Religion in Popular Culture: Spirited Away

By: Angelica Lozada

The Japanese animated film: Spirited Away (2001) by Hayao Miyazaki has gained prestige in both Japan and North America for its visual aesthetics and heartwarming story. The film serves to restore the importance of Shintoism in it’s home nation as well as present it in a informative manner for international fans unknowledgeable of the tradition. The plot of the film follows the young protagonist, Chihiro, who moves to a rural town with her parents only to encounter an abandoned amusement park where she is transferred to the spiritual realm while her parents suffer the consequence of being transformed into pigs due to their ignorance. She embarks on a journey to save her parents and escape from this realm, all with the help of the spiritual beings she meets throughout her time spent living in the realm’s bath house. The film showcases numerous examples of Shintoism that are both easily noticeable and also often overlooked.

Defining Shintoism

A shinto priestess entering a shrine located in Naichi Taisha, Japan.

Shintoism exists as Japan’s indigenous religion, dating back to the origins of Japan itself. During the early years of its existence, it survived and was practiced as an informal religion that need not be named. Following the arrival of Buddhism and Confucianism from China in the 6th CE, the need to define itself, and thus coin the term “Shintoism”, was necessary to distinguish it from the multiplicity of traditions that had arose. Despite the need for separation, majority of Japanese society (85%) culturally practice a mix of both Shintoism and Buddhism¹. The difference lies in the fact that though many Shinto rituals are practiced widely, only few identify themselves with Shintoism in comparison to Buddhism. Nonetheless Shintoism is embedded into Japanese culture and must be recognized as significant to understanding the religiousness of the nation.

The religion centres itself around the veneration of kami, commonly translated to mean gods or deities. Kami are believed to be embedded into things and concepts that are integral to life on earth such as: animals, plants and landscapes. They are believed to assist people in accomplishing their objectives and so followers of Shintoism worship and respect the specific kami who are able to satisfy their personal desires. In order to view such kami it is necessary for one to achieve a purity of heart (kokoro), which could thus be considered the fundamental goal of the tradition.

It is worth noting that over the years Shintoism has struggled to stay authentic in the modern age. The traditional practice of Shintoism has been limited to a small group of priests, whose positioned was passed on from their ancestors, while majority of society superficially practices the tradition by partaking in autumn festivals or making wishes at local shrines². The communities that once kept the local shrines running have vanished alongside the Shinto altars that once occupied many Japanese households³. A descendant from a line of Shinto priests, pays mind to this issue:

“We still look Japanese, but inside we are forgetting what that means. It’s our responsibility to try to revive what makes us Japanese.”- Takashizu Sato⁴

Shintoism’s Representation in the Film

A scene of the family passing by a wooden torri gate in “Spirited Away”.

Upon watching the film viewers who are vaguely familiar with Shintoism are able to spot the prominent symbols that represent the tradition as they appear throughout the plot. The film opens up with a scene of Chihiro staring wide eyed through her car window at a wooden Torii gate leaning against a tree they pass by. Torii gates are found at the beginning of Shinto Shrines and represent the passage from the mundane into the sacred. This enforces the idea that the journey that Chihiro is about to embark on, from the human world to the spiritual domain, is rooted within Japan’s traditional religion rather than just being a simple adventure. While in the spiritual realm Chihiro encounters numerous kami who take on the form of creatures such as talking frogs, dragons and a black hooded figure with a white mask known as “no face”. While the character of No Face is at first depicted as a somewhat evil and greedy character who devours all when upset, his ability to improve his attitude at the end of the film presents the Shinto ethical outlook that deems events in life as either an act of polluting or purifying one’s heart.⁵

A scene of a spirit being bathed in “Spirited Away”.

One of the main takeaway messages from the film is in fact a reiteration of a prominent Shinto value. James W. Boyd’s article in The Journal of Religion and Film discussed how the locale of the film was specifically chosen to be a bathhouse to represent the purification process that is a prominent ritual within the tradition⁶. It is mentioned that during the Solstice ritual of Shintoism villagers call upon local kami and invite them into their homes to bathe in their baths⁷. The ritual symbolizes the the belief that all phenomena become internally polluted by negativity and thus must rid themselves of it by means of internal cleansing. The film presents this morale through the metaphorical scenes of various kami being physically cleansed while at the bath house. One of the most significant examples from the film is the cleansing of the “Stink spirit”, a polluted river spirit that is drenched in mud. Upon being given a bath by Chihiro, all the mud washes off from his body and a dirty bike is seen being washed out of him. The newly cleaned spirit tells Chihiro “It feels good” as a way to make known the positivity that comes with being restored to freshness.

Production of the Film

Director Hayao Miyazaki primarily desires to create entertainment to be enjoyed by all but finds his work to be imbued with his own spiritual beliefs. Such beliefs do not rely on the presence of a formal institution that contains specific practice, saints and revered texts, but instead place emphasis on his aspiration to keep himself, certain places and things pure and sacred⁸. A quote by Miyazaki highlights this idea:

“In my grandparents’ time, it was believed that spirits [kami] existed everywhere — in trees, rivers, insects, wells, anything. My generation does not believe this, but I like the idea that we should all treasure everything because spirits might exist there, and we should treasure everything because there is a kind of life to everything.” — Hayao Miyazaki⁹

Miyazaki’s desire to restore the importance placed on the values of Shintoism for the current and newer generation can be identified through his recurring theme of rediscovery in the film. Just as Chihiro is able to help the character of Haku rediscover his past identity and how she is also able to rediscover her parents at the end of the film, it can be interpreted that Miyazaki hopes to encourage audiences of all ages to rediscover the importance of Shinto values in transforming one’s life. As Jolyon Baraka Thomas argues in his work: Religious Manga Culture¹⁰, anime producers are able to fuse religion and entertainment together and affect the audience religiously by inviting and promoting faith, ritual action and moral instruction¹¹.

Consumption in Japan

A look Inside the Spirited Away section of the Ghibli Museum which is located in Inokashira Park-Tokyo, Japan.

A unique phenomenon in Japan is the existence of Shukyo Asobi: religious entertainment. The fact that a native word had been created for this genre indicates it’s prevalence and popularity in Japanese culture. The appreciation for this religiously conflated entertainment stems from the fact that majority of Japanese individuals considered themselves to be Shukyoshin: spiritual. While only 30% of Japanese individuals consider themselves religious, identifying with an institutional religion, 70% consider themselves spiritual¹². This specific film provides for the spiritually seeking, since Shintoism is not typically considered an institutional religion, through its messages of how to acquire worldly benefits void of materiality along with its unique portrayal of the supernatural realm.

Responses to the film through a thread from a Miyazaki fan-site translated as: “Hidden Messages in Spirited Away” has indicated the ability for Japanese audiences to receive the Shinto messages imbued within the narrative¹³. Fans have been able to recognize the prominent distinction between the divine and human realm and thereby gain a concern for the environment through the idea that a spiritual being is found within all. To them, the film serves as a source of guidance in determining moral action throughout their daily lives.

Consumption in North America

Hayao Miyazaki accepting an Oscar in 2003 for Best Animated Feature.

Japanese anime has received an immense amount of support from North American audiences following it’s arrival in the 80’s¹⁴. The translation of the film into English enabled for it’s success in North America. Without the dubs and subtitles available for viewers, the themes of the film would fail to be presented and thus only allow for the aesthetics to be appreciated. While the visual imagery is to be admired, the film plays an important role in representing the traditional folk religion of Japan. Unlike many depictions of foreign traditions this representation does not present an orientalist understanding of Shinto values. Miyazaki himself, growing up surrounded by the tradition, is able to present Shintoism in the most accurate manner through a creative way.

Jin Kyu Park’s article in The Journal of Culture and Religion addresses the idea that while the western region is already familiar with cartoons: a similar genre of entertainment, many believe that the majority that are produced are typically suited for a younger audience¹⁵. Though there are some cartoons that are intended for mature audiences, such as Family Guy and Big Mouth, Park’s interview with American youth reveals how the childish view surrounding cartoons fails to disappear. He then addresses the idea that audiences consider the genre of anime to be diverse enough to attract the attention of all ages thus identifying a reason for it’s popularity¹⁶. As with Spirited Away, the Oscar it received in 2003 for Best Animated Feature presents the fact that it is not a simply structured child’s film but instead one that features a complex storyline that can be appreciated by a larger demographic.

Endnotes:

1. Chaudhry, Kamran, Amtul Hayyi, Adam Burgess, Ehtisham Ahmad, — Avada Freelancer, and Voice of British Muslim Women. “Shintoism in Japan.” Review of Religions, June 21, 2019. https://www.reviewofreligions.org/10622/shintoism-in-japan/.
2. Talmadge, Eric, and Associated Press. “In Japan, Shinto Struggles for Relevance.” Houston Chronicle. Houston Chronicle, July 21, 2011. https://www.chron.com/life/houston-belief/article/In-Japan-Shinto-struggles-for-relevance-1516693.php.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Boyd, James W. and Nishimura, Tetsuya (2016) “Shinto Perspectives in Miyazaki’s Anime Film “Spirited Away”,” Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 8 : Iss. 3 , Article 4. pp. 9.
6. Ibid. pp.3.
7. Ibid.
8. Macwilliams, Mark. “Drawing on Tradition: Manga, Anime, and Religion in Contemporary Japan by Jolyon Baraka Thomas.” Monumenta Nipponica 68, no. 1 (2013): 156–62. https://doi.org/10.1353/mni.2013.0001. pp. 92.
9. Boyd, James W. and Nishimura, Tetsuya (2016) “Shinto Perspectives in Miyazaki’s Anime Film “Spirited Away”,” Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 8 : Iss. 3 , Article 4. pp. 7–8.
10. Ibid. pp. 12.
11. Macwilliams, Mark. “Drawing on Tradition: Manga, Anime, and Religion in Contemporary Japan by Jolyon Baraka Thomas.” Monumenta Nipponica 68, no. 1 (2013): 156–62. https://doi.org/10.1353/mni.2013.0001. pp. 88.
12. Ibid. pp. 79.
13. Ibid. pp. 99.
14. Park, Jin Kyu. “‘Creating My Own Cultural and Spiritual Bubble’: Case of Cultural Consumption by Spiritual Seeker Anime Fans.” Culture and Religion 6, no. 3 (2005): 393–413. https://doi.org/10.1080/01438300500460443. pp. 396.
15. Ibid. pp. 401.
16. Ibid.