Miyazaki’s superb Spirited Away – image: YouTube
A new Hayao Miyazaki documentary has been made available online to stream for free by Japanese broadcaster NHK. The four-part series can be viewed on NHK’s website right now in their entirety.
Miyazaki is the legendary Japanese animator whose back catalogue consists of some of the best features in the last few decades. His resume includes the likes of Kiki’s Delivery Service, Ponyo, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and many more.
Most of those movies have arrived on Netflix over the past couple of months so, if you are unfamiliar with his world, your voyage of discovery into the magnificent Miyazaki is available to you right now. No excuses, folks. This is amazing filmmaking and you will not be disappointed.
Here is the official synopsis for episode one of this fantastic new Hayao Miyazaki documentary series.
An exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the genius of Japan’s foremost living film director, Hayao Miyazaki — creator of some of the world’s most iconic and enduring anime feature films. Miyazaki allowed a single documentary filmmaker to shadow him at work, as he dreamed up characters and plot lines for what would become his 2008 blockbuster, “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.” Miyazaki explores the limits of his physical ability and imagination to conjure up memorable protagonists. This program is the first of a 4-part documentary, “10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki.”
Related: Miyazaki’s Kiki’s Delivery Service coming to a special edition home release
Each episode runs for 49 minutes, so that’s nearly 200 minutes of Miyazaki goodness to devour whilst you, like us, are holed up at home. The episodes are titled Ponyo is Here, Drawing What’s Real, Go Ahead – Threaten Me, and No Cheap Excuses. All of these episodes are available now and it looks like the broadcaster has made them available online until 2026.
You can watch the Hayao Miyazaki documentary at the end of this link.
