Yoshifumi Kondō(1950-1998)

Yoshifumi Kondō was a promising artist from an early age. In his home city of Gosen in the Niigata Prefecture (Japan), he attended Niigata Prefectural Muramatsu High School starting from 1965 and entered an art club where he was mentored by Kimio Yanagisawa (who would later become a manga artist). After graduating in 1968, he moved to Tokyo and became part of the Tokyo Design College's animation department. On October 1, 1968, he began working at Shin'ei Dōga (then called "A Production"), participating in several productions. In June 1978, he moved to Nippon Animation and worked on several successful shows such as Hayao Miyazaki's "Future Boy Conan" and Isao Takahata's "Anne of Green Gables." In 1978, he co-authored a textbook for beginner animators called "Animēshon no Hon." He moved to Telecom Animation Film on December 16, 1980, where he worked as the character designer for "Sherlock Hound." On March 16, 1985, Kondō resigned from his position at Telecom Animation Film, and was hospitalized from June through August for a type of pneumonia. He became a contract worker for Nippon Animation afterwards and moved to Studio Ghibli in January, 1987. In 1995, he made his directorial debut with the film "Whisper of the Heart." However, his health problems persisted and became worse with the infamously harsh and grueling working conditions the anime industry is known for. After several hospitalizations, Yoshifumi died on January 21, 1998 of an aortic dissection in the Tachikawa City Hospital in Tokyo at age 47. Tragically, he was on his way to eventually become a successor to Miyazaki and Takahata before his death and the studio has not had a viable candidate for this position since.