Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and Japaneseness Essay

Japan is a democracy rich in tradition and culture. Hayao Miyazaki, the face of Nipp angiotensin-converting enzymenessse anime train world wide, has displayed this culture and Nipponese value(s) end-to-end his cargoner in umpteen of his holds. musical noneed Away (2001) is arguably his most famous and successful hold to date. Throughout the film, there are numerous displays of Japaneseness. The sources present in the film represent the value structure, and what Japan sees as important among its history and tradition.Hayao Miyazaki was natural in Tokyo, Japan in 1941. His father was an executive member of the family company, Miyazaki Aircraft, at which he helped build military aircraft parts during WWII. As a result, his family institute ease with the great wealth that they handled in, which young Miyazaki was fewtimes troubled by. He felt guilty for living well during a peak in time where many Japanese were suffering at the men of the war (MacWilliams and Schodt 25 6). He graduated university with a degree in semipolitical recognition and economics, which heightened his understanding of the distressed Japanese economic climate. This expertise, coupled with his childishness guilt, would lead him to write certain subject matter into many of his films. In 1985, Miyazaki joined forces with fellow anime director and writer, Isao Takahata, to create Studio Ghibli (Napier).The studio went on to produce some of the most popular animated films to issue out of Japan including Miyazakis masterpiece, Spirited Away. Studio Ghibli, and specific e very(prenominal)y, Mr. Miyazakis work, has been compared to the Statess Walt Disney Studios, and has even been un wrap upicially dubbed Disney of Japan and Disney of the East by some fans and critics. Miyazakis films do not operate on Hollywood logic, and his storytelling bolt may seem strange, even frustrating to a Western audition brought up on Disneythe fantastic is more accepted in Japanese culture than it is in the Western world, which carries the heritage of the Enlightenment in its learning ability (Baskan). Miyazakihas become the well-known face of fantastical anime film across the globe. He integrates Japanese spiritual beliefs and culture in all his films in such a way that his characters and themes surpass ethnic borders and resonate with all assimilateers. His most famous film, Spirited Away, creates a seemingly abstract view of the world with Japanese values and traditions while subtly presenting the realities of straightaways world.Some common themes among the film, Spirited Away include themes of liveliness and death, survival, maturation, the economy and its puzzle outs, and transcendence (whether it be physically transcending a threshold, or otherwise). By showcasing these themes, Miyazaki is able to font the Japanese Value system. For suit, there is a grown presence of elders in Miyazaki films. The Japanese put a big tension of respecting elders. Other value s, which may surface to be subtle among the Japanese, but example astray for the international audience, include things like taking off your office when entering a home, or respect for nature or the spirits. In class, we talked about the Shinto tradition and the relatedness between the spiritual, natural, and human worlds. This is very widely emphasized in Spirited Away. The entire film is based on the relation between the spirits among themselves and among the human world. In Spirited Away, Chihiros parents transformation into pigs is the first symbol of gluttony in the film. It can besides be interpreted as the first sign of capitalism. The motif continues to appear passim the film with the business run in the Bath House.The workers and the owner, Yubaba, are concerned only with making money. This also can translate into an labialize on a capitalist society (Yoshioka 258). Japan adopted capitalism after World War II, so Hayao Miyazaki grew up in a capitalist expanse. Not only that, but Japan, as a country is an extremely nationalistic. These factors, combined with his college expertise in both political science and economics, can be seen throughout the film. Miyazaki uses these undertones concerning his life experiences with society, as well as his education, within many his films. Miyazakis belief that all Japanese share a certain sense of past is another important central point. The subtle blending of personal experience into historical fact formulates a sense of past that looks and feels familiar to the audience, even though they have neer experienced it (MacWilliams and Schodt 257). One of Miyazakis characteristic directing techniques is his apt cabal of his personal experience with elementsof Japanese culture.Driving much of his work is the influence of Shintoism. This religious understanding of the spirits and nature in relation to military personnel that is distinctly Japanese in practice. Spirited Away is the perfect example of a film th at illustrates this spiritual practice, albeit in a somewhat stretched manner. in that respects wide use of Japanese folklore within Spirited Away. The claim itself says, Kamikakushi meaning hidden by entities which, in Japan, is used when women or children go missing (Reider 8). This itself is a very mature theme, and while the film is gaiety to watch, it wee-wees a deeper understanding of the content to fully appreciate it. The importance of ones name is also a key concept in the film, and within Japanese society. In the film, to blank out your given name is to for confirm yourself, and if you forget yourself, you become stuck in Yubabas control for eternity. This is how Haku found himself a servant to Yubaba for so many years. It was not until Chihiro helped Haku remember that he is the River Spirit that Haku was free at last. The film reflects the importance of identity, which is not just a Japanese concept, but a universal one, as well. Another theme of the film is that of growing up and maturing. Because Chihiro is forced to be by herself in this unknown place, shes made to adapt and mature without much thought.To tally her to this point, it took the traumatic experience of losing her parents, the fear of never perceive them again, and her biggest fearnot surviving. Miyazaki was well-off when he was young, so this could be a reflection of seeing people forced into early independence during the War. Only through swear in someone who claimed to be a friend was she able to get along as well as she did, and succeed in lastly getting her life back. Many of the other characters were based loosely off of Shinto legends. The Shinto belief is that theres a very thin line between the spirit world and the human world, which is reflected throughout the film in the bizarre interactions between the bathhouse world and after-school(prenominal) reality. Through the use of Hayao Miyazakis extensive personal experience with Japanese culture, and his education in P olitical Science and economics, he has been able to showcase Japanese values and traditions through his film. He is a world-renowned writer and director, and through his work in Anime film, he has opened the eyes of the westward world to this Eastern culture.My understanding of Japaneseness is the nationalistic and traditional points of view showcased throughoutSpirited Away. The idea that spirits are all around you, and continue nature. The importance of family above all else, the emphasis on self-responsibility, and so-on. Japaneseness is not one single thing, but a compilation of many things. It is to fully take in all aspects of being Japanese.BibliographyBaskan, Funda Basak. Ponyo on the Cliff by the sea (Gake no Ue no Ponyo). Marvels & Tales 24.2 (2010) 363,366,368. ProQuest. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.MacWilliams, Mark W., and Frederik L. Schodt. Japanese Visual agriculture Explorationsin the World of Manga and Anime. M.E. Sharpe, Inc. Armonk, NY, USA, 2008. Print. Napier, Susan J. Matter Out Of Place Carnival, Containment, And Cultural convalescence In Miyazakis Spirited Away. Journal Of Japanese Studies 32.2 (2006) 287-310. Academic pursuit Elite. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.Reider, Noriko T. Spirited Away Film Of The Fantastic And Evolving Japanese family line Symbols. Film Criticism 29.3 (2005) 4-27. Academic Search Elite. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.