The process of producing a project is one long string of delight and anxiety, but I think the real thrill of animation would have to be drawing the pictures.

As far as CGI and hand-drawn animation, I consider them both nothing more than tools for drawing pictures, the same as crayons or oils. Which is why, to me, the most important thing is what it is you are drawing, and in the themes that I depict, I think hand-drawing is the most effective.

We are on the verge of losing the traditional idea of the family, especially in Japan, where the declining birth rate shows no signs of stopping. This is precisely why I think we should consider with a sense of urgency what the new image of family should be like, and not fall into the nostalgism that days gone by were just better.

With the assumption that animation is a medium for children, I want to make movies that reaffirm the future, and let them know that this world is a world worth living in.

I do not draw any of the pictures for my movies as an animator. The reason for that is that I am terribly lucky to have many staff members who I look up to, and who are overflowing with talent, that work with me on each project.

I really am grateful to have so many people watch, and to be given the chance to create my next projects. I want to once again tackle the boundless possibilities of animated movies, and I hope to be able to create something that will leave both children and adults thinking that this world is a sparkling, brightly shining place.

I was deliberately trying to express how possible it might be for unmarried men and adults not blessed with biological children to become fathers of choice. In an old-fashioned, traditional world, this might not matter. But I think that it's probably going to become terribly relevant as time goes on.

People have two sides, and a person first becomes appealing when you discover both of those sides - and worlds work exactly the same way.

I want to take themes that are shared throughout the world, express them through animation, and make movies from them.

People who are open about their own faults, especially, often want to ferret out inner feelings beneath the surface and expose any falsehood, and they think that it's in their inner feelings that the truth lies. But I don't think that's the truth.

Digging back through the events of the past, I found that there have been all sorts of people who had a greater effect on us than our own fathers. Perhaps an adult that we wanted to become like, or someone with such a strong presence that even now, they remain in our hearts - someone who might be referred to as a father of choice.