Studio Ghibli is arguably the most beloved anime studio currently working, and it’s thanks in large part to the creative vision and public persona of director Hayao Miyazaki. But, like all humans, Miyazaki, and by extension Studio Ghibli, aren’t without controversy and fault. As well as Miyazaki’s reputation as a workaholic, which has famously affected his relationship with his son, Goro, there is a long-running controversy surrounding the working conditions and company culture at Studio Ghibli. Thankfully, one of Miyazaki’s former proteges has come to the rescue to finally put that rumor to rest.
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In 2015, an image was released online of a poster hanging in the Studio Ghibli office. The poster listed seven traits of employees who shouldn’t work at Ghibli, with the list including:
- Employees who are not smartใ
- Employees who cannot do things unless they are told
- Employees who are quick to rely on others
- Employees who are quick to shift the blame
- Employees who are not motivated
- Employees who are quick to complain
- Employees who often take time off and are often late
Naturally, such a list would be a PR hassle to say the least, and a troubling thing were it to be the case. But in this post-truth society, it’s best not to take what you see online at face value. In fact, it’s not a company-wide policy at all, but rather, isolated to one producer’s office merely because he found it amusing.
The Worrying Studio Ghibli Poster Isn’t What You Think
The image has resurfaced online concerning Studio Ghibli’s reputation over the past few weeks, causing director Kenji Itoso, who studied under Miyazaki when he was a teenager, to come out and clarify the actual story behind the poster. Speaking to Business Journal, they revealed that the poster didn’t represent the company culture at Studio Ghibli. Instead, it was hung in a single producer’s office because they found it interesting and amusing.
“This is still hanging in Producer Suzukiโs office, but it is not a company motto or anything like that,” the director explained. “When he went to Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture to shoot Shiki-Jitsu (directed by Hideaki Anno), which was released in 2000, Producer Suzuki found it in a trash can of a building, found it interesting, picked it up and brought it back with him. Dwango founder Nobuo Kawakami, who was once an apprentice producer at our company, also liked it and apparently had it hanging up in his own company.”
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Studio Ghibli Doesn’t Follow the Controversial Poster’s Rules
While anime studios are notorious for being demanding of their employees and having worrying work cultures, Itoso stated that Studio Ghibli never enforced the poster’s guidelines as company policy, as some fans online had feared.
“At our company, we never read these 7 Commandments at morning meetings, nor do we make employees read them,” Itoso continued. “We never use this to pressure employees into quitting their jobs.”
The interview comes as a major relief for Studio Ghibli fans who, when the image resurfaced, began feeling a modicum of guilt about enjoying movies made under such harsh conditions. Luckily, we won’t have to feel that way when Hayao Miyazaki’s next film is released. No details about the project have been officially unveiled, and the movie hasn’t officially been greenlit by the studio. Instead, the new film was teased by a Studio Ghibli executive in May last year.
