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Hayao Miyazaki is regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers in animation history. His films have completely captivated individuals worldwide, with stunning visuals, intense storytelling, and genuinely personal themes. Miyazaki has always been quite critical of Japan’s modernization, government policies, and cultural changes.

Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro. | Credit: Studio Ghibli

His films often highlight a deep reverence for Japan’s natural beauty and fading traditions. So, recently one of the most surprising things about his conflicted feelings about his home country came up in an interview from a book released by Studio Ghibli where he was reflecting on creating My Neighbor Totoro, a movie that actually celebrates rural Japan in a big way.

The inspiration behind My Neighbor Totoro

In the book titled Totoro no Umareta Tokoro (The Place Where Totoro Was Born), released by Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki opened up about his inspiration behind one...

Demon City’s ending was all about Sakata getting his revenge on the Kimen-gumi for killing his wife, Aoi, and supposedly murdering his daughter, Ryo. Back in the day, Sakata used to work as a hitman for Fujita. As his last assignment before seeking retirement and living the rest of his days as a family man, he killed off the last Yakuza group in the provincial city of Shinjo. When he went back home with the intention of starting a new chapter of his life, he found his wife and daughter being held hostage by a group of masked men. The Kimen-gumi were apparently cleaning up the city, and they saw Sakata as a “demon” who could ruin it all for them. So, they needed to finish him and his family off to avoid this hypothetical outcome. For some reason, on that fateful night, only Sakata’s wife died. Ryo...