Spirited Away: Film of the Fantastic and Evolving Japanese Folk Symbols (Critical Essay‪)‬

Released in 2001, Miyazaki Hayao's (1) (1941 -) animated film entitled Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away) became the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan. It won a number of awards, including a 2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film and a Golden Bear at the Berlin International Festival in 2002. Derek Elley, a reviewer, writes, "It's almost impossible to do justice in words either to the visual richness of the movie, which melanges traditional Japanese clothes and architecture with both Victorian and modern-day artifacts, or to the character-filled storyline with human figures, harpies and grotesque creatures" (72). Many critics have compared Spirited Away with such western stories as Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, or even Harry Potter. While the influence of western stories, art, and architecture is evident, as Miyazaki himself expressed, Spirited Away is replete with Japanese folklore, tradition, and symbolism. Indeed, the title itself, kamikakushi (hidden by kami/ deities), alludes to Japanese folk belief. Some of the film's principal characters such as Yubaba (a descendent of yamauba or mountain witch) and Kamaji (a tsuchigumo or earth spider) are reminiscent of characters found throughout Japanese folklore, their residence within the bathhouse offering a reflection of Japan's vertical society. To this point, situating the film as an exemplary work of the fantastic, I shall examine covert and overt Japanese folk beliefs, imagery, and symbolism of the film as a text, which resonates with voices of Japanese past and present. Spirited Away as a Film of the Fantastic