycling anime film, Nasu: Summer in Andalusia, set on the Vuelta a España road bicycle race, adapted from Iō Kuroda's manga Nasu, which Miyazaki recommended to Kōsaka. The film soon went on to become the first Japanese anime film ever to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival.

He has worked on numerous other projects for the studio Madhouse, including adaptations of Naoki Urasawa's Yawara!, Master Keaton and Monster, and short film adaptations of two of Clamp's works: Clover and Double X.