Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away and Japaneseness
N. K. Sabherwal
Japanese Culture
2.24.14
Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and Japaneseness
Japan is a country rich in tradition and culture. Hayao Miyazaki, the face of Japanese anime film world wide, has displayed this culture and Japanese value(s) throughout his career in many of his films. Spirited Away (2001) is arguably his most famous and successful film to date. Throughout the film, there are numerous displays of “Japaneseness.” The themes present in the film represent the value structure, and what Japan sees as important among its history and tradition. Hayao Miyazaki was born 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 found ease with the great wealth that they shared in, which young Miyazaki was sometimes troubled by. He felt guilty for living well during a period in time where many Japanese were suffering at the hands of the war (MacWilliams and Schodt 256). He graduated university with a degree in political science and economics, which heightened his understanding of the distressed Japanese economic climate. This expertise, coupled with his childhood 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 come out of Japan –including Miyazaki’s masterpiece, Spirited Away. Studio Ghibli, and specifically, Mr. Miyazaki’s work, has been compared to America’s Walt Disney Studios, and has even been unofficially dubbed “Disney of Japan” and “Disney of the East” by some fans and critics. “Miyazaki’s films do not operate on Hollywood logic, and his storytelling style may seem strange, even frustrating to a Western audience brought up on Disney…the fantastic is more accepted in
Japanese Culture
2.24.14
Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and Japaneseness
Japan is a country rich in tradition and culture. Hayao Miyazaki, the face of Japanese anime film world wide, has displayed this culture and Japanese value(s) throughout his career in many of his films. Spirited Away (2001) is arguably his most famous and successful film to date. Throughout the film, there are numerous displays of “Japaneseness.” The themes present in the film represent the value structure, and what Japan sees as important among its history and tradition. Hayao Miyazaki was born 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 found ease with the great wealth that they shared in, which young Miyazaki was sometimes troubled by. He felt guilty for living well during a period in time where many Japanese were suffering at the hands of the war (MacWilliams and Schodt 256). He graduated university with a degree in political science and economics, which heightened his understanding of the distressed Japanese economic climate. This expertise, coupled with his childhood 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 come out of Japan –including Miyazaki’s masterpiece, Spirited Away. Studio Ghibli, and specifically, Mr. Miyazaki’s work, has been compared to America’s Walt Disney Studios, and has even been unofficially dubbed “Disney of Japan” and “Disney of the East” by some fans and critics. “Miyazaki’s films do not operate on Hollywood logic, and his storytelling style may seem strange, even frustrating to a Western audience brought up on Disney…the fantastic is more accepted in
Bibliography: Baskan, 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 Culture : Explorations in 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 Recovery In Miyazaki 's Spirited Away." Journal Of Japanese Studies 32.2 (2006): 287-310. Academic Search Elite. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Reider, Noriko T. "Spirited Away: Film Of The Fantastic And Evolving Japanese Folk Symbols." Film Criticism 29.3 (2005): 4-27. Academic Search Elite. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.