Confronting Japan's Past: Nostalgia and Abandonment in Hayao Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAY

Laura Mohai

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Cuomo, Glenn

Keywords

Miyazaki, Hayao, Film, Spirited Away, Japan

Area of Concentration

Humanities

Abstract

This thesis explores the cultural significance of the characters, aesthetics and values presented in Spirited Away with a special focus on Shinto and Japanese history in the 20th Century. The atrocities committed by Japan in beginning of the 20th Century have made the director, Hayao Miyazaki, ashamed to be Japanese, especially since his family was directly involved in the war industry of airplane building. Spirited Away, more than any of Miyazaki's other films, explores the themes of national and personal identity, memory and reconciliation with the past. While Miyazaki wishes to inform the youth of Japan of "the richness of [its] traditions," his method of root-seeking is ultimately a critical one. A close analysis of two scenes and main characters reveal that some values of traditional Japan are venerated and revived, while others are rejected and abandoned. Furthermore "traditional" Japan in Spirited Away is presented as ultimately interwoven with foreign cultures and contemporary Japan, warning against any unified view of history and any conception of Japan as culturally pure.

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