|
TOKYO: Japanese animation guru Hayao Miyazaki wishes
one of his industry’s most famous fans—the prime
minister—would just keep quiet about his avowed love of manga
comic books.
Prime Minister Taro Aso, a
conservative and often gruff political veteran, has tried to soften
his image by casting himself as someone who understands the culture
of “otaku” (geeks) whose hobbies border on obsession.
But Miyazaki said Aso had no need
to advertise his earnest reading of comics.
“I think it’s a shame. It’s
something that he should do secretly,” the 67-year-old
Oscar-winning animator told reporters Thursday when asked about
Aso’s public declarations of admiration for Japanese comics and
animation.
Aso chose Tokyo’s Akihabara
district, a noted center of Japan’s comic book subculture, for his
first street speech after taking office in September, hailing comics
and complaining he could not find enough time to read them.
Miyazaki said Japan should create
a proper environment for children rather than building bridges and
roads to stimulate the economy.
He warned that Japanese children
today were surrounded not by nature but by virtual reality such as
television, video games and e-mail.
“I feel a big contradiction as
what we are doing may be depriving children of their power,” he
said. “But I want to continue this job, believing it is also a
happy experience that a child has an unforgettable movie.”
Miyazaki, whose 2001 film
“Spirited Away” won the Academy Award in 2003 for best animated
feature, urged Japan to liberate itself from nationalism.
“Nationalism stems from the
belief that multi-ethnicity causes problems of the world.
“We learned from the last war
that the town we love or the country we love can always turn into
something bad to the world. I believe we must not forget what we
learned,” he said.
Japan’s air force chief Toshio
Tamogami was sacked recently after writing an essay in which he
denied the country was an aggressor in World War II and urge Asian
countries “take a positive view” of Japan’s past militarism.
Miyazaki has scored another
box-office hit this year with “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea,” a
story of a fish-girl and a human boy.
He is one of Japan’s biggest
cultural exports thanks to his films, which include “Howl’s
Moving Castle” (2004), “Princess Mononoke” (1997) and “My
Neighbor Totoro” (1988).
--Agence France-Presse
|
