A 1988 Voice Cast With Some Surprising Names
Tonight's airing is a chance to revisit a voice cast recorded before several of its members landed their most famous roles. Noriko Hidaka (Akane Tendo in Ranma ½, Kikyo in Inuyasha) voices Satsuki, the capable sixth grader who keeps the household running while her mother is away. Chika Sakamoto, who went on to voice Agumon in Digimon Adventure, plays 4-year-old Mei, the stubborn little sister whose curiosity leads the family straight to Totoro.
The credit that may surprise Western viewers belongs to the girls' father. He is voiced by Shigesato Itoi, the copywriter and game designer who created Nintendo's Mother series, known internationally as EarthBound. In the film, his character is an easygoing part-time university lecturer who specializes in archaeology.
The rest of the returning cast includes Sumi Shimamoto as the girls' mother, who is recovering at the nearby Shichikokuyama Hospital; Tanie Kitabayashi as Granny, the neighbor who looks after the family's old rental house; and Hitoshi Takagi as the rumbling voice of Totoro himself.
What Airs Tonight
According to the broadcast guide from Japanese anime news site Anime Anime, Friday Roadshow, Nippon TV's long-running Friday-night movie block, will run the film uncut starting at 9:00 p.m. JST. The network is presenting it as family viewing for the tail end of Japan's summer vacation.
The story follows Satsuki and Mei as they move into an old country house with their father so their hospitalized mother can recuperate somewhere with cleaner air. The house sits beside a giant camphor tree, and it comes with residents. First the girls find the soot sprites, the small pitch-black creatures a neighbor tells them are called Susuwatari. Then Mei chases two odd little creatures into the roots of the camphor tree and tumbles into the den of Totoro, the enormous forest spirit of the title. When Satsuki tries to follow, the opening in the roots is gone.
The film also features the Catbus, a bus-shaped creature with 12 legs that ordinary humans cannot see, which carries Totoro and eventually the sisters across the countryside at high speed.
Hayao Miyazaki wrote and directed the film from his own original story, with art direction by Kazuo Oga and a score by Joe Hisaishi. Azumi Inoue sings both the opening theme "Sanpo" and the ending theme "Tonari no Totoro." The film opened in Japanese theaters on April 16, 1988, so tonight's broadcast comes 38 years after its debut.
Looking Ahead
The broadcast runs tonight, August 21, 2026, from 9:00 p.m. JST on Nippon TV. For fans outside Japan, the film is easy to find: My Neighbor Totoro streams on HBO Max in the United States and on Netflix in most territories outside North America and Japan. Japanese Blu-ray and DVD editions remain in print as well, as Anime Anime's broadcast roundup notes alongside its cast and character guide.