His first project there was Magic Boy, the first ever anime to be released theatrically in North America. At the studio he also met Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, with whom he later left in order to work at A Pro, and they began work on an adaptation of Pippi Longstocking. That project was eventually canceled, and work began on the two-film series Panda! Go Panda!.
In 1985, he was scouted by Nintendo and assumed the position of the game development advisor. He worked at Nintendo for over two decades until leaving in 2007.
