Hirokatsu Kihara has formally worked at the Studio Ghibli production desk (studio coordinator) and was involved in “Laputa: Castle in the Sky,” “My Neighbor Totoro,” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service”.

After leaving Studio Ghibli, he made his debut as a author. His best-known work as an author is “Shin Mimibukuro (Tales of Terror)”. This work has been adapted for TV, film, and comic books and has become very popular around the world.

In recent years, he has been working on comic book adaptations of horror manga artist Junji Ito, and his books “Mimi’s Tales of Terror” and “Stitches” continue to be translated around the world. He also wrote “Futari no Totoro,” a documentary book on the making of “My Neighbor Totoro,” which was published in Spanish last year (titled “El Totoro De Los Dos”).

He currently has plans to speak at San Diego Comic-Con (4 years in a row), the Library of Congress, and other conventions around the world.