Danica Davidson
February 21, 2022 
Last year a fire broke out at the home of mechanical designer Kazutaka Miyatake, killing his wife and causing horrible damage. Miyatake survived, and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help him out.
The fundraiser is being put on by Tenjin Hidetaka, Adrian Lozano, Gwyn Campbell, Peter Kim, and Renato Rivera. “Since his home was not completely destroyed, the damage was not covered by insurance, making rebuilding prohibitively expensive,” they report. “Thanks to his status of being an endearing local anime industry celebrity, the city of Yokosuka kindly provided him with temporary housing where he has since spent the last 9 months. But he will soon need to find somewhere more permanent to call home.”
They continue:
“All money raised will go directly to Mr. Miyatake himself and used to set up somewhere he can continue to live and work. For example,
-Moving into more permanent accommodation
-Purchasing furniture and bedding
-Cleaning out his old fire-damaged home
-Work supplies”
The good news is that they reached their minimum goal of $18,000 within a day! In fact, as of this writing, 293 people have donated $43,088. Donations are still more than welcome, as noted in this update: “This outpouring of support has reminded me once again of the impact that Miyatake-san’s designs have had. This GoFundMe campaign has only just begun and we hope to be able to keep going so we can help him as much as possible. Together with your help, let’s see how far we can go.”
Miyatake’s design work can be seen in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross show, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? movie, Space Battleship Yamato, Arcadia of My Youth: Endless Orbit SSX, Macross Plus, Macross 7, Aura Battler Dunbine, The Super Dimension Century Orguss, and Gunbuster, among others. The success of this fundraiser shows that he has fans around the world who have been touched by his work.
Source: GoFundMe
____
Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin. She is also the author of its upcoming sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
