Mamoru Hosoda (細田 守, Hosoda Mamoru, born September 19, 1967) is a Japanese film director and animator. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Animated Feature Film at the 91st Academy Awards for his eighth film Mirai.
Hosoda was born in Kamiichi, Nakaniikawa District, Toyama, Japan. His father worked as a railway engineer, and his mother was a tailor. Hosoda initially felt inspired to take up animation as a career after seeing The Castle of Cagliostro, the first film directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli fame. He majored in oil painting at the Kanazawa College of Art in Ishikawa Prefecture.
After graduation, Hosoda was able to land an animation job at Toei Animation, after submitting a short film that he had animated in his spare time. He initially applied at Studio Ghibli; though he did not get the job, he received a rejection letter of praise from Hayao Miyazaki himself.

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