Japanese animator to receive Ramon Magsaysay Award
By Robina Asido
A Japanese director was named as one of the first animators who will receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award this year, it was announced Saturday.
Miyazaki Hayao, 83, is one of the five recipients of the 2024 Ramon Magsaysay award that will be held at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila on November 16.
Ramon Magsaysay Foundation President Susan Afan said Miyazaki who is the 28th Japanese to receive their award is the first animator to earn this.
"As an animator yes but not as a filmmaker because we have Akira Kurozawa and also there's been quite others that have been in art and culture but when it comes to animation yes (he is the first animator to receive Ramon Magsaysay Award)," she said.
In his X (formerly Twitter) account, Japan Ambassador to the Philippines Endo Kazuya congratulated Miyazaki for the award, which is known as Asia's Nobel Prize.
"Congratulations to legendary Japanese filmmaker and Studio Ghibli co-founder, Miyazaki Hayao, for being a recipient of the 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Awards! His exceptional talent has been instrumental in crafting heartwarming films well-loved by people from all over the world," he said.
Ramon Magsaysay Foundation chairperson Cecilia Lazaro said the other awardees were Farwiza Farhan from Indonesia, Rural Doctors Movement from Thailand, Karma Phuntsho from Bhutan and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong from Vietnam.
Afan said Miyazaki who is "one of the pillars of the anime industry in Japan" is different from other awardees because of his "humanity, his sensitivity towards the complex issues of the world."
"His audience are children and he uses his art, his gift not just for profit but really to educate and that's huge you know, he really uses it to reach out to children and to simplify in a way some of this complex problem but he gives them hope," she said.
"He gives them a sense of feeling that they are not alone, that things may look bleak but there is hope in this world, so that is him giving these positive messages to the children the world that makes them really different," she added.
Afan noted that Miyazaki made a "huge contribution not just to the industry but the art world in general, to use art not just for profit, not just for self promotion but to use art to educate and to bring hope".
Emily Abrera, a Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation board of trustee, said Miyazaki who is the founder of Studio Ghibli "has not only delighted the global audience, both young and old alike, but has taught all of us, through the magic of animation, to dream of peace and better societies and to view the world with one and all".
"With every stroke of his pen, whether to draw his characters or to write their words, we feel the passion that drives Miyazaki's heart and that permeates the greatness of his spirit," she said.
"Studio Ghibli films touch on complicated subjects such as environmental destruction, the horrors of war and conflict and fear of the unknown, yet handled with such nuance and care that they have redefined our concepts of pacifism, environmentalism and self empowerment," she added. DMS
