Five Books on Hayao Miyazaki's Cinema

Susan Napier's "MondoMiyazaki" has been published in Italian by Dynit Manga. Napier, an American scholar fluent in Japanese, met Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli in the late 1990s and later conducted a long interview with him. The book, originally released in the US last summer and also translated into Japanese, spans over 300 pages and analyzes Miyazaki's works chronologically. Meanwhile, Steve Alpert's memoir "Sharing a House with the Never-Ending Man" (Stone Bridge Press, 2020) recounts his tenure as the only non-Japanese employee at Studio Ghibli, handling international distribution and rights. Alpert's book includes anecdotes about Harvey Weinstein's attempts to dictate to Miyazaki during the US release of "Princess Mononoke". Hitomi Tateno, a 27-year Ghibli veteran, wrote the memoir "Enpitsu Senki" (Chuokoron, 2016), serialized in the Ghibli monthly "Neppu" and compiled into a volume edited by Kyoko Hirabayashi with illustrations by Minoru Ohashi, featuring a preface by producer Toshio Suzuki. Hirokatsu Kihara, production director for films including "Castle in the Sky" and "My Neighbor Totoro", authored "Hitotsu no Barasu" and "Futari no Totoro", offering behind-the-scenes insights into Miyazaki's work.