Miyazaki in Time's 100 Most Influential People List
Hayao Miyazaki has had a good year. The Japanese director won his second Oscar in March, and he's now been named in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of 2024.
The 83-year-old co-founder of Studio Ghibli, who won an Academy Award for The Boy and the Heron, was included in the prestigious list along with three other Japanese people.
Writing for Time, Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro called Miyazaki "the most influential animation director," and a "one-of-a-kind creator."
Del Toro said he has enjoyed watching Miyazaki's work all his life.
The Japanese director won his first Oscar for Spirited Away in 2003.
As well as Miyazaki, sociologist Chizuko Ueno, Osaka University's Katsuhiko Hayashi, and Yale University's Akiko Iwasaki were on the Time list.
Ueno, who is 75, has become a "superstar" in China, Time wrote. Her books, which share feminist ideas, have become popular in the country.
Hayashi was included for his work on reproductive biology, while Iwasaki is known for her research into the immune system and long COVID.
Time's first list of the world's most influential people was published in 1999. The magazine says it takes months to put together the top 100.
So who gets to be on the list? According to Time, it's "the people who we believe most changed the stories that define the past year."
This year's list includes pop stars and movie stars like Dua Lipa and Dev Patel, as well as world leaders like Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
There are also sportspeople like Spanish soccer player Jenni Hermoso and racing driver Max Verstappen.
Even the people chosen to write about each person on the list are influential, from Oscar winner del Toro writing about Miyazaki, to Michelle Obama writing about art curator Thelma Golden.
