Hayao Miyazaki is revered all over the world as the co-founder of animation studio Ghibli and the director of such beloved films like My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa and many more, but far fewer are likely aware that many of his other movies such as Porco Rosso and The Wind Rises began as serialized manga published in popular Japanese model kit magazines.

This book (Hayao Miyazaki And Model Kit Magazines / 模型雑誌の中の宮﨑駿 ) is the exploration of the long lasting relationship that Hayao Miyazaki has with magazines like Model Graphix, Armour Modeling and Scale Aviation, showcasing his many creative contributions over 40 years.

Peppered between the many lengthy discussions, excerpts and interviews are illustrations created by Hayao Miyazaki for these magazines, serialized back in the day and which would be compiled into art book and manga like Hayao Miyazaki’s Daydream Notes, Tiger Im Schlamm, as well as Porco Rosso and The Wind Rises, the latter two which would eventually be adapted into animated films.

(image above right) An illustration that was first used a long time ago as the cover for the March 1994 issue of Animage magazine, and used again as the cover for the May 2025 ( number 307 ) issue of the Japanese hobby kit magazine Armour Modelling (アーマーモデリング); see image below.

3

(image above) The Matchlock Samurai (鉄炮侍 蛭子八郎太), designed and illustrated by Hayao Miyazaki for the model kit released by Modelkasten.

Although there are a good number of illustrations and art work scattered throughout the volume, this is not really a full-fledged art book, and any Hayao Miyazaki fan picking this up with that in mind will likely be a little disappointed.

That said, it is a very nice primer to help bring context and background information for his long involvement with these model kit magazines that eventually gifted us with manga, art books and films like Hayao Miyazaki’s Daydream Notes, Tiger Im Schlamm, Porco Rosso and The Wind Rises. A more scholarly companion volume to these aforementioned works, if you will.

“Hayao Miyazaki And Model Kit Magazines 模型雑誌の中の宮﨑 駿 book details :

– Dimensions – 8.35 x 0.39 x 11.81 inches
– Softcover, 128 pages
– Full color, in Japanese

  
Buy From Amazon.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | CDJapan

You might also be interested in these items :