Spirited Away and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya Open 2026 Friday Road Show
The pairing of Ghibli's highest-grossing film with Takahata's final directorial work gives the 2026 Friday Road Show a two-week Ghibli launch that spans the studio's commercial peak and its most artistically ambitious late-period project.
Reporting from 1 sources: Studio Ghibli.
Studio Ghibli announced on December 12 that the first two broadcasts of Nippon Television's Friday Road Show in 2026 will be Ghibli films. On January 2, the slot airs Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" uncut from 21:00 to 23:39. The following week, January 9, the same time slot features Isao Takahata's "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" uncut from 21:00 to 23:54. The announcement, posted on the official Ghibli website, lists the full voice cast for both films: "Spirited Away" stars Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takeshi Naito, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Ryunosuke Kamiki, and Bunta Sugawara; "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" features Aki Asakura, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Takeo Chii, Nobuko Miyamoto, Atsuko Takahata, Tomoko Tabata, and Shinosuke Tatekawa. Joe Hisaishi composed the music for both films. The broadcasts are part of the regular Friday night movie programming block.
Studio Ghibli confirmed the two-film slate for the first two Fridays of January 2026. "Spirited Away" originally premiered in 2001 and remains Japan's highest-grossing film ever. "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" was Takahata's last feature before his death in 2018; it took eight years to produce and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Both broadcasts are listed as uncut, meaning no commercial-break edits. The Friday Road Show has been a regular Ghibli broadcast partner for decades, often airing the studio's library films during holiday and anniversary periods. The announcement did not specify whether additional Ghibli titles will follow later in the year.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.