Masayuki KOJIMA 小島正幸

The Piano Forest

ピアノの森

Nippon Kids   ¹ 

After moving to a small town, Shuhei is struggling to make new friends at school. His classmates are teasing the boy who loves nothing more than playing his piano. When they challenge him to play on a hidden piano in the nearby forest, he encounters a boy named Kai, who is the only one capable of playing on the mysterious instrument. THE PIANO FOREST is a compelling story of two friends and their shared love for classical music. The soundtrack was performed by world-famous pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy!

ピアノの森
Piano no mori

Japan 2007

93 minutes

Director
Masayuki KOJIMA

Script
Ryuta HORAI based on a manga by Makoto ISSHIKI

Music
Keisuke SHINOHARA

Character Design
Shigeru FUJITA

About Masayuki KOJIMA
小島正幸

Masayuki KOJIMA was born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1961. He has been working in the animation industry since the 1980s and was involved in many projects of the famous studio Madhouse, including MASTER KEATON (1998-1999) and MONSTER (2004-2005). THE PIANO FOREST (2007) is his first feature-length theatrical film and has been nominated for the Japanese Academy Award for Best Animation Film in 2008. Since 2011, he has been working for the animation studio Kinema Citrus, where he recently directed the series MADE IN ABYSS (2017-2020).