Hayao Miyazaki Lines Up First Official Project in Retirement

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Hayao Miyazaki broke the hearts of millions last year when he announced his retirement from filmmaking, but news has slowly been indicating that the Studio Ghibli co-founder isn’t completely done with the spotlight yet. After reports surfaced that Miyazaki was allegedly working on his first CGI animated short film, Japan’s Kyodo news service has confirmed that the director has lined up his official first project in retirement: A nature sanctuary for children on a remote Japanese island.

Miyazaki’s films have long had a spiritual connection to the natural world, and now he’s set to explore that theme quite literally by building a children’s nature retreat on Kumejima Island, which is located about 55 miles west of Okinawa. A majority of the details are being kept under wraps, though the plan is for a two-story building to accommodate about 30 people. Miyazaki is spending $2.5 million on the project. 

Construction will begin in April 2016 with completion set for sometime in 2018. Check out the concept art for the project below.

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