BBC interview on Hayao Miyazaki's second Oscar

I first interviewed Hayao Miyazaki for Japanamerica in the early aughts. I was very fortunate. It was the usual story--a friend of a friend of a friend, and so on. He was a bit tight-lipped at first but relaxed and opened up when he realized that I was no otaku. 

Later I was invited to interview him live onstage at UC Berkeley in California (video here), and we've had a few informal chats since. 

When he was awarded a second Oscar this year (third if you count his 2014 honorary statuette), I gave interviews to the BBC, CNN and The Guardian, in addition to a couple of online Japanese media. 

 

The business has undergone a revolution since our first meeting for Japanamerica. File-sharing and streaming media have made Japanese pop culture in general and anime in particular a content goldmine. The reputation of Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli has grown in prominence over the past 20 years, partly owing to its rich and unparalleled catalog of quality content, but also because of licensing deals signed by longtime producer/marketing maestro Toshio Suzuki for merchandise and global streaming platforms (Netflix, Max)--both revenue streams Miyazaki once told me he'd never deign to tap.

It's also worth noting that Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli set themselves apart from the rest of the anime industry in Japan. Miyazaki doesn't even use the word "anime" for his work, preferring "feature-length animated films," with the emphasis on movies, not episodic TV series or manga adaptations. Miyazaki himself openly disdains otaku fanboy culture and thinks most anime from Japan is cheap and puerile commercial drivel.

Outside of Japan, Miyazaki & Studio Ghibli = Anime. But at home, they want nothing to do with it.

Popular posts from this blog

Manga, Anime & Cosplay: Japanamerica Night--Thank Yous--

Image
--to John Fuller, Shigeharu Ono and the absurdly patient and kind staff of Kinokuniya NYC , to Marco Pavia and Mandy Willingham of TokyoPop , to Clyde Adams III of NYC Anime , to Peter Tatara of New York Anime Festival and Comic Con , to Taeko Baba and Justin Keesey of New York-Tokyo , to Wired magazine , to Lee-Sean Huang and JETAANY , to the four extraordinary manga artists, whose backgrounds (US-Hispanic; US Caucasian; Korean; Japanese) served to exemplify the japanamerica phenomenon--and to you, that glorious mob of you who attended, ranging in age from the teens to the 80s, in race and ethnicity from African American to Asian to White to Hispanic, and in costumes elaborate to mundane--I am, and remain, grateful. What a night in New York. [photos courtesy of marlene marino and lee-sean huang.]
Read more

Shinji Aramaki and the Appleseed Ex Machina Opening

Image
Got blogged down, I guess, but a few notes here from New York: I was privileged recently to spend some time conversing with veteran designer and Appleseed director Shinji Aramaki in Tokyo. Aramaki is among the most candid and clear-headed of the folks I've met in the anime industry in Japan; he's also an ambitious and committed artist, one who retains faith in the future of his art form, even as he offers suggestions for its survival. Portions of our conversation were published in The Daily Yomiuri on the eve of the Japan nationwide theatrical release of Appleseed: Ex Machina , the latest and most visually stunning film in the Appleseed series. The film will be released in the US in the form of a DVD disc set in 2008. On the same day (Oct. 20, US-time), Kinokuniya will open its largest overseas bookstore in midtown Manhattan. The three-floor outlet will overlook Bryan Park in the very center of the city. Look for expanded offerings of manga, anime, and all books related to th...
Read more