Hayao Myazaki Bio

Hayao Myazaki is an amazing Japanese manga artist. Using his compelling imagination, he has shown the world the beauty of life through a series of plots, innocent characters, and stunning animations. He has become one the most inspiring people in the world, and has touched many hearts with his works.

Hayao Myazaki was born on January 5, 1941 in Tokyo. He lived in the town of Akebono-cho. There his family worked to build rudders for fighter planes during WWII. Through this, he developed a love to draw airplanes, and the love for the idea of flight.  As a child, he was forced to often transfers schools. Due to the time period, at the age of three he was forced to evacuate his hometown. He didn’t return until the age of nine. When he returned he went to Toyotama High school. During this time he saw the movie Hakujaden (The Tale of the White Serpent). He fell in love with the movie, and inspired him to give up his dream as a manga artist, and to become an animation artist. After high school he went to the Gakushuin University. There he graduated with degrees in political science, and economics. From then on, he began his journey to become an animation artist.

He began his journey with a job at Toei animation. There he worked on several different projects such as Watchdog Bow Wow, and Gulliver’s Travels Beyond the Moon. He left work after he married Akemi Ota, a fellow animator, to raise his two sons. He gradually became more famous through other works such as Hols: Prince of the Sun. He began to help develop the story board, and character designs for various other works.  In 1971, he left Toei animation for A Pro. There he helped direct the first several episodes of Lupin III. He worked on several more works before he left Nippon Animation in 1979.

Finally, he began to produce his own works. In 1984, he produced the movie Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Due to his love for aviation, many of his works such as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind had the key concept of flying. Form the work of Hakujaden, he developed a love for the heroism, and thus lead to feminism in many of his works. In this film he expressed the destruction of war and the balance between men and nature. In his many works, he expresses many crucial problems that we may face today. Soon after, he established Studio Ghibli with Isao Takahata in 1985. He continued to produce more films so as Laputa: The Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. In these films, he again incorporated the idea of flying in these films. In My Neighbor Totoro, Totoro is able to fly on a top, and the cat bus is also able to fly as the wind. In Castle in the sky, it talks about a flying castle in the sky with a lost civilization with technology unknown to the human race. In Kiki’s Delivery Service, Kiki is able to fly on her broom with her witch powers. The idea of a strong female main character continues to show up in his many inspiring films. In 1997, he produced the film, Princess Monoke. This film became the number one grossing film until the release of The Titanic. After the production of this film he took a temporary retirement.

After his semi-retirement, he released his film, Spirited Away in 2001. In this film it follows a girl’s adventure in another world inhabited by spirits. This received many rewards in Japan, and America. His more current film, Howl’s Moving Castle again impressed the world with its vibrant animations, and rich characters. Today, Disney helps show the western world the beauty of his works. As his fame rises he continues his journey to continue to impress the world, and show the true meaning of life through his works of art.

As a fellow artist I was touched, and inspired by his many works. By looking at his various works I have come to the realization of a deeper meaning to life. As many people walk through life everyday without realizing beauty of it, he shows us these inner beauties. Not only does he show us the beauties nature offers us, he shows the potential destruction of it and mankind. In works like, Princess Mononoke, he shows us the greed and power of humans versus the power of nature. He tells us that we should delve too greedily into the gifts nature offers us. Unlike others he creates pure and innocent characters. Each character has a different story to tell and a different role to play that will affect the course of the story.  Although some criticize his works, we must look past that and dwell deep into the true meaning of his works. His themes of imagination, beauty, destruction, greed, and various others express the true form of the human mind. Like My Neighbor Totoro, imagination is infinite. It can create worlds that cannot happen in reality. The ideas of a floating castle, being able to walk across the sky, and the existence of a world where spirits reside in are all creations of this brilliant imaginative mind. Whether his works make you cry, smile, or laugh, his works have all touched our hearts and will continue to live on forever.