In this installment of our “Beyond Borders” series, we delve into the life of Mar Exposito, an animator and entrepreneur from Spain who has made a very interesting life in Japan and ultimately calls it her home.
Mar shares her journey from being a passionate anime fan in Spain to the founder of her own animation studio right here in Tokyo. Alongside her professional insights into the world of animation, we also catch glimpses of her personal side, her resilience, humility, and the real-life challenges behind her success.
Before diving into the main questions, the Zoom call opened with a light moment:
“Is your full name Mar or Maru?” I asked to confirm.
Mar simply smiled and replied, “It’s Mar Exposito, but my company is Maru Exposito because in Japanese it’s pronounced ‘Maru.’”
Mar’s story begins in a beach town near Barcelona, where her fascination with Japanese culture slowly took root. “You can picture me as the classic anime otaku,” she says. “Drawing manga, cosplaying at conventions, attempting animation, and doing my best to learn from the Japanese industry from there.” Her passion was so strong that her mother was equally supportive of her every step of the way.
After earning a degree in Audiovisual Communication and passing the JLPT N4, she made a big leap and moved to Tokyo with the full support of her family. Her first step was enrolling in a Japanese language school and working for Go! Go! Nihon. “I had a lot of support from Go! Go! Nihon, both as a student and afterward, as I worked there,” she shares.
Mar’s early years in Japan were spent learning the ins and outs of living in the new environment that she is now in. She enrolled in the Tokyo Design Academy to study animation. “Classes were entirely in Japanese, and I often understood less than half of what was taught,” she recounts about her experience. Despite many obstacles, she persevered– eventually winning the school’s prestigious “Presidential Award” for her thesis animation, a project that demanded both artistic skills and leadership qualities.
Adjusting to life in Japan also meant managing everyday tasks alone for the first time, in a foreign country and its unique culture. “Imagine doing the ‘regular independent step’ on hard mode,” she laughs. “But my Japanese friends, school, and part-time job peers were a tremendous support.”
Mar is open about the emotional weight of her journey. “There were moments of anxiety, stress, and self-doubt,” she shares. Drawing, for her, became not just a job, but a lifeline. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, being separated from her family in Spain was difficult.
“Success isn’t all rainbows and unicorns,” she says. “Sometimes creating art was the only way I could process what I was going through.”
She emphasized in the interview that mental health is taken seriously in her team. She works hard to aim for excellence, but she doesn’t let that turn into a toxic work culture. “Yes, there are crazy days, but that doesn’t have to be the default. I had been there and I know firsthand how important it is to take care of your mental health.”
Founding the Animation Studio
Mar didn’t come to Japan with a dream of simply working for an already existing company. “Just joining a Japanese anime studio wasn’t a big enough dream for me,” she says. A friend’s challenge planted the seed in her heart for something greater: founding her own studio.
Maru Exposito Studio began with her personal vision for ethical and impactful storytelling. It now boasts of having a global team of freelancers who are each hired not only for skill, but for sharing the same values that the studio is founded on.
“I only care about three things: skills, reliability, and being legally hirable,” Mar says. Her team includes people from around the world, working digitally across time zones but with shared goals. She talks more about the different hats that she has to put on to keep her studio running.
“I run an animation studio in Tokyo. Clients who need anime-style videos reach out so I can gather a team according to the project’s needs,” she explains. “In most cases, I act as sales manager, production director, storyboarder, character designer, and animation supervisor. Then I hire the rest of the production assistant, CGI, background artist, animators, sound engineer, colorists, and voice actors.”
Mar also heavily emphasizes fair treatment of her staff: “I pay my team quite fast-yep, that’s not common.” Her studio welcomes English and Spanish speakers, and the fully remote team can now handle everything from creating the script to finalizing the audio. “The service is exceptional because we know how to do anime from the Japanese perspective, but they don’t have cultural or language barriers with us.”
Mar is proud of many projects, but her thesis film and her original work, Return the Favor, hold a special place in her heart. “Even if there’s so much, I’d like to redraw, I’m still proud of it,” she admits. Her animatic Glass Gate and recent project for Zen Market also stand out, showing the evolution of her team’s storytelling and technical capability.
Her favorite projects include her thesis film Return the Favor, the animatic Glass Gate, and a recent campaign for Zen Market.
Mar’s studio is built around five core creative values:
As a female and foreigner leading an anime studio in Japan, Mar is breaking boundaries in an industry that often favors conformity.
Mar’s journey hasn’t been easy. She speaks candidly about the loneliness of early days, the language struggles, and the pressure of running a business.
“There is no perfect place,” she says. “But Japan feels like the best place if I want to work in animation.”
She recognizes the immense help that her Japanese husband and in-laws have given her with helping her navigate personal difficulties and stressful times. “There were tough seasons, but the support from my husband and his family made it bearable.”
Now in her eleventh year in Japan, Mar continues to aim high. “Every year there’s a harder project that pushes us further,” she says with conviction. Her dream is to build a physical studio in Japan- “a studio that is full of light and allows a doggie!”-and ultimately bring her original stories to the big screen someday.
Though she remains modest about the studio’s growth, Mar notes how each year demands more from her and her team. With every challenge, she applies the lessons learned from past projects. “Now the studio can handle script to final video in animation, visuals, and audio. We can also work with more complex animation as well as effects, and deliver faster.”
To foreigners hoping to succeed in Japan, Mar is straightforward:
“Study Japanese ASAP. It’ll become your asset, not an obstacle.”
She encourages newcomers to also hone other essential skills and be ready to adapt.
“There’s no perfect country,” she says. “But if you’re craving to come to Japan, do it. Worst case, you’ll grow. Best case, it becomes your new home.”
To learn more about Mar and her studio, you may visit her page here.
If you’ve ever dreamed of turning your passion into something greater, of creating work that speaks across cultures, or of building a purpose-driven business in a foreign country, perhaps Mar’s story is the sign you’ve been waiting for.
Whether you’re an artist, a dreamer, or someone navigating life in Japan, your own “Beyond Borders” chapter could be just beginning.
Our new series, Beyond Borders, spotlights inspiring entrepreneurs living and working across Japan. From animation studios to innovative startups, we feature real stories of foreigners building unique businesses, overcoming challenges, and making a lasting impact in their communities.
If you are interested in being featured in our new series, please fill out the Google Form, and we will contact you shortly.
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