There are filmmakers who never directed a Best Picture winner, but did direct at least one Best Picture nominee (see Stanley Kubrick with A Clockwork Orange, and Quentin Tarantino with Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). And then there are also directors who didn’t receive Best Picture nominations for their best and most enduring works, but did achieve Oscar success with other films (like Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca winning Best Picture, even if it’s not as much of a classic as the likes of Vertigo, Psycho, and Rear Window).

My Neighbour Totoro is here to help you look and feel cool in traditional Japanese style. 

With the weather heating up in Japan, people across the nation are reaching into their cupboards and bringing out their fans, cotton bedding, and other cooling items to help cope with the rising temperatures.

Those who like to stay cool in traditional Japanese style, however, will be reaching for items made with igusa, a soft rush grass that has been used here for centuries. Commonly used for tatami flooring, products made with igusa have an earthy scent, natural deodorising effects, and excellent moisture-regulating properties – when humidity levels are high, igusa absorbs excess moisture, and in dry environments, it slowly releases moisture, providing comfort without the use of air conditioning.

▼ The cooling, air-cleansing properties of igusa are part of what makes Japanese homes so special.

Image: Pakutaso

Igusa is a common element in traditional countryside homes where the old ways still hold strong, like the Kusakabe family home that features in the Studio Ghibli film My Neighbour Totoro. So it makes sense that Studio Ghibli would release its own series of igusa products, adorned with motifs and characters from the movie.

▼ The first item is the Igusa Seat Cushion, which comes in two gorgeous designs.

The cushions measure 40 centimetres (15.7 inches) in height and width, and are two centimetres thick, with a smooth surface that makes them very comfortable to sit on, even for long periods of time.

The first design, “Drop“, gives us a Soot Sprite, Small Totoro, and Medium Totoro, with a handful of sweets for added colour and cuteness.

The second design, “Retro Style“, adds a dash of retro colour to a Soot Sprite, a Small Totoro and a silhouette of the Large Totoro, accompanied by an auspicious traditional shippo pattern.

These two designs also feature on three other cushions, starting with the “Mini Flat Pillow” which is filled with breathable polyethylene pipes.

▼ Drop

▼ Retro Style

▼ Next up, we have the Bale Pillow, which is filled with low-rebound urethane chips.

These chips have excellent resistance against sagging, so the cushion is less prone to losing its shape, giving you just the right amount of neck support for summertime naps.

▼ The final cushion is the Candy Pillow, so-called as the rolled shape and ties on each end resemble a candy roll.

Filled with breathable polyethylene pipes, this pillow is less prone to heat buildup, making it another summer naptime essential.

For the ultimate nap, you can pair the pillows with an igusa rug, and there are two to choose from in the collection, both cutely named “Wagororo“.

Wagororo combines the word “wa” (“Japanese style”) with “gorogoro” (“to lounge around”), and that’s exactly what these mats are designed for.

▼ The rectangular mat comes in two sizes, 140 x 200 centimetres and 176 x 230 centimetres.

▼ The round mat is 176 centimetres in diameter. 

Every item in the range is made with domestically sourced igusa, and protected with “Hiba Essence” extracted from Hiba trees in Aomori Prefecture, using a special process unique to the manufacturer. Hiba essence contains a natural substance called hinokitiol, which adds further antibacterial and deodorizing properties to each product.

According to stockists Donguri Kyowakoku, the scent of grass and the expressions of Totoro and his friends will help “soothe away the fatigue of everyday life”. That’s something we could definitely do with when Japan’s humidity starts zapping our energy levels, and the entire range is available to purchase now, at Donguri Kyowakoku stores in Japan and at the online store (links below).

Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Featured image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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PARIS, May 16 — South Korean maestro Bong Joon-ho — who won three Oscars and the Palme d’Or at Cannes for Parasite — is making his first animated film.

Ally is the story of a clever piglet-like squid living in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, and shows how “encounters between humans and the creatures of the deep can reshape both worlds,” according to its producers.

The acclaimed director told reporters at the Cannes Film Festival that he hopes to try to match Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki and George Miller of Babe fame.

“I’ve always wanted to create an awesome action sequence that can surpass the great ones created by George Miller or Miyazaki, and I felt this film was my chance to practice that ambition,” he told the film industry bible Variety at the Cannes Film Festival.

Bong, who won a cult following for films like the sci-fi Snowpiercer, has already made a creature feature, Okja, starring Paul Dano and Tilda Swinton in 2017.

He admitted his fans “might be surprised that it’s an animation”.

“But once they actually see the film” next year “it’ll be quite familiar to them and they might be happy to see my signatures.”

Bong, 56, has been working on and off on the movie for nearly seven years and released the first images of the family feature last month. It is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027 and released later in the year. — AFP