The Garden of Words [Paperback]

The Garden of Wordsbrings to the manga page all the beauty and mystery of the award-winning film from artful animator Makoto Shinkai. Beloved for the simple grace of its artwork as much as the poetic elegance of its text (adapted by Midori Motohashi), The Garden of Wordsbegins with a chance, rainswept encounter between Takao, a young man who dreams of becoming a shoe designer, and Yukari, an enigmatic woman he finds sitting alone, nursing a beer on a park bench. The spare interaction of these two lonely souls sparks a spiritual transformation for the young man, and perhaps the woman as well. As this intriguing, understated story unfolds, their lives will become further intertwined amid rain, beer, school, and shoe cobbling. Words are not often necessary, but in this case just a few words can make a difference in one's heart.

Makoto Shinkai is a Japanese film director, animator, and writer. A native of the Nagano prefecture in Japan, he studied Japanese literature at Chuo University. He traces his passion for creation to the manga, anime, and novels he was exposed to while in middle school. Considered one of the best animators in the world today, he is often called the next-Miyazaki . Shinkai developed his abilities as a video game designer for FalCom, where he worked on the cult-classic role-playing gameY S. Shinkai is unique as an animator as he cut his teeth by producing almost all elements many of his works - from animation to music composition to voice acting. He has won numerous awards: 12thDoGA CG Animation Award; 1stNew Tokyo International Animation FestivalGrand Prize; 7thKobe Animation Prize; 6thJapanese Media Art; Awardfor Digital Media; 34thNebula Award(World Con); 59thMainichi Films Animation Prize; 2007 Asia Pacific Film Award;and theLancia Platinum Grand Prize(Italy).

His film credits include:l0