To learn about Japanses Culture I watched the anime movie "Sen and Chirhiro are Spirited Away" by Hayao Miyzaki. At first this movie might seem like a simple animation but it actually illuminates many Japanese cultural characteristics. The movie also shows Old Japanese thought, in that everything has a spirit, and the people respect these spirits as gods.
First the movie represents the change from childhood to maturity. In the beginning to the movie Chirhiro and her family are moving to a new town. Chirhiro can do nothing but complain to her parents. She whines, yells, screams, and throws tantrums to get her way and this shows how spoiled and childish she is. Later in the movie Chirhiro gets a job in a bathhouse, but to get the job the Witch Yubaba takes her real name and gives her the name Sen. This is a metaphor for the loss of our true personality that occurs when we grow up. Their name is their true personality, and they lose this when they get a job and fall under Yubaba’s control. Even though we grow up we can’t lose our personality Chirhiro is reminded of her true name by another character and this and this shows that if we remain true to our childhood dreams we can be ourselves instead of falling under control of another.
The movie also symbolizes human greed in many different examples. The first example is when Chirhiro’s parents are transformed into pigs because of their greed. They are hungry and when they see food set out they eat it, even though it was meant for the spirits. The second example is the spirit no-face. No-face creates fake gold out of mud and the employees of the bathhouse are driven by greed to get his gold, but then three of the employees get eaten. This shows that one should not be greedy otherwise your life will be destroyed by that greed. Another example of greed is the contrast between Yubaba and Zenaba, her twin sister. Yubaba is driven only by her greed to make gold, while Zenaba is motivated by her desire to help others. Yubaba is also motivated by greed when No-Face rampages through her bathhouse. She is so focused on all the gold No-face is creating that she doesn’t realize her baby Boh has been taken. Even Haku, who seems to be a good character, is greedy for power to match Yubaba’s. Throughout the entire movie greed is a destructive force, and only when one gives up greed can they proceed in life. Most of the characters are not evil but there greed with gold brings them to do bad things, such as when No-Face gives gold out. The gold does not bring the employees anything good, it just reveals the greed of the characters.
The movie also has an environmental theme that is introduced. Haku, the river spirit lost his home when his river was paved over to build apartments. Also the “stink spirit” comes to the bathhouse to be cleaned, but then it is realized that it is actually a river spirit who’s river has been thoroughly polluted. Miyazaki effectively shows the costs of pollution and development on their way of life.
From this movie I was able to learn about the Japanese culture of Spirits. In the movie there are many spirits, because the Japanese believe that everything has its own spirits and there are spirits for every aspect of nature. (such as rain water and snow) The most important old god in Japanese culture is the sun, Amaterasuoomikami. And the reason that the spirits visit the bathhouse is to get rid of their tiredness.
"Sen and Chirhiro are Spirited Away" by Hayao Miyzaki gives an accurate picture of Japanese cultures and morals. For one the Japanese culture believes heavily in Spirits, and the people respect the spirits like gods. The culture of growing up and keeping your identity is also a present theme, as is the moral not to be greedy. The movie even touches on some environmental issues that the Japanese need to focus on.