Isao takahata directs and co writes this japanese anime from studio ghibli a bamboo cutter voice of takeo chii finds a miniature girl aki asakura and takes her home to his wife nobuko miyamoto so they can bring her up as their own daughter the girl grows unusually fast and believing her to be a princess the bamboo cutter uses gold he discovers to treat her like royalty relocating his family from the mountains to a mansion in the capital city before long the girl who has been named