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Examples Of Religion In Spirited Away

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Examples Of Religion In Spirited Away
How is Japanese religion depicted in “Spirited Away”?
Spirited Away is a movie written overwhelmingly about human growth, with undertones of religion, spirituality, and character. Chihiro is a young girl who is uprooted from her school and friends, as her parents relocate the family to another town. In the beginning of the movie, Chihiro is afraid of the change and frustrated with her parents that she had to leave everything she had previously known in order to move to this new town. This can be seen as foreshadowing of what will happen further in the movie, when Chihiro is somewhat forced, or challenged, to leave behind her naivety and fear for courage and bravery to be able to handle what is to come in her future. The movie begins with a scene very similar to The Wizard of Oz – a turbulent trip followed by a strange journey through spiritual and emotional growth, where the main character is in liminality. Chihiro and her parents take a wrong turn and follow a very rough secondary road to what they thought would be their home in the distance. This is what I believe to be the …show more content…
This references the Shinto belief that everything in life is gift giving – human, animals, and vegetation. But in order to experience the kami in all vegetation and animals, one has to be pure of heart and mind in such a way that is difficult to attain. This is present in our everyday lives, as we are aware and involved with animals and vegetation, but it is possible that we do not experience the kami of these things because our hearts and minds are too engrossed and polluted by worldly events, possessions, and unnecessary things. To be able to experience this kami, we must cleanse our spirits and minds, just as Chihiro moved through the various parts of the bathhouse beginning in the very dirty coal area, and moving through various cleaner parts of the
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