Odawara Castle opens an exhibition on the creative origins of Yoshiyuki Tomino

Odawara Castle is hosting the exhibition Yoshiyuki Tomino no Genten: Odawara kara Sora e (The origins of Yoshiyuki Tomino: from Odawara to space) from November 6. It is the first time that the hometown of the director of Mobile Suit Gundam has dedicated a show of this kind to him.

The exhibition occupies the fourth floor of the castle's main keep. There you can see the first drawings Tomino made in his childhood: fighters, battleships and spaceships with an already very precise line. There are also watercolors and material from his time at Mushi Production, including storyboards from Astro Boy in which he participated and his own thoughts on the reader surveys of the time.

On the 5th, before the public opening, a ceremony was held in front of the castle. Tomino did not hide how strange it felt to be there: "For me, being from Odawara, it is incredible to be able to hold an exhibition in a place like this. Thanks to growing up in the environment of Odawara I was able to create these works, and now I can look at myself again."

The organizing committee points out that the way Tomino saw from childhood the distance between the castle and the islands of Hatsushima and Oshima influenced his conception of space. Its president, Tatsuaki Furukawa, explained that this link between the local landscape and the director's work is exactly what they want the public to feel when visiting the exhibition.

Second venue at the Odawara Sannomaru Hall

The show does not stay only at the castle. Starting November 23, the Odawara Sannomaru Hall will open a second part focused on anime materials after his professional debut.

Both venues close on December 6. Admission prices can be checked on the exhibition's official website.