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Hayao Miyazaki Denies That The Wind Rises Is His Final Work

Acclaimed anime film director Hayao Miyazaki gently denied with a wry smile that his upcoming film, The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu), will be his "last testament." During Monday's press conference to celebrate the completion of the film, he said, "[Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki] likes to say stuff like that. I told him, 'A last testament is what you leave behind when you're dying, but I think I'll live a little bit longer.'"

In February 2009, Miyazaki launched a two-part manga mini-series called "Kaze Tachinu" that focuses on Jirō Horikoshi, the designer of Japan's famed Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane of World War II. Author Tatsuo Hori also wrote a novel called Kaze Tachinu, and the film's poster tagline references both real-life figures and paraphrases Hori's book: "Show respect for Jiro Horikoshi and Tatsuo Hori. We must try to live." (Hori himself was reportedly quoting Paul Valéry's "Le cimetière marin" or "The Graveyard By The Sea" poem, which read, "Le vent se lève! . . . il faut tenter de vivre!" or "The wind is rising! . . . We must try to live!")

The Wind Rises will open in Japan on July 20.

Source: Mainchi Shimbun's Mantan Web