Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki (born 5 January 1941) (age 85), is a Japanese director of anime films and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, together with long-time friend and fellow director, Isao Takahata.

His film Spirited Away, released in 2001, was seen by one-third of Japan's population and became the nation's highest-grossing film ever (topping Titanic). His filmography also includes Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Porco Rosso, The Cat Returns, My Neighbor Totoro, and many more.

"Spirited Away" went on to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film in 2002. "Howl's Moving Castle" and "The Wind Rises" were nominated in 2004 and 2013 respectively, but they did not win.

His son, Gorō Miyazaki, has since made his own foray into directing at Studio Ghibli; his first release being 2006's "Tales of Earthsea", which he both wrote and directed.

Kanji

• Family name: 宮崎 (Miyazaki)
• Given name: 駿 (Hayao)

Politics

Though his films are critically acclaimed, along with having strong views of family in some of his films, Miyazaki is very left wing. A fan of Karl Marx, he acknowledged leftist views in his films. In politics, Miyazaki suggested that Japan give some of the Senkaku Islands to China, and criticized then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for trying to change the constitution to try to rebuild the Japanese military.

When ‘Spirited Away’ was nominated for Best Animated Feature, Miyazaki refused to attend the awards show to protest America’s involvement in the Iraq war. He was also a critic of Brexit and Donald Trump, calling the latter’s election “A terrible thing.”

Links

• Hayao Miyazaki at the Internet Movie Database.

See also

• Japanese animation
• Makoto Shinkai
• Isao Takahata
• Satoshi Kon