By Virtue of Innocence

Spirited Away (2001)

During her family’s move to the suburbs, Chihiro (Daveigh Chase) wanders into a disjointed, bizarre world full of spirits wherein the surreal fantasy vividly expresses the anxiety, alienation, and powerlessness of Japan as a diminished superpower after World War II (1939 - 1945).

Nevertheless, Japan recovered from the devastation laid by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively: in a study conducted by Masahiro Takada, they argue,

“the most important factor that enabled Japan’s amazing economic growth,…, was the ability of the people itself to successfully combine all the knowledge and skills gained from foreign countries, and then improving those skills to fit their own system.”

Moreover, part of Japan’s economic success is due to the Japanese government’s decision to focus on Kansei (emotion or affection) for information and communications technologies—likely to induce a sense of safety and comfort as the attributes of kawaii denote cute, lovable, and charming meaning (Ohkura).

For his film, Spirited Away (2001), Director Hayao Miyazaki is said to have been inspired by his dissatisfaction with kawaii culture and its impact on young girls, stating,

“‘we have been providing them with nothing but a certain kind of cheap romance, which is not what 10-year-old girls really dream about.’”

(Solomon)

This entry will examine the culture by which Spirited Away was engineered and explore the aesthetic as a product of kawaii by virtue of its emphasis on innocence.

---

Miyazaki is clear, his intent with Spirited Away was to provide his daughter and her friends a character they can identify with, a character that is not extraordinary

“but an everyday, real person…in which [the character] draws on something already inside her that is brought out by the particular circumstances.”

(Solomon)

Perhaps unconsciously, Miyazaki illustrates the cultural and industrial recovery achieved by Japan in the Kafkaesque Sentō or “Japanese communal bathhouse” that Chihiro finds herself working tirelessly at in order to save her parents from their consumer-based transformation into over-indulging pigs.

Japan’s society, since World War II, can be “summed up by the catchwords kokusaika (internationalization) and furusato (native place or old hometown)” (Napier). These conflicting paradigms manifest in Spirited Away:

“Chihiro’s name (chi = 1000, hiro = ‘inquire, fathom, look for,’)”

(Boyd)

—embodies the spirit of kokusaika indicating Japan’s affinity to inquire after new “things;” whereas, the Sentō expresses the furusato of solstice Shintō rituals

“when villagers call forth all the local kami [or “deities”] and invite them to bathe in their baths.”

(Boyd)

The establishing scene of Spirited Away characterizes the shifting paradigm with a close-up of a bouquet of bright pink sweet pea flowers (Lathryrus odoratus) resembling butterfly wings as both a gesture of good wishes and kindness from Chihiro’s best friend Rumi (Spirited Away, 00:18).

Notably, the name “Rumi” could derive from 流 (ru) meaning "current, flow" combined with 美 (mi) meaning "beautiful.” It is under the guise of kawaii-inspired kokusaika, à la the cute and charming farewell, the coterminous relationship with the furusato of nostalgia sets in. Chihiro must learn to leave behind the beautiful flow of her past life and adapt to the new Japan.

Thereafter, Chihiro confronts her reality—the wilting sense of kawaii—as she exclaims, “Mom! My flowers are dying” (Spirited Away, 00:59). Chihiro begins to realize that her “feelings of child-like pleasure, trust, protection, and safety” (Brown) are a denial of her self.

Just before Chihiro’s father questions whether he took the wrong turn, we see Miyazaki’s devotion to the natural world as the family drives off the paved-road onto a dirt path (in their German-manufactured car)—passing by an old torii or “traditional Japanese gate commonly found at the entrance of a Shintō shrine” demarcating the boundary between the sacred space of the Sentō and a life of social and industrial-progress (Spirited Away, 01:57).

In order to achieve reformation, one must abandon the “old,” and, in a way, rehabilitate or reorient oneself. Walking the tunnel, Miyazaki forebodes the passing between realms—to a life long forgotten (Spirited Away, 04:52). Chihiro, representative of a generation unfamiliar with pre-World War II Japan, gazes (almost nostalgically) upon the natural divinity of the sacred space, asking, “What are those weird buildings?” (Spirited Away, 06:13).

Perhaps Miyazaki is referring to the devastating fallout of the atomic bombs leaving behind the ruins of factories and infrastructures. Nevertheless, the theme park appears abandoned, except one shop—mysteriously stocked with fresh, hot food.

In spite of her protest, Chihiro’s parents eagerly indulge themselves in the buffet. To which her father assures her not to worry, “He’s got credit cards and cash” (Spirited Away, 09:06), solidifying the encroaching kokusaika of contemporary advancements in technology in a post-apocalyptic Japan.

The mise-en-scène communicates the reluctance to globalization as Chihiro, standing between her parents—presumptively to depict the proposed-interdependence of economies—rejects modernity. Chihiro leaves her pig-grunting parents in order to investigate the theme park further, and stumbles upon the Sentō before being rushed away by Haku (Jason Marsden).

As darkness falls upon the abandoned theme park, spirits begin to take form, surrounding the unsuspecting, innocent Chihiro, perhaps, illustrating “that of the Japanese cultural identity of a past that seems to be always elusive” (Mandal).

Moving along in the film, Chihiro comes face-to-face with Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette), the authoritarian, ostentatious witch and esteemed Sentō proprietor. Yubaba embodies the spirit of generational conflict, telling Chihiro,

“Anyone can see you’re a lazy, spoiled crybaby, and you have no manners.”

(Spirited Away, 37:55)

Ostensibly, the mise-en-scène marks the propaganda-derived narrative of generational differences with Yubaba, an older woman entrenched in tradition, condemning Chihiro, a young child seeking work. Demonstrating the hypocrisy and deflection of responsibility for their actions, Yubaba rescinds,

“Or maybe I’ll give you the most difficult job I’ve got, and work you until you breathe your very last breath,”

(Spirited Away, 38:10)

—holding Chihiro’s throat.

Interrogating the implications of kawaii, Brown argues the

“open acknowledgement of the infantile, may in fact function subversively; that is, the refusal to ‘grow up’ may also be read as an assertion of difference rather than of subservience. In this case, kawaii may be viewed as a means of resistance rather than of acceptance and compliance.”

A new guest—Kaonashi (Bob Bergen) or “No-Face”—entices the “authentically Japanese” population expressing its desire to exploit the contemporary world in a way that “can be expressed by a tendency to ‘fetishize the fantastic, reifying fragments of fushigi [or “mystery”] into whole cultural manifestations’” (Napier).

Again, Miyazaki demonstrates the complexity of coterminous, seemingly-conflicting ideals by juxtaposing Kaonashi with Chihiro as outside forces, but underscores the disequilibrium of the Japanese psyche with Kaonashi’s, as an embodiment of capitalism, erosion of human rights that commodifies people; whereas, the Japanese psyche, as embodied by Boh (Tara Strong), treats Chihiro as though kawaii is “a bad germ from outside” (Spirited Away, 1:21:03).

Finally, Kaonashi’s unstable behavior overwhelms the Japanese psyche, its all-consuming disposition cannot be satiated. Ergo, Kaonashi follows Chihiro out of the Sentō, where she and the eidolon of consumerism embark on the train across deterritorialized waters—leaving behind both the kokusaika and furusato—on a journey of self-discovery.

Upon their return, Yubaba offers one final test—Chihiro must determine which of the pigs are her mother and father, to which, Chihiro counters,

“There must be a mistake. None of these pigs are my mom or dad.”

(Spirited Away, 1:57:23)

Emerging from her pilgrimage, Chihiro’s frame of mind has become fully realized—her parents are not pigs, they are human. Chihiro seemingly understands that her parents, like many others, are victims of Japan’s economic upheaval.

Further, the mise-en-scène reinforces the ecumenical experience as the Sentō staff watch in suspense from a high-angle suggesting the “authentic” is rendering an authoritative decision based on Chihiro’s response.

Subsequently, we appear to watch Chihiro from the eyes of the “authentic,” as she gives a ceremonious bow to Yubaba, thanking her for everything—Chihiro’s kawaii framed concomitant with furusato (Spirited Away, 1:57:59).

But Japan’s cultural identity is not fully recovered.

Haku leads Chihiro back to parents, instructing her to simply go back the way she came but she must promise to not look back (Spirited Away, 1:58:24). In order for Japan’s cultural identity to be recovered, Chihiro returns to a materialistic world, transformed, but she must never forget who she is—an agent for morality and courage—and must leave behind the apathetic traditions that resist change for the sake of “how it has always been.”

Haku denotes, one should reflect on the past and learn from it, suggesting behavior tied to culture loss aversion could do more harm to Japan in the interest of social and economic stagnation.

Clearly, Miyazaki did not want to promise something he, nor anyone else could predict, instead chooses to end the film ambiguously, leaving the future of Japan and its cultural identity in the hands of Chihiro and her generation—a daunting task that Miyazaki knows will not be easy.

Miyazaki has previously said,

“‘We need fantasy. Children often feel powerless and helpless, and fantasy can give them relief. The main character in a fantasy is usually a child, who overcomes adults or something strong like a witch whom she could not beat in the real world. Fantasy gives children fascinating and thrilling moments, which they need. I have no doubts about the power of fantasy: fantasy books gave me hope and excitement when I was a child and felt weak and vulnerable.’”

(Solomon)

Therefore, it is conceivable, that Spirited Away not only equips young girls with the tools necessary to navigate a kawaii-consumed world but the hope and excitement about the future of their society.

---

References

• Boyd, James W., and Tetsuya Nishimura. “Shinto Perspective in Miyazaki’s Anime Film ‘Spirited Away.’” Journal of Religion & Film, vol. 8, no. 3, 4, Oct. 2004, digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1673&context=jrf.

• Brown, Janice. “Re-framing ‘Kawaii’: Interrogating Global Anxieties Surrounding the Aesthetic of ‘Cute’ in Japanese Art and Consumer Products.” The International Journal of the Image, vol. 1, no. 2, Common Ground Research Networks, 2011, pp. 1–10. https://doi.org/10.18848/2154-8560/cgp/v01i02/44194.

• Inspiration for the Film · Spirited Away · USU Digital Exhibits. exhibits.usu.edu/exhibits/show/saidentity/saidentity3.

• Mandal, Bipasha. “The Insertion of Cultural Identity and Ecological Recovery Through a Critique of Materialism and Overconsumption in Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro.” CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research - Zenodo, Jan. 2022, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6432755.

• Napier, Susan Jolliffe. “Matter Out of Place: Carnival, Containment, and Cultural Recovery in Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.” The Journal of Japanese Studies, vol. 32, no. 2, Project Muse, 2006, pp. 287–310. https://doi.org/10.1353/jjs.2006.0057.

• Ohkura, Michiko, editor. “Kawaii Engineering.” Springer Series on Cultural Computing, Springer Singapore, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7964-2.

• Solomon, Charles. Discovering the Spirit Within: Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. 2002, exhibits.usu.edu/files/original/273e928c7161f71e2ce1118728e1695d.pdf. Accessed 15 Dec. 2022.

• Spirited Away. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, 2001.

• “Spirited Away (2001).” IMDb, 24 Apr. 2003, www.imdb.com/title/tt0245429/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt.

• Takada, Masahiro. Japan’s Economic Miracle: Underlying Factors and Strategies for the Growth. 1999, www.lehigh.edu/~rfw1/courses/1999/spring/ir163/Papers/pdf/mat5.pdf. Accessed 15 Dec. 2022.