The Painter Behind Ghibli's Most Dreamlike Sequence
Naohisa Inoue (井上直久) has spent 50 years building a fantasy world called Iblard, a place where ordinary Japanese cityscapes transform into luminous hillsides and floating islands. That world caught the eye of Hayao Miyazaki in the early 1990s, and Inoue was invited to paint the background art for the fantasy sequence in Whisper of the Heart (1995), the Ghibli film directed by Yoshifumi Kondō from Miyazaki's screenplay.
The sequence, titled "The Story Baron Gave" within the film, remains a visual standout in Ghibli's filmography. Inoue's glowing skies and impossible architecture gave the protagonist Shizuku's inner story a texture that felt nothing like the rest of the movie's grounded Tokyo setting.
Starting this Saturday, June 20, the 77-year-old artist's largest exhibition to date opens at ART SPACE SKY GALLERY in Ariake, Tokyo, a one-minute walk from the Yurikamome line's Tokyo Big Sight station. The show runs through June 28, open daily from noon to 6 PM.
What's on Display
The exhibition gathers roughly 100 pieces, the biggest single showing of Inoue's work to date. The centerpiece is a collection of new prints, including pieces titled "Market Evening" (市場の宵) and "Hill with a Fine View" (眺め良き丘).
Alongside the new work, Art Space is showing rarely seen original paintings dating back to 1974, when Inoue first began sketching the foundations of Iblard. These early works, previously shown at the Koumi Kogen Museum of Art in Nagano Prefecture last year, are listed as reference exhibits.
The name "Iblard" itself comes from Inoue's hometown of Ibaraki City in Osaka, a nod to the way novelist Kenji Miyazawa renamed his home prefecture of Iwate as the fictional "Ihatov." In Inoue's telling, the moment you say "Iblard" aloud, the familiar train station in front of you becomes a vast highland, and the wheat field behind your house turns into a golden plain dotted with floating structures.
A Long Partnership with Studio Ghibli
Inoue's connection to Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke) extends well beyond a single film credit. After Whisper of the Heart, he painted a mural titled "Updraft II" for the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka in 2002. In 2006, Miyazaki directed a short film called The Day I Bought a Star, based on Inoue's original story, which screens at the Ghibli Museum's Saturn Theatre and Ghibli Park's Cinema Orion.
Inoue also directed Iblard Jikan (2007), an animated meditation produced by Studio Ghibli that brought his paintings to gentle motion, with grass swaying and figures walking through his landscapes. It was released as part of Ghibli's home video collection.
Signing Event and Online Sales
Inoue will hold a signing session on the exhibition's final day, June 28. Attendees who purchase a print receive a signing slot from 2:30 to 4:30 PM; art book buyers get the 4:30 to 5 PM window.
The first 100 visitors across the entire run receive an original sticker as an attendance gift, and anyone who buys a print takes home a tote bag featuring their purchased artwork's design.
For those outside Tokyo, Art Space's online store will begin selling new prints on July 20 at noon. Online purchases are not eligible for the signing event.
Looking Ahead
The exhibition is open through June 28 at ART SPACE SKY GALLERY in Ariake. Admission details and directions are available on Art Space's website at artgallery.co.jp.
Inoue's work has been exhibited internationally in Paris, New York, and across Japan, but a show of this scale in Tokyo is rare. For fans who cannot visit in person, new prints go on sale online July 20. No international shipping details have been announced.