Mizuhiki – Adorning Life
Mizuhiki is an ancient Japanese art of knot-tying. This intricate craft has evolved over the centuries and is now cherished in modern Japan as both a holiday gift and a decorative element.
Is Studio Ghibli a Japanese version of Walt Disney? Yes and No. As a writer, I know, one of the easiest way to introduce a new concept to the readers is by means of comparing/analogising it with a well known, older one. But this technique should be applied carefully. In some cases, it can cause more confusion than actually help. BTW, the name “Ghibli” is from Italian origin, meaning “blow a new wind through the anime industry” and is pronounced dʒɪblɪ (like jeebli), with a soft “g”.
Founded in 1985 by then, manga writer and illustrator, Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli shows characteristics of a child who witnessed and suffered the horrors of war. Miyazaki's family had to be evacuated three times during the bombing of Tokyo. A large part of his work is centered in the difficulties of maintaining a pacifist ethic in a violent world. There is also the recurrence of themes surrounding humankind relationship with nature and technology and the morality of natural and traditional patterns of living. As an artist himself, Miyazaki also places a heavy weight on the importance of art and craftsmanship.
The breakthrough for Miyazaki came with the film "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" in 1984. Both a pacifist and a skilled warrior, Nausicaä, a roaming wanderer as well as a princess, is a fascinating mishmash of traditional heroic tropes who serves as the ultimate force for good. As in Nausicaä, the main characters of Miyazaki's stories/films are often strong girls or young women. Yet lots of sympathy is also given to morally dubious characters, who possess redeemable qualities.
However, the mascot of Studio Ghibli is definitely “Totoro“. With a larger than life personality and a well-fed physique, Totoro, is an adorable chinchilla in Miyazaki’s animated movie, “My Neighbor Totoro”. This gentle, gray and giant rat, together with the film has become a cultural icon. The film won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize, the Mainichi Film Award, the Kinema Junpo Award, and the Special Award at the Blue Ribbon Awards in 1988.
My Neighbor Totoro grossed over $41 million at the worldwide box office, in addition to generating approximately $277 million from home video sales and $1.142 billion from licensed merchandise sales, adding up to approximately $1.46 billion in total lifetime revenue.
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Mizuhiki is an ancient Japanese art of knot-tying. This intricate craft has evolved over the centuries and is now cherished in modern Japan as both a holiday gift and a decorative element.
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