Hayao Myazaki Photo: IC

 Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese director known for animated films like the Oscar-winning Spirited Away, plans to retire from filmmaking after a five-decade career, his production company said Sunday at the Venice Film Festival.

"Next week Miyazaki will have a press conference held in Tokyo to announce his withdrawal from active working," Koji Hoshino, head of Studio Ghibli, which was co-founded by Miyazaki, said at a festival news conference.

Hoshino gave no further explanation for the decision by the director, who is sometimes described as the Walt Disney of Japan.

"He wants to say goodbye to all of you from the bottom of his heart," Hoshino said.

Miyazaki, 72, has made 11 feature films. His latest, called The Wind Rises in English, is already a box-office hit in Japan and had its premiere in Venice on Sunday.

Based on the story of the man who designed Japan's feared fighting plane used in World War II, the film's themes about the dangers of nationalism set up the animator for unprecedented criticism. Commentators see it as a veiled warning that Japan may again be heading in a similar direction. Miyazaki emphasized that warning in a scathing essay in mid-July about proposals by Shinzo Abe.

Reuters