Studio Ghibli Promotes Nippon TV’s Kenichi Yoda To New President, Starting June 22

In its continued evolution towards a post-founders era, Studio Ghibli has announced that longtime Nippon TV executive Kenichi Yoda will take over as the studio’s next president and representative director, effective June 22.

Hiroyuki Fukuda, who assumed the presidency after Nippon TV acquired a controlling stake in the studio in 2023, will remain with the company as a director.

The appointment marks the latest phase in Ghibli’s post-acquisition restructuring under Nippon Television Holdings, which purchased 42.3% of the studio in 2023 after years of succession discussions surrounding co-founders Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki. At the time of the acquisition, Nippon TV said the arrangement would allow the studio to “focus more on craftsmanship” while securing long-term management stability.

Yoda has been involved in Ghibli’s management structure since the acquisition. Nippon TV’s original announcement in 2023 listed him as a Studio Ghibli director while serving as associate managing director and producer in Nippon TV’s event and business development division.

His promotion could signal continued expansion of Ghibli’s activities beyond feature animation. In recent years, the company has increasingly developed stage productions, theme parks, exhibitions, licensing initiatives, and other cross-media projects tied to its extensive catalog. Yoda was notably involved in Nippon TV-backed live entertainment ventures connected to Ghibli properties, including the Royal Shakespeare Company’s stage adaptation of My Neighbor Totoro.

The company’s wider executive structure remains otherwise unchanged. Miyazaki will continue as honorary chairman, Suzuki will remain chairman and representative director, and Gorō Miyazaki will continue as managing director.

The leadership transition comes at a pivotal moment for the studio following the global success of The Boy and the Heron and amid ongoing questions about how Studio Ghibli will evolve in the years beyond its founding generation.