The World of Dreamers within The Wind Rises (2013)
Fig. 1 - The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki, 2013).
“Which would you choose, a world with pyramids or one without them?” is a central question within Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises (Fig. 1). Released in 2013 by Studio Ghibli, The Wind Rises follows a young aeronautical engineer by the name of Jiro Horikoshi as he navigates through Imperial Japan while pursuing his dream “to create beautiful airplanes.” A real-life historical figure, Horikoshi (1903-1982) is known as the engineer behind the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighting planes that Japan utilized throughout World War II. Although the film depicts these inventions, Miyazaki shifts the focus to Horikoshi’s life rather than his industrial accomplishments, presenting him as an idealistic dreamer living in a romanticized period of Japanese history. Using Horikoshi’s character as the anchor of my analysis, in this blog I will delve into how Miyazaki confronts the cursed dreams humanity holds through the pacing of the story, the film’s artistic style, and the portrayal of characters, arguing how Miyazaki’s narrative embraces the idea that all dreamers are free to pursue their dreams regardless of the circumstances or consequences.
The film begins within a dream of Horikoshi. Piloting a plane, he soars through a verdant, luscious, and beautiful Japan, pulling off various aerial manoeuvres and waving to the townsfolk who gaze up in awe. Soon, he spots a crude metal war plane sporting the German Forces black cross, marionetting an array of bombs and missiles springing through the air. As he puts his goggles on to see better, his vision blurs, causing a collision with the other plane, and he tumbles back down to Earth in freefall as he wakes. This dream sequence creates the foundation of the story. There are more dream sequences to come, but they function more as a way to convey to the audience who Horikoshi is: a young boy dreaming of becoming a pilot. Horikoshi’s first dream ends with a collision caused by his eyesight; a literal problem he has with his eyes as well as a symbolic one, later depicted by him turning a blind eye when confronting the consequences of war.
After plummeting out of his pilot dream, he quickly enters another one, meeting the Italian engineer Giovanni Caproni—also based on a real-world historical figure—who tells Horikoshi that “Airplanes are beautiful dreams… Engineers turn dreams into reality,” leading Horikoshi onto his own path as an aeronautical engineer. From here, the film skips ahead to the middle of World War II. Horikoshi is now a fully-fledged engineer and has begun working for the military in pursuit of his dream to “create beautiful airplanes.” Amidst hardships and struggles such as love and grief, Horikoshi prevails and creates the “Zero” plane, bringing the film’s narrative to a close.
Fig. 2 - Caproni (left) inspiring a young Horikoshi (right) in the first dream sequence in The Wind Rises.
With a runtime of 2 hours and 6 minutes, The Wind Rises is a slow-burning story. While the film includes moments of action or escalation, the story of Horikoshi is one largely of isolation. This character-centred approach reflects what Horikoshi himself feels as he delves into his work. As the story’s pacing slows in places, we, the viewers, have no choice but to focus on Horikoshi’s dedication to his craft since every other piece of the film presented to us is de-emphasized. The repetitive dialogue from Horikoshi’s superiors in the military begins to fall on deaf ears in stark contrast to the vivid dream sequences where Caproni resides; a place built around questions rather than orders. Caproni appears only three times within the film towards the beginning, middle and end (Fig. 2). He is a figure that starts Horikoshi’s dream, spurs it on amidst doubts, then validates it in the end. These dream sequences provide the audience with a break from the strenuous environment of the surrounding Japan in which Horikoshi lives.
Despite visually being a very bright and colourful film, the shadows hold darker themes, a visual motif reflecting the grim reality of Imperial Japan. Known as one of the Axis Powers during World War II, Japan allied itself with Germany and Italy against the Allies. With the film set during the start of the war, the environment Horikoshi is placed in is one of tragedy (Fig. 3). Not only is he in Japan during a period of strife, but he is also firmly entrenched in the war as he designs planes for the military. Yet, Horikoshi chooses to turn a blind eye to the war, instead entirely devoting himself to his dream, rather than even considering the consequences that will stem from it in the future.
Fig. 3 - Post-fire and earthquake.
In his appearance within the second dream sequence, Caproni mentions that the “dream is cursed,” questioning Horikoshi’s resolve by asking him: “Which would you choose, a world with pyramids or one without them?” Referring to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramids of Giza, Caproni questions whether we should stay stagnant in our lives or create and live with the ramifications. Horikoshi, of course, denies answering directly as he simply states, “I want to create beautiful airplanes.” Despite knowing the implications of designing aircraft for the Imperial Japan military, Horikoshi continues to strive for his dream. He chooses a world with pyramids.
Horikoshi returns to the dream at the end of the film, which in this final sequence situates Horikoshi and Caproni in a plane graveyard (Fig. 4). The muted colours associated with the real world and war penetrate the once beautiful dream, symbolizing Horikoshi’s return to reality. As Caproni and Horikoshi watch a myriad of his planes carried by the winds to the war, Horikoshi finally confronts reality, sadly admitting “not a single plane returned.” Defiant in his acceptance of the bloody reality, Horikoshi stands tall as he descends the hill, believing his dream to be fulfilled in full. The film ends with Horikoshi recognising that his time among the clouds has passed, as his descent down the hill mirrors his fall to earth, foreshadowed by his original dream, leaving him fettered to his grounded plane and the many lives it carries.
Fig. 4 - Horikoshi walking through the plane graveyard.
Throughout The Wind Rises, Miyazaki portrays Imperial Japan as a colourful world, bustling with life and people in ways that challenge the darker history surrounding it. Through the life of Jori Horikoshi, the audience is able to experience a figure unparalleled in his determination and pursuit of a dream, albeit amidst a time of tragedy and grief. Questioning whether the dream is even worth it as Horikoshi loses all he holds dear in his pursuit, through a masterful handling of pacing and the art of animation, Miyazaki stands by the notion that every dream is worth chasing, regardless of the consequences.
**Article published: November 21, 2025**
References
hanlunn. 2017. “The Life-Changing Lessons of The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki).” Medium (April 17, 2021). Available at: https://hanlunn.medium.com/the-life-changing-lessons-of-the-wind-rises-hayao-miyazaki-7f99e7c30ad5.
Ho, Rose. 2023. “From ‘Last’ Film to Latest Film: Looking at Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises and The Boy and the Heron." The Asian Cut (December 28, 2023). Available at: https://theasiancut.com/post/the-wind-rises-the-boy-and-the-heron-hayao-miyazaki-essay/.
Merchant-Knudsen, Travis. 2020. “‘Lost Inside Empire’: Self-Orientalization in the Animation and Sounds of Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises.” Southeast Asian Review of English (SARE) 57, no. 1. Available at: https://sare.um.edu.my/index.php/SARE/article/view/25294/11977.
Biography
Grayson Brewster is a graduating student at the University of Texas at Dallas, Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology with a concentration in Animation & Games. He focuses specifically on 2D Animation and works to build his own original animations for the world to see. Earlier versions of this text were developed with the help of Dr. Christine Veras and peers from the Animation Studies course.