Miyazaki's upbringing has a huge influence on his films. In his latest movie The Boy and the Heron, he reflects on his early childhood memories.

He still recalls experiencing the bombing in Tokyo during World War II. His family fled to the countryside of Utsunomiya then to Kanuma. Miyazaki was only three years old.

His talent in the arts was not inherited from his parents. His father, Katsuji, was the director of Miyazaki Airplane. It was a family business that manufactured parts for fighter planes. Hayao became fascinated with flying. In fact, his early drawings were of tanks and battleships rather than people. His dad enjoyed purchasing paintings and watching movies. But beyond that, Katsuji had little understanding of visual arts.

His mother, Yoshiko, was bedridden with spinal tubercolisis for about 8 years. The first few years were spent in the hospital until she could be nursed from home. With his father working and his mother sick, Hayao Miyazaki and his three brothers took on many domestic duties at a young age. Yoshiko was an intellectual woman who often questioned social norms, which explains why many protagonists in Miyazaki's films were strong-minded women.

As an introverted kid, Miyazaki found comfort in drawing. When the comic boom happened in postwar Japan, he aspired to become a manga artist. His interest in animation was sparked a little later when he watched Japan's first feature-length animation in colour called The White Snake Enchantress (1958). Although Miyazaki graduated with degrees in political science and economics, his love for manga and animation never wavered.