Two Books To Read Before Watching Studio Ghibli’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’

Director Hayao Miyazaki brilliantly combined his own childhood with two stories set in England and Japan respectively.

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Finally I saw ‘The Boy and the Heron’, the latest film by Hayao Miyazaki. The UK premiere was held on 8th October, at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival. It will be screened once more in London this weekend, but will not be released to the public until the 26th of December in the UK. I hope that many people will enjoy this masterpiece from Studio Ghibli.

In this article, I’ll introduce the two books that inspired the film and some highlights based on them, without spoilers.

Two books that inspired Hayao Miyazaki

Two books clearly had a big influence on the film ‘The Boy and the Heron’. Both are known to be great favourites of director Hayao Miyazaki.

How Do You Live?: The uplifting Japanese classic that has enchanted millions

The first book is ‘How Do You Live?’ by Genzaburo Yoshino (1899–1981), published in 1937…