Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder ofStudio Ghibliand veritable titan of the anime world, shared a touching message about the horrors of World War II during a recent acceptance speech for a prestigious award. Studio Ghibli’s films have never shied away from topics like war, violence, and pacifism. Miyazaki is 83 years old—born in 1941 to the director of Miyazaki Airplane, a company that produced rudders for fighter planes, he has first-hand experience with the events of World War II.
Miyazaki was among 2024’s awardees for the Ramon Magsaysay award, considered to be Asia’s Nobel Prize. In his introduction during the2024 awardee announcements, it was noted that with Miyazaki at the helm, Ghibli’s films addressed “environmental destruction, the horrors of war and conflict, and fear of the unknown…with such nuance and care that they have redefined our concepts of pacifism, environmentalism, and self-empowerment.” His response to the award expressed heartfelt gratitude while speaking from his own Japanese identity to address wartime atrocities.
Miyazaki Recognizes Imperial Japan’s Atrocities
Miyazaki Also Nods Toward Other Japanese Creatives And Hopes for Asia’s Unity
Miyazaki was unable to attend the award ceremony in Manila, Phillippines himself due to health problems. Instead, board member Kenichi Yoda would accept the award on his behalf. Miyazaki shared a chilling reflection on Japan’s war crimes during World War II, as well as Imperial Japan’s impact on the Asian social, political, and cultural spheres, transcribed byAnime News Network:
The Japanese did a lot of terrible things back then. They killed many civilians. The Japanese people must not forget this. It will always remain. With such history, I solemnly accept the Ramon Magsaysay Award from the Philippines.
A further response from Miyazaki was posted on the Ramon Magsaysay Awards website several days after the initial event.The response expressed his honor to stand alongside Akira Kurosawa and poet Michiko Ishimure as a fellow recipient of the award, hoping that it reflects pan-Asian acceptance of his films, and also hoping that he had brought to the people of Asia “the strength to live, especially to the children born there.” Miyazaki’s belief that media for children is vitally important becomes crucial in the light of his reflections on World War II.
Miyazaki Expresses Animation’s Fundamental Importance For Children
Ghibli Movies Always Contain Deep Life Lessons
In his proxy acceptance speech, Miyazaki would opine that animation is particularly fit for the “origins and fundamentals” important to children, rather than the “problems of adults”. The magic of Ghibli has always rested on the fact that their films are universal in spite of their heavy subject matter. 1988’sGrave of the Firefliesrepresentsthe intersection of these two sets of problems—the fundamentals of children and the abstract complexity of “adult problems”—that Ghibli illuminates.
In it, a brother and sister destitute from the war struggle with losses of family, illness, food security, and shelter. Their bond shines in a way that any pair of young siblings could appreciate. The younger sister, Setsuko, dies of malnutrition while Seita prepares food for her, only moments after he discovers Japan’s surrender and his father’s likely death. Seita dies of starvation weeks later amid other malnourished corpses. As the film closes, Setsuko’s spirit reunites with Seita’s spirit. The pair board a spirit train, passing through memories on their way to a bench overlooking Kobe long after the war’s end. There, the reunited spirits, too, would “always remain”. Despite its tragedies, their deaths are part of the story of the world they look on—for better or worse.
Hence, Miyazaki’s point. Ghibli somehow represents the unspeakable—the most fundamental emotions, cravings, and actions that emerge, often unexpectedly; the studio’s optimism comes by finding humanity within the fallout, prefiguring a viewer beyond borderlines, flags, or demographics. Miyazaki’s own childhood familiarized him with this fundamental humanity. His acceptance speech shows his unwavering belief that the humanity exposed inGrave of the Firefliesmust be applied equally—in turn showing the deep, inimitable empathyStudio Ghiblihas become renowned for.
Source:Anime News Network
Hayao Miyazaki
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