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10 Years With Hayao Miyazaki
If there’s one Japanese director whose name foreigners are familiar with, it’s probably a toss-up these days whether it’s Kurosawa or Miyazaki. And if we’re talking animation, there’s no contest. For many people, this Studio Ghibli co-founder (along with producer Toshio Suzuki and fellow director Isao Takahata) is synonymous with “Ghibli”, as if to say a film by them is a film by him. However, he was a quiet, taciturn man for much of his career, and it’s only in the new millennium that fans — particularly those who can’t speak Japanese — have been able to get any idea of what Miyazaki’s relationship with Ghibli actually is. And how fraught that can be.
This is in large part due to an unassuming university student named Kaku Arakawa. As a part of a small filmmaking program sponsored by NHK (Japan’s premiere TV network), Arakawa had gotten permission to come to Ghibli’s actual studio and film a bit with its head, Suzuki. At the time, Miyazaki was bumming around the studio, nervously brainstorming ideas for a new feature film, without much success. He saw something in Arakawa and for some reason (Arakawa still doesn’t know why) struck up a conversation with him. Soon, a deal had been struck between the three men to film a short documentary behind-the-scenes of creating Miyazaki’s new film.
“How Ponyo Was Born” was the result, a short documentary that originally aired on…
