It’s been 10 years since I came to Canada in September 2003 when I entered the University of Calgary. I spent about 3 years in Japan after graduating from U of C, so I have lived in Canada for about 7 years in total.
One of today’s hottest Japanese news is the retirement of Hayao Miyazaki, the most famous and probably the most talented animation film director of Japan. It was announced by the president of the film studio that Hayao Miyazaki works for, Studio Ghibli, and he will officially talk about his retirement at a press conference on Sept. 6th. Now we don’t know why he decided to retire, but according to an internet article, the president told that a character in his newest animation film says “a creative period only lasts for 10 years”, and that Hayao Miyazaki said “my 10 years ended a long time ago”.
Really? I mean, does a creative period last only for 10 years? I have not watched the animation film yet, and don’t know in what context the character says that. I just want to believe that a creative period lasts way longer than 10 years; otherwise my creative period will end soon.
I like Ghibli films because both children and adults can enjoy it, and probably children and adults watch it in different ways. I liked it when I was a child simply because it was fun, but did not watch it in my 20s and early 30s because I thought watching animation films was childish. Now I like it again because it reminds me of something precious that adults tend to forget. As I wrote in the previous post, I often forget a beginner’s mind. It seems that I should rethink what is fundamental for me, so that my creative period will last longer than 10 years.