The Day I Bought a Star

The Day I Bought a Star, or Hoshi o Katta Hi, was produced in 2006 as an exclusive short film for the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Japan. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, the film is based on a story by Naohisa Inoue, whose surreal, dreamlike paintings provided the aesthetic foundation for the short. It was created specifically to be screened in the museum's Saturn Theater, intended as a visual exploration of Miyazaki's interest in the intersection of nature, machinery, and childhood wonder.

The narrative follows a young boy named Nona who trades his leek for a tiny, living star that eventually grows into a complex celestial body. Miyazaki’s design approach for this project leaned heavily into Inoue’s unique fantasy world of 'Iblard,' a landscape characterized by floating islands and lush, painterly vistas. Upon its release, the film was praised by museum visitors for its gentle pacing and the seamless integration of traditional animation with the ethereal, texture-heavy art style of Inoue's original work.