Tonko House
- Open roles
- 0
- Founded
- 2014
- Employees
- 11-50
- Offices
- 2
About Tonko House
Tonko House is an independent animation studio founded in 2014 by former Pixar Animation Studios art directors Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo. Built around narrative-driven, character-focused work, the studio connects Eastern and Western animation traditions through painterly visual development, tactile design sensibilities, and hybrid digital production.
The studio’s work spans original shorts, limited series, episodic projects, publishing, and visual-development partnerships. Its capabilities include 2D and 3D hybrid animation, concept art, production design, art direction, character and environmental design, and worldbuilding. Tonko House also develops intellectual property for film, television, graphic novels, and children’s literature.
Its early directorial debut, The Dam Keeper (2014), received an Academy Award nomination and became the basis for further projects, including Pig: The Dam Keeper Poems and a graphic-novel trilogy. Other credits include the CGI short Moom, the Netflix preschool series Go! Go! Cory Carson through a production-design and visual-development partnership, Acorns, the Netflix limited event series Oni: Thunder God’s Tale, and the stop-motion short Bottle George.
Storytelling and production
Tonko House combines a Berkeley creative hub with a distributed network of artists and a Japanese studio presence, supporting collaboration across development and production. The studio’s visual approach brings together painting, light, colour, and digital 3D workflows in service of emotionally grounded stories.
Oni: Thunder God’s Tale (2022), written by Mari Okada and directed by Dice Tsutsumi, marked a major expansion of the studio’s serialized work. The four-part series received two Annie Awards, including Best Production Design, and three Children’s & Family Emmy Awards.
Beyond screen production, Tonko House runs art-focused learning and cultural programming, including masterclasses, digital workshops, boot camps, curated exhibitions, film festivals, and artist lectures. Through its Dirty Pals community, it also engages artists and audiences around animation, visual storytelling, and creative exchange.
More about Tonko House
Leadership and corporate development
- California corporate records list Robert Kondo as CEO, CFO, Secretary, Director, and registered agent; Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi as a director; and Daisuke “Zen” Miyake as General Manager.
- The business was initially formed as Tonko House LLC in February 2014 and converted to a California general corporation in March 2016.
- In Japan, HAUS Inc., led by Representative Director and President Hitoshi Miyata, succeeded Tonko House Japan Inc. to administer Kanazawa-based regional production, exhibitions, and brand activity.
Community practice
Tonko House’s Dirty Pals community supports its broader education and outreach activity, alongside masterclasses, workshops, and museum exhibitions in Japan and the United States.
Notable credits
8 creditsOffices
Where Tonko House is based
- 1236 Cornell Ave, Berkeley, CA 94706, USABerkeley, California, United States
Berkeley office
HeadquartersCentral corporate headquarters and primary creative studio.
- 2-17 Namikicho, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-0928, JapanKanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
Kanazawa office
Tonko House Japan / Kanazawa Studio, established in 2019 as a production and cultural-programming base.
Open roles
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