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Hayao Miyazaki to Make California Appearance in July

Publishers Weekly journalist Kai-Ming Cha reports in her personal blog that Hayao Miyazaki, the director of the only feature-length Japanese animated film (Spirited Away) to have won an Oscar, will visit the United States in late July. Miyazaki is making the rare American trip to receive the second annual Berkeley Japan Prize for lifetime achievement, presented by the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He will be presented with the award on July 25, and will participate in a talk hosted by Japanese popular culture scholar Roland Kelts (Japanimerica). According to Cha, Miyazaki's contract with Disney requires him to make a U.S. appearance.

Japanese writer Haruki Murakami received the first Berkeley Japan Prize in October. Miyazaki will receive his prize during the same weekend that Comic-Con International takes place in San Diego (500 miles or 800 kilometers south of Berkeley) from July 23 to July 26.