The Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation recently announced that iconic anime director Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli is one of the recipients of a Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2024.
Miyazaki receiving an award is no surprise as he has been honored in various award ceremonies going back decades, and for good reason. After all, Miyazaki is perhaps one of the most beloved (and most influential) anime directors of all time thanks to his films with Studio Ghibli over the past decades.
His latest award is a bit of a surprise though, especially considering that the Ramon Magsaysay award seems like a Filipino honor. It turns out that this isn’t the case.
Hayao Miyazaki wins the Ramon Magsaysay Award, known as the “Nobel Prize of Asia.”
The foundation praised him, stating, “He has used art to help children understand complex issues, such as environmental protection and the promotion of peace. He has created many of the most… pic.twitter.com/F3lPoSIX5z
— Studio Ghibli Pictures (@ghiblipicture) September 1, 2024
Instead of being an award for Filipino nationals as its name implies (Magsaysay was the seventh President of the Philippines after all), this award is given to citizens of Asian countries and was established way back in 1957. It’s even called the “Nobel Prize of Asia,” indicating its prestige.
Alongside Miyazaki, the 2024 award honorees include:
- Farwiza Farhan from Indonesia
- Karma Phuntsho from Bhutan
- Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong from Vietnam
- Rural Doctors Movement from Thailand
The 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Award ceremony will take place on November 16 at the Metropolitan Theatre in Manila, though it’s not clear if Hayao Miyazaki himself will attend. After all, Miyazaki has pretty much skipped all awards ceremonies over the years. In fact, even though The Boy and the Heron received numerous awards, Miyazaki himself did not attend a single ceremony, with Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki receiving the awards on his behalf.