Research Guru / Moderator
Posted:
Sep 1, 2010, 11:55 PM
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Studio Ghibli moves store out of nuke PR facility
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Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki's animation studio is pulling a store selling merchandise showing such popular characters as Totoro from a public relations facility promoting the safety of nuclear power plants.
In a statement posted on Studio Ghibli's corporate Web site, president Koji Hoshino apologized, saying that the decision to house it at the PR center was an "‘unwise move which could cause misunderstandings."
Ghibli will close the "Donguri Kyowakoku" ("Acorn Republic") shop, which opened in 2005 inside the PR facility of Fukushima No. 2 nuclear power plant in the Fukushima Prefecture town of Tomioka, the statement said.
Miyazaki's studio is renowned for producing animated films focusing on concerns about human effects on the environment, such as Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro) and Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind).
Critics have left Internet postings asking it's appropriate for Studio Ghibli characters to be used to promote nuclear power. Studio Ghibli says that it's received calls and e-mail messages as well.
The power station, which is operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., said that the company which runs "Donguri Kyowakoku" has expressed plans to remove the shop, but the utility hopes to continue negotiations.
The PR facility opened in 1988. About 80,000 people visit it each year.
[Via Kyodo News -- http://www.japantoday.com/...ar-power-pr-facility]
(This post was edited by eminovitz on Sep 2, 2010, 1:32 AM)
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