INSIGHT: Hayao Miyazaki to retire, his real reason for leaving anime – AJW by The Asahi Shimbun

First, I want to set something straight. Although Miyazaki said he will retire, the meaning of his statement was limited. “I will no longer direct feature-length films.”

I noticed the specificity of his statement as well and assumed that he would be doing other things such as series or events or workshops. Personally, I have nothing on which to stake my assumption that he really means it this time; it’s just a feeling. However, this article is pretty convincing.