Zen and Ghibli: Life Lessons for Lasting Happiness from the Legendary Studio by Suzuki, Toshio

The secrets for how to live a happy, enlightened life from three charming Buddhist monks and Toshio Suzuki, the Oscar-winning Studio Ghibli producer behind internationally beloved and acclaimed films including Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and The Boy and the Heron.

One visionary filmmaker. Three Buddhist monks. Countless life-changing lessons.

How do we live now? In Zen and Ghibli, legendary Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki embarks on an intellectual journey with three leading Buddhist monks--Sokyu Gen'yu, Nanrei Yokota, and Shinsuke Hosokawa--to explore Zen themes woven into the universally treasured Ghibli films. In ways unpredictable and delightful, life-changing lessons are revealed, such as:

• zazen, redirecting our focus inward (Kiki's Delivery Service)
• kunjū, learning through observation (The Wind Rises)
• fushiki, strength in not knowing (Princess Mononoke)
• furyū monji, how to convey feelings that cannot be expressed into words (Howl's Moving Castle)

From the skill of embodying nothingness as a form of worry relief, to why Kiki's black cat Jiji stopped talking, each conversation gradually reveals a basic principle that lies at the very heart of Zen Buddhism and Studio Ghibli--that we, and our world, are worth fighting for.

Beautifully illustrated with Japanese artwork and stills from these iconic films, Zen and Ghibli is at once a charming antidote for our times and a fascinating glimpse into the magic of Studio Ghibli that has shaped fans for over forty years.

Author: Toshio Suzuki
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Published: 10/13/2026
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 7.81h x 5.31w x 1.11d
ISBN: 9798217184699

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2026
Library Journal 10/02/2026 pg. 1

About the Author
Toshio Suzuki is an award-winning Japanese film producer. He is the chief producer and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, alongside Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. He was president of the company from 2005-2008, and remains a chairman there.

Beth Cary is a translator of fiction and non-fiction and interpreter who has worked with Studio Ghibli filmmakers. She is co-translator (with Frederik L. Schodt) of Hayao Miyazaki's Starting Point and Turning Point and translator of the two-volume set Hayao Miyazaki and the Ghibli Museum.