Japan: Anti-Smoking Group Fuming Over Miyazaki''s New Movie

Source from:  Asahi Shimbum (jp) 08/16/2013

A Tokyo-based nonprofit organization has raised issue with the abundance of smoking scenes in renowned director Hayao Miyazaki's latest animated movie, "Kaze Tachinu" (The Wind Rises).

Manabu Sakuta, director of the Japan Society for Tobacco Control, on Aug. 12 sent a letter to anime production company Studio Ghibli Inc., in which he noted that many smoking scenes appear throughout the movie, such as in a classroom, workplace and hotel restaurant.

The letter said there could be a problem in having one character smoking while he holds the hand of his wife who is suffering from tuberculosis.

Sakuta also wrote that "a scene where a student asks his friend for a cigarette could encourage underage smoking."

"Kaze Tachinu," Miyazaki's first animated film in five years, was released on July 20 and has brought in more than 4 million viewers and 5 billion yen ($51 million) in about three weeks. It was nominated for the Golden Lion award at the 70th Venice International Film Festival, which will be held on the Lido of Venice from Aug. 28 to Sept. 7. Enditem