Japan

“Our memory is made up of our individual memories and our collective memories. The two are intimately linked. And history is our collective memory. If our collective memory is taken from us – is rewritten – we lose the ability to sustain our true selves.”

This nurturing of the whole person calls to mind a Japanese concept called ikigai, which means ‘reason for being’. Ikigai is whatever it is that gives your life value and meaning. It is the intersection between what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for. Those who manage to find this sweet spot are,

it seems you have been influenced by director Akira Kurosawa. MIYAZAKI: I love director Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. Even though I love it, the Japan that he depicts in that film is not the real Japan. My perception of Japanese history is different. That is why I felt I needed to make my own period drama with historical Japan as the setting, and

It is not morals or good and evil that we should be discussing, but the issue of courage.