Yoshifumi Kondō (近藤 喜文, Kondō Yoshifumi, March 31, 1950 – January 21, 1998) was a Japanese animator who worked for Studio Ghibli in his last years. He was born in Gosen, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. He worked as an animation director on Anne of Green Gables, Sherlock Hound, Kiki's Delivery Service, Only Yesterday and Princess Mononoke. Kondō directed the animated film Whisper of the Heart, and was expected to become one of the top directors at Studio Ghibli, alongside Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and to become their eventual successor.

He attended Niigata Prefectural Muramatsu High School beginning in April 1965, where he was a member of the art club. His senpai was the future manga artist Kimio Yanagisawa. After graduating in March 1968, he began studying in theanimation department at Tokyo Design College. He began working in October 1968 at A Production (formerly Shin'ei Dōga), participating in the production of such shows as Kyojin no Hoshi and Lupin III.

Kondō moved to Nippon Animation in June 1978, working on Future Boy Conan, Anne of Green Gables, and other productions. He coauthored a textbook that same year for beginning animators titled Animation Book (アニメーションの本, Animēshon no Hon).

In December 1980, he began working at Telecom Animation Film, where he was the character designer for Sherlock Hound. After being hospitalized in 1985 for over two months for pneumonia, Kondō resigned at Telecome Animation. He began doing contract work for Nippon Animation in January the following year, and began working for Studio Ghibli in January 1987.

Kondō died of aortic dissection–alternately aneurysm–in 1998. His death is said to have been caused by excess work, and seems to be the main reason for Hayao Miyazaki's announcement of retirement in 1998. Although in the end Miyazaki didn't retire for another 15 years, Kondō's death seems to have influenced Miyazaki to work at a more relaxed pace.

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My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ, Tonari no Totoro) is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film–which stars the voice actors Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, and Hitoshi Takagi–tells the story of the two young daughters (Satsuki and Mei) of a professor and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan. The film won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize and the Mainichi Film Award for Best Film in 1988.

In 1988, Streamline Pictures produced an exclusive dub for use on transpacific flights by Japan Airlines and its Oneworld partners. Troma Films, under their 50th St. Films banner, distributed the dub of the film co-produced by Jerry Beck. It was released on VHS and DVD by Fox Video. The film was released on VHS and laserdisc in the United States by Tokuma Japan Communications' US subsidiary in 1993 under the title My Friend Totoro. Troma's and Fox's rights to this version expired in 2004.

The film was re-released by Walt Disney Pictures on March 7, 2006 and by Madman on March 15, 2006, with a new dub cast. This DVD release is the first version of the film in the United States to include both Japanese and English language tracks, as Fox did not have the rights to the Japanese audio track for their version.

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Ghibli Museum (三鷹の森ジブリ美術館, Mitaka no Mori Jiburi Bijutsukan, Mitaka Forest Ghibli Museum) is a museum showcasing the work of the Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli. It is located in Inokashira Park in Mitaka, a western city of Tokyo, Japan. The museum combines features of a children's museum, technology museum, and a fine arts museum, and is dedicated to the art and technique of animation.

Planning for the museum began in 1998. Construction started in March 2000, and the museum officially opened October 1, 2001. Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki designed the museum himself, using drawn storyboards similar to the ones he creates for his films. The design was influenced by European architecture, such as the hilltop village of Calcata in Italy. Miyazaki's aim was to make the building itself part of the exhibit, and for the museum to be an uplifting and relaxing experience "that makes you feel more enriched when you leave than when you entered".

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