Autor/-in: Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Born in 1973 in Ishikawa-ken, Japan, Hiromasa Yonebayashi studied Commercial Design at the Kanazawa College of Art. In 1996 Yonebayashi joined Studio Ghibli and worked as an "in-between" animator on Princess Mononoke (1997) and My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999), and as key animator for Spirited Away (2001), Ghiblies: Episode 2 (2002), Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) and Ponyo (2008). He was also the assistant supervising animator for Tales from Earthsea (2006).

Yonebayashi has also worked on short films for the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka. He was the director of animation for Mei and the Baby Cat Bus (2002), the supervising animator for Imaginary Flying Machines (2002), and also storyboarded and directed Evolution (2008), a short film documenting the "Films Go Round" exhibit.

The Secret World of Arrietty marks the directorial debut of Yonebayashi.