Official Trailer for ‘The Keeper of the Camphor Tree’ Japanese Anime
by Alex Billington
November 21, 2025
Source: YouTube
“This tree holds a secret.” 🌳 Aniplex has debuted a new official trailer for an upcoming Japanese anime film titled The Keeper of the Camphor Tree, ready to hit theaters in Japan starting in January 2026 in a few months. Adapted from the famous novel of the same name in Japan. While many of Higashino’s works have been adapted, this marks the first time one of his stories has been turned into an anime. The heartfelt story of a mysterious camphor tree, said to grant wishes when prayed to, and the young man who becomes its guardian, will be vividly brought to life on the big screen. This anime depicts the human drama unfolding around a single camphor tree that has absorbed countless prayers and the young man who becomes its guardian. “What miracle will be woven by the prayers of those who gather at Kusunoki, standing together in solidarity?” The film’s key voice cast features Fumiya Takahashi as Reito Naoi, along with Yuki Amami, Asuka Saito, Ryuya Miyase, and Takao Osawa. The music is composed by Yugo Kanno. This looks like it’s much more than just a story about a tree – many different characters getting wrapped up in this tale.
Full Japanese trailer for Tomohiko Itô’s The Keeper of the Camphor Tree, from YouTube (via Catsuka):
Reito, a young man who was unreasonably fired from his job, and in revenge has committed a crime and gets arrested. He tries to appeal to the investigator to no avail, and he is sent to the prosecutor’s office, where he waits for his indictment. Suddenly, a lawyer appears and tells Reito that he can be released if he follows his client’s order. Reito takes the gamble and accepts the condition, and the client turns out to be his late mother’s half-sister, Senshu Yanagisawa. Senshu has only one order for Reito: to become the camphorwood tree custodian at Tsukigô shrine. Reito becomes the camphorwood tree custodian and meets different people who visit the temple grounds for different reasons. The Keeper of the Camphor Tree, also known as クスノキの番人 or Kusunoki no Bannin, is directed by Japanese animation filmmaker Tomohiko Itô, director of Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale, Hello World, Final Stage, many anime series, and a second unit director on The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. The screenplay is by Taku Kishimoto; via Keigo Higashino’s novel of the same name. Produced by Atsuhiro Iwakami & Mikihiro Iwata. The film opens first in Japan starting on January 30th, 2026 early next year. No US release date is ready yet – stay tuned.
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