Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki today explained his retirement in a NicoNico streamed press conference Tokyo. Although Miyazaki has announced his retirement before, he says that this time, it’s for real. He put his retirement simply down to old age which has made it more and more difficult to complete his animations. He admits there is still a lot he wants to do, and says that he’ll be no stranger to the studio.

In his official retirement statement Miyazaki says there is still a lot of things he wants to do and a lot he didn’t get to do in his career. However, he’s hesitant to make any promises and wants a rest from the pressure of making features.

“I will be free,” Miyazaki said. “I would like to do something else, and that’s not animation.”