Photo/Illutration Pedestrians pass a poster for “Kimitachi wa Dou Ikiruka” (How do you live?) at a Tokyo theater. (Koichiro Yoshida)

I got to see Hayao Miyazaki's "Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka" in the evening of the day of its release. In English the film is known as "The Boy and the Heron."

I was relieved that I got to that point knowing nothing whatsoever of what the feature-length anime is about.

During the days leading up to the release date, I'd been extra careful not to stumble across speculative posts about it on social media.

And I became quite nervous when, the moment the film was released, its details became widely shared.

Thinking back, I admit falling hook, line and sinker for Studio Ghibli's decision to forsake advertising the film.  

All Ghibli revealed were the film's title and a single poster. There were no trailers or commercials.

Such a departure from convention is something only the most famous and established studio can pull off.

The background to this zero-promotion strategy is given in the book "Sutajio Jiburi Monogatari" (Studio Ghibli story), which was published last month.

The book quotes producer Toshio Suzuki telling Miyazaki, "I don't want to do the same thing again."

And Miyazaki replied, "I understand how you feel."

By "the same thing," Suzuki meant a massive advertising campaign funded by corporate sponsors to ensure the film's box office success.

Suzuki felt this strategy had "gone as far as it could go" with the 1997 film "Mononoke Hime" (Princess Mononoke).

He probably reached that state of mind as someone who had gone as far as he could go with it.

For a good while, I have shuddered at excessive advertising for releases by Ghibli and others. When you combine the publicity with details circulating on social media, I sometimes end up knowing the ending of a film I have yet to see.

I miss the good old days of staring at the credits roll in a daze brought on by an unexpected ending.

Having said all that, I will reveal nothing here about "The Boy and the Heron" but will say that I felt a very strong message from the director who came out of retirement to make this film.

And it brought back memories of his other works, which I saw wherever I was stationed at the time.

Remembering them all brought back a swirl of thoughts.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 18

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