Studio Ghibli, Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities

The Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli has been granted the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, as announced today by the Jury responsible for conferring said Award.

The Jury for the Award –convened by the Princess of Asturias Foundation– was chaired by Miguel Falomir Faus and made up of Irene Cano Piquero, Juan Fernández-Miranda Fernández-Miranda, Álex Grijelmo García, Alma Guillermoprieto, Isabel Izquierdo Peraile, Miguel Ángel Liso Tejada, Begoña Lolo Herranz, Catalina Luca de Tena y García-Conde, Marchioness of Valle de Tena, Cristina de Middel Puch, Miguel Ángel Oliver Fernández, Enrique Pascual Pons, Ana Santos Aramburo, Diana Sorensen and Óscar Loureda Lamas (as acting secretary).

This candidature was put forward by Alfonso Palacio and Sergio G. Sánchez, both members of the Jury for the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts.

Studio Ghibli is one of the most iconic animation studios in the world. Founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata —creator of the popular series Heidi (1974) and Marco (1976)— and Toshio Suzuki, the studio has created some of the most critically and publicly acclaimed animated films. The origins of Studio Ghibli can be traced back to the collaboration between Miyazaki and Takahata on the film Kaze no Tani no Naushika (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind), based on a manga by Miyazaki. The success of this film led to the founding of the studio with the backing of producer Toshio Suzuki.

An international reference studio in the world of animation, the films produced by Studio Ghibli have been praised for their stories brimming with sensitivity, fantasy and environmental messages. According to experts, its influence has transcended generations and borders, creating a cultural bridge that unites people from different backgrounds while transmitting timeless values such as respect, friendship and empathy. Its productions are characterized by great creativity, handcrafted animation and the exploration of themes such as love of nature, tolerance and respect for human beings, especially the elderly. Studio Ghibli’s films find beauty in the mundane and make moments of calm and contemplation a fundamental part of their stories. Another distinctive feature of its productions is the strength and determination of their female leading characters, distinguished by their courage, complexity and capacity for transformation. 

Featuring hand-drawn illustrations, watercolours and acrylic paintings, their traditional style has constituted one of the studio’s hallmarks and has contributed to the universality of its stories. Notable titles from the studio include Tenkū no Shiro Laputa (Laputa: Castle in the Sky, 1986), Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro, 1988), Majo no Takkyūbin (Kiki's Delivery Service, 1989), and Porco Rosso (1992). In 1997, the studio achieved international recognition with Mononoke-hime (Princess Mononoke), the first animated film to win the Japanese Academy Film Prize. In 2001, it released Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away), which describes a girl’s symbolic journey to a fantastic world and her transition from childhood to adulthood. Considered the masterpiece of the studio and Hayao Miyazaki’s career, in this film Miyazaki unfolds a critical discourse on modern Japanese society, delving into generational conflicts, the dissolution of traditional culture in a globalized society and the destruction of the environment. The film broke all box office records and has received the most awards of any Japanese animated film in history, including the Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Film (2001), the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival (2002) and the Oscar for Best Animated Feature (2003). 

Other celebrated productions from the studio include Howl no Ugoku (Howl’s Moving Castle, 2004); Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo, 2008), which marked their return to hand-drawn animation without computer-generated imagery; Karigurashi no Arrietty (Arrietty, 2010); and Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises, 2013). The studio’s more recent feature films include Omoide no Mānī (When Marnie Was There, 2014), directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, and Āya to Majo (Earwig and the Witch, 2020), by Gorō Miyazaki. In 2023, Miyazaki returned to directing with the film Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka (The Boy and the Heron), with which he again achieved critical acclaim and which garnered the studio its second Oscar award. The studio received the honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024, the first time in the history of the award that it was not given to a person. Studio Ghibli has also produced short films, television commercials and video games. 

In addition to the accolades received by Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki has individually received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice International Film Festival in 2005, the Karl Edward Wagner Award (UK, 2009), the Honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of the United States in 2014, and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement (USA,  2019), among other distinctions.

As stated in the Statutes of the Foundation, the Princess of Asturias Awards are aimed at rewarding “the scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanitarian work carried out at an international level by individuals, institutions or groups of individuals or institutions”. In keeping with these principles, the Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities is to be granted to “the work of fostering and advancing the sciences and disciplines considered humanistic activities or any activity related to social communication in any of its forms.”
This year a total of 48 candidatures comprising 20 different nationalities were put forward for the Communication and Humanities Award.

This is the second of the eight Princess of Asturias Awards to be bestowed in what is now their forty-sixth year. The corresponding Awards for Technical and Scientific Research, International Cooperation, Social Sciences, Sports, Literature and Concord shall be announced in the coming weeks (in said order).

As is customary, the presentation of the Princess of Asturias Awards will take place in October in a solemn ceremony presided over by Their Majesties The King and Queen, accompanied by Their Royal Highnesses The Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía.

Each Princess of Asturias Award comprises a Joan Miró sculpture symbolizing the Award, a diploma, an insignia and a cash prize of fifty thousand euros.