Hayao Miyazaki

Confronted with an animation demonstration using AI techniques, Miyazaki expressed disgust and described it as "an insult to life itself". The clip circulated widely again in 2025 during a wave of AI-generated images in a style reminiscent of Studio Ghibli.

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Miyazaki opposed revising Japan's pacifist Constitution and described the Abe government's approach to changing the constitutional framework as contemptible. His positions provoked attacks from nationalist circles.

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After the attack on Charlie Hebdo, Miyazaki argued that caricaturing what another culture revered was a mistake and that satire should instead target politicians in one's own country. His comments prompted debate about freedom of expression.

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Miyazaki argued that the animation industry suffered because it was largely staffed by people too focused on anime itself and insufficiently attentive to observing real human beings. His remarks about "otaku" were widely discussed.

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The Wind Rises, about engineer Jirō Horikoshi, drew conflicting criticism: some in South Korea and elsewhere saw the film as glorifying a symbol of Japanese imperialism, while Japanese nationalists attacked Miyazaki's pacifism.

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The Japan Society for Tobacco Control criticised the numerous smoking scenes in The Wind Rises, particularly one in which the protagonist smokes beside his wife, who has tuberculosis, arguing that the film could normalise tobacco use among young people.

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In an interview, Miyazaki criticised people using iPads on public transport and described their finger movements on the screen with a deliberately provocative comparison to masturbation. The phrase was widely repeated as an example of his hostility towards digital technologies.

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Miyazaki did not attend the 2003 Oscars ceremony, where Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He subsequently explained that he had refused to travel to the United States because of the Iraq War.

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Hayao Miyazaki opposed the choice of his son Gorō, then a first-time director, to direct Tales from Earthsea, believing he lacked experience. Their relationship deteriorated during production, and Gorō publicly described his father as a great director but a poor father.

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For the US release of Princess Mononoke, Harvey Weinstein/Miramax requested a shorter version. Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli refused to allow cuts to the film. The episode became emblematic of Ghibli's defence of artistic control.

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Attribution

Direct artistic position; producer Toshio Suzuki handled the famous sword message