Ghibli
Do you love Studio Ghibli, the animation movie production company founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata? Are you a declared antifascist and anti-colonialist, but you enjoy watching Porco Rosso fly the Ghibli seaplane?
Well, you should know that the name of the famous Japanese animation studio is a fascist and colonial reference! Try to remember that every time you mention Studio Ghibli.
Well, you should know that the name of the famous Japanese animation studio is a fascist and colonial reference! Try to remember that every time you mention Studio Ghibli.
By Alberto Alpozzi
These days, on social media, AI altered images that turn historical figures and movies in animated characters in the Ghibli style are all the rage.
The animated motion pictures Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirit Away, My Neighbor Totoro are very famous: movies that were celebrated by the Oscars for Miyazaki.
But, setting aside the youth-driven social trends and the sweet faces, the big round eyes, the warm light tones and the poetic and naturalistic backgrounds of the Japanese animation authors, where does the name Ghibli come from?
Many fans of Miyazaki would be amazed to learn that the origin of the name is Italian. In fact, Ghibli was the name of the Caproni Ca.309 reconnaissance aircraft made in Italy in 1936 by the Caproni Aeronautica Bergamasca company for the Italian Royal Air Force (the Regia Aeronautica). The airplane entered service in 1937. It served in the 89th Squadriglia of Sirte, in the 12th Squadriglia and the 104th Squadriglia at Mellaha Air Base, in the 26th Squadriglia of Berca (Bengasi), and in a Sezione of the 23rd Squadriglia of El-Adem.
These days, on social media, AI altered images that turn historical figures and movies in animated characters in the Ghibli style are all the rage.
The animated motion pictures Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirit Away, My Neighbor Totoro are very famous: movies that were celebrated by the Oscars for Miyazaki.
But, setting aside the youth-driven social trends and the sweet faces, the big round eyes, the warm light tones and the poetic and naturalistic backgrounds of the Japanese animation authors, where does the name Ghibli come from?
Many fans of Miyazaki would be amazed to learn that the origin of the name is Italian. In fact, Ghibli was the name of the Caproni Ca.309 reconnaissance aircraft made in Italy in 1936 by the Caproni Aeronautica Bergamasca company for the Italian Royal Air Force (the Regia Aeronautica). The airplane entered service in 1937. It served in the 89th Squadriglia of Sirte, in the 12th Squadriglia and the 104th Squadriglia at Mellaha Air Base, in the 26th Squadriglia of Berca (Bengasi), and in a Sezione of the 23rd Squadriglia of El-Adem.
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| A Ghibli of the 104th Squadriglia of Mellaha |
It is easy to guess from these names where the Ca.309 was employed. It had been designed for the armed reconnaissance role in Libya. The Italian Libya which had been unified by the December 3, 1934 Royal Decree n. 2012 and governed first by Italo Balbo and later by Rodolfo Graziani.
Ghibli, in Arabic qiblī, that means “southerly,” is the warm and dry Libyan wind which blows strongly in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. From there came the evocative name chosen for the twin-engine airplane of the Italian Regia Aeronautica, the Fascist armed force par excellence.
Miyazaki, who was born in 1941 when Italy and Japan were allies, has always been an aviation buff, and fascinated by Italian aircraft design and airplanes.
When he was young, he studied the work of Dr. Gianni Caproni, the Count of Taliedo, one of the pioneers of world aviation. Suffice to say, in the White House there was his portrait near the Wright brothers’. And Miyazaki was so fond of Gianni Caproni that the Italian aviation pioneer even made an appearance in the 2013 movie “The Wind Rises.”
And so, that is the origin of that name Ghibli, that proves the connection between Italian aeronautics and Miyazaki’s aesthetic.
In an old interview, Miyazaki reminded us how history and the inescapable connections to it should constitute the identity of every nation: “It’s okay if some people are ignorant about their history, as long as they stay in Japan; but when an entire people is ignorant, that is a recipe for disaster.”
So, beginning today, let’s try to be a little less ignorant; and any time you look at a picture by the great Miyazaki think about that Ghibli, the desert wind of Italian Libya. And remember the Regia Aeronautica, instituted by the Royal Decree n. 645 on March 28, 1923.
And rest assured: Miyazaki is not a fascist, even though he hasn’t signed an anti-fascist declaration yet.
Ghibli, in Arabic qiblī, that means “southerly,” is the warm and dry Libyan wind which blows strongly in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. From there came the evocative name chosen for the twin-engine airplane of the Italian Regia Aeronautica, the Fascist armed force par excellence.
Miyazaki, who was born in 1941 when Italy and Japan were allies, has always been an aviation buff, and fascinated by Italian aircraft design and airplanes.
When he was young, he studied the work of Dr. Gianni Caproni, the Count of Taliedo, one of the pioneers of world aviation. Suffice to say, in the White House there was his portrait near the Wright brothers’. And Miyazaki was so fond of Gianni Caproni that the Italian aviation pioneer even made an appearance in the 2013 movie “The Wind Rises.”
And so, that is the origin of that name Ghibli, that proves the connection between Italian aeronautics and Miyazaki’s aesthetic.
In an old interview, Miyazaki reminded us how history and the inescapable connections to it should constitute the identity of every nation: “It’s okay if some people are ignorant about their history, as long as they stay in Japan; but when an entire people is ignorant, that is a recipe for disaster.”
So, beginning today, let’s try to be a little less ignorant; and any time you look at a picture by the great Miyazaki think about that Ghibli, the desert wind of Italian Libya. And remember the Regia Aeronautica, instituted by the Royal Decree n. 645 on March 28, 1923.
And rest assured: Miyazaki is not a fascist, even though he hasn’t signed an anti-fascist declaration yet.
This was a translation of a post taken from Alberto Alpozzi's blog Italia Coloniale.
Your comments, as always, will be very appreciated.
Thank you,
L. Pavese
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