Oscar-winning, Japanese director, Hayao Miyazaki, recently made a critical, if not altogether derisive comment against his Prime Minister Taro Aso's enthusiasm for manga comic books.

Mr. Miyazaki said children should spend more time "experiencing nature than getting engrossed in video games and TV."

It's a bit of an ironic statement coming from the world renown animator best known for his iconic feature films such as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle.

His recurrent themes, however, do feature humanity's relationship to nature and technology, as it struggles to maintain a conscientious set of values.

In a news conference, he was uncharacteristically unrestrained in his contempt for the Prime Minister Aso's yen for reading comics, "It's an embarrassment. That's something that should be done in private."

The 68 year old Premiere's enthusiasm for Japanese comics has gained him a following among fellow manga fans. He even launched an international manga award to help promote the genre. It's currently a $5.2 billion industry in Japan.

Despite its popularity, Mr. Miyazaki advocates children learning practical skills like lighting fires and using knives before learning how to read or count--as a backlash to "virtual reality: television, video games, e-mail, mobile phones and manga."

"I think this saps children of their strength," he said, admitting that there is a bit of a paradox to his opinion given his choice of vocation.

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