Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi: Character and Theme Analysis
The film Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi is a Japanese animated film. It was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli in 2001. Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi is a fantasy film that addresses several themes and carries various messages. It is full of Shinto beliefs and symbolisms. Shinto elements can be found throughout the film, from character design to simple acts such as crossing a tunnel/bridge to reach another realm and eating that realm’s food in order to stay in it. This paper will focus on some of the themes presented in the film as well as some of its main characters.
There are two themes within the title of the film, one of them is Kamikakushi. Kamikakushi is an old Japanese folk belief that literally means, “to be hidden by a Kami/deity”. The closest English translation is “Spirited Away”. It was used as an explanation to sudden disappearances of young people. The term was used when people –usually villagers- searched for the mysteriously missing people for
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In Japan, relationships such as senior-junior relationships are firmly prescribed. In the bathhouse Yubaba is the senior and Kamaji is the junior who persistently disobeys Yubaba while still affording fundamental work to the bathhouse. What is interesting is the existence of Haku somewhere between the two extremes of this vertical relationship. The real identity of Haku is a river deity called Nigihayami Kohakunushi. It is implied that Yubaba stole most of his name and thus controlled him into being her apprentice. The name Haku (literally meaning “white”) brings impressions of being “pure” and “innocent”. However, Haku carries some dubious aspects to his personality. He, after all, works for Yubaba to learn her magic. He is also a thief that stole Zeniba’s (Yubaba’s twin sister)
Akira Kurosaw’s Seven Samurai is a film that encompasses various ideologies in order to allow the audience to understand the lives of Japanese people during the 1600’s. The film delves deep in social issues of the roles of the people within the society, the expectations as well as the obligations within the respected castes and elements within groups of ; suffering, working together, protecting family and working for the better good of the community.
Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, as well as, Hayao Miyazaki’s animated feature, Princess Mononoke, deal with the prevalent theme of good verses evil. On the surface, both stories seem like typical hero verses villain tales, but once their plots are more closely analyzed it is evident that there is not a bold line between the two extremes. Both pieces explore the idea of evil being in the eye of the beholder and being interpreted completely differently from contrasting perspectives.
Throughout history artists have used art as a means to reflect the on goings of the society surrounding them. Many times, novels serve as primary sources in the future for students to reflect on past history. Students can successfully use novels as a source of understanding past events. Different sentiments and points of views within novels serve as the information one may use to reflect on these events. Natsume Soseki’s novel Kokoro successfully encapsulates much of what has been discussed in class, parallels with the events in Japan at the time the novel takes place, and serves as a social commentary to describe these events in Japan at the time of the Mejeii Restoration and beyond. Therefore, Kokoro successfully serves as a primary source students may use to enable them to understand institutions like conflicting views Whites by the Japanese, the role of women, and the population’s analysis of the Emperor.
With the graceful starkness of traditional Japanese haiku, Kawabata reveals a twisted set of love affairs between four people that ultimately lead to their downfalls. Haiku depicts a meditational view of the world where nothing is meaningless; in Beauty and Sadness all of the relations represent aspects of new and old Japan, mirroring the rise and fall of Japanese culture in their movements. Among these relationships, perhaps the most traditional is found between Oki and Otoko– although it is tragic and somewhat leacherous, the bond between a young woman (or girl) and an older man is an acceptable affair in traditional Japanese culture. They represent the oldest parts of Japanese custom, and adhere to that measure throughout the novel. Oki’s wish to hear the temple bells with Otoko reflects this long established pattern of old man and young girl, as ...
The story begins in the ordinary world with Chihiro and her family moving to a new home. Chihiro is intimidated by the prospects of starting her life anew. Resulting in her being a whiny, selfish and fearful little girl. All of this changes when her and her parents visit an abandoned theme park and accidentally cross into the spirit world. This is where she meets Haku, outside of a bath house. The young boy informs her of their entry into the spirit world and tries to get her back to her world. But it is too late, in their gross ignorance her parents have already eaten from a feast intended for the spirits and they are turned into pigs as punishment. 10-year-old Chihiro now finds herself left alone in the spirit world. This is what Joseph Campbell calls “the call to adventure”. She’s been transported out of the ordinary world and is now responsible for saving her parents in this new and strange world. Chihiro is frightene...
"Shinto in History."Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami. Ed. John Breween and Mark Teeuwen.
The novel Nukkin Ya is a compelling book, written in the perspective of the character Gary Black, the author of the text is Phillip Gwynne. The novel is set in rural South Australia for Australian readers. The novel conveys a number of themes and messages including racial difference, love verse hate and the ability and choice to move on. These are depicted by the literally techniques of imagery, literary allusions and intertextuality.
James Goodwin, `Tragedy without Heroes' in Akira Kurosawa and Intertextual Cinema (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1994), pp. 165-216
Japan is known for its unique gardening style, their diverse plants, their food, and their beautifully woven tapestries. Yet, most do not know about the history of their drama. Japanese Noh theatre is one of the most precise and prestigious art forms. It has been this way since the fourteenth century when Zeami first created Noh theatre. Zeami’s most famous plays, such as Kinuta, are still performed today. Japanese drama has not changed much since the fourteenth century because it has made a lasting effect on the culture. Noh theatre had a major influence on fourteenth century Japan and has affected modern day drama.
Kakinomoto begins by describing the history of the land and the rulers and then shifts his gaze to the physical ruin emphasizing the effect and return of nature in the place where the palace once stood. “Where now spring grasses Choke the earth in their rife growth, and mists rise up” (31-33). We see a reversal of the meaning of nature, whereas in princess Nukata’s poem she uses nature to symbolize both death and rebirth, Hakinomoto uses it to emphasize the inevitability of loss. This emphasis on nature further showcases the cultural awareness of time and its inevitability. It’s this awareness of loss that seems to affect the poet’s perception of the past and what exactly is lost. The poet laments, speaking the grandness of the palace and the rulers who were located there only to be reminded that even the most beautiful palace and sage rulers eventually fade away. While the Kakinomoto acknowledges this loss, he is still emotionally moved, “Where once the mighty palace stood, And it is sad to see.” (35-36) It’s also important to note that this questioning of values and meaning in relation to the inevitability of time is a very prominent theme that’s surfaced throughout the ages even in today’s modern western literature. Further questions are posed or implied while observing life through the context of loss as in the Man 'yōshū. For example, with the
Shinto is a native religion of Japan and the people of Japan. It is defined as an action centered religion, focused on ceremonial practices to be carried out thoroughly, to establish a assembly between present-day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and organized in the written historical records of the Jokiki and Nihon Shoki in the 8th century (Nelson 7-8). Still, these early Japanese writings do not refer to a joined “Shinto religion”, but rather to a gathering of native beliefs and mythology.
Yukio Mishima’s Temple of the Golden Pavilion, set in postwar Japan, gives way to a reflection of the postwar experience both the representation of military aggression and in use of symbolism of beauty, loss, and destruction. A story about Mizoguchi, a young, stuttering acolyte’s obsession with beauty lends itself to the conflagration of the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, based loosely on a true story about the Kinkaku-ji.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire, takes place in the Land of Oz. It actually takes place forty years before The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by L. Frank Baum, and it tells the story of how Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, became so wicked (Fiction Book Review). This book was written in 1995. Maguire wrote this book in the early 1900’s when he was living in London. At this time, the Gulf War was just starting. Maguire was intrigued by the headline in the British Newspaper, the Times of London, that said, “Sadaam Hussein: The New Hitler?” Months later, there was an incident where several young schoolboys kidnapped and killed a toddler. While the British press was paying attention to the crime,
The Heian period(794-1185), the so-called golden age of Japanese culture, produced some of the finest works of Japanese literature.1 The most well known work from this period, the Genji Monogatari, is considered to be the “oldest novel still recognized today as a major masterpiece.”2 It can also be said that the Genji Monogatari is proof of the ingenuity of the Japanese in assimilating Chinese culture and politics. As a monogatari, a style of narrative with poems interspersed within it, the characters and settings frequently allude to Chinese poems and stories. In addition to displaying the poetic prowess that the Japanese had attained by this time period, the Genji Monogatari also demonstrates how politics and gender ideals were adopted from the Chinese.
The Shinto religion is an extremely important aspect of the Japanese culture and for many, a way of life. Shinto is the indigenous faith of the Japanese people and is Japan’s oldest religion. It incorporates the ways of ancient Japan with the practices of modern Japanese society. The values and customs of the Shinto religion are connected to those from the Japanese culture. Because ritual rather than belief is the main focus of Shinto, Japanese people do not usually think of Shinto as just a religion, it is more of an aspect of Japanese life.