The Art of the Boy and the Heron

Hayao Miyazaki is an animated film director. Born 1941, Tokyo. After graduating from Gakushuin University in 1963 with a degree in Political Science and Economics, Hayao Miyazaki joined Toei Animation as an animator. Miyazaki co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 with Takahata. Representative works include Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001), Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), Ponyo (2008), and The Wind Rises (2013), among others. His latest film is The Boy and the Heron (2023).

Spirited Away broke every box office record in Japan, and garnered many awards, including the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival and the 2002 Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature Film. Miyazaki was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2005 Venice International Film Festival. In 2012, Miyazaki was named a “Person of Cultural Merit” by the government of Japan. In November 2014, the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented him with an Honorary Oscar® for Lifetime Achievement.

Additionally, he was responsible for the original concept, planning, and production of the Ghibli Museum, which opened in Mitaka in 2001, for which he serves as Honorary Executive Director.