However, when they leave the tunnel, the wall has changed to look completely different from when they went in, overgrown with vegetation, while their car is covered in dust and leaves. Some considerable time may have passed, and if so, one worries whether Chihiro and her family have really returned to where they came from. The Bathhouse Garden The Ushi-Oni are a type of yokai from western Japan. They are also known as the gyuki and are mostly depicted as beasts with cow-like heads. They make a very brief appearance in Spirited Away as guests to the bathhouse. To avoid disappointment, make sure you’re using the highest quality materials and the best resolution possible. Unlike regular prints or parts, you’ll want a nice finish and professional-quality detail. This is why we recommend resin. They soon appear as cloaked figures. They have a close link to the Kasuga shrine in Japan and are likely kami that represent this shrine in Spirited Away. The Kappa make an appearance in Spirited Away as the mysterious river spirit Chihiro must run a bath for.

This makes them the perfect yokai to base the main villain, Yubaba, from. Yubaba is a greedy, selfish crone who runs the bathhouse and treats her workers poorly. One of the most iconic characters to come from Spirited Away is No-Face. No-Face is the spirit who follows Chihiro around and ends up eating most of the bathhouse staff. In the bathhouse garden, flowers from all year round bloom at the same time. All the seasons take place simultaneously, symbolizing that this is not the real world. Miyazaki did not invent this idea himself. In Pure Land Buddhism, those who show faith in Amida Buddha are reborn in the Pure Land, an eternal paradise, after their death. From the Heian period (794–1185), the technique seen in the film has been used to depict the Pure Land. Throughout his works, Miyazaki takes inspiration from traditional Japanese culture and adapts it for his artistic visions. There is a tendency to view animism as a primitive belief system. However, in Japan, it can be found incorporated into highly sophisticated Buddhist thinking.

The Power of Words

A kamikakushi refers to the sudden vanishing of somebody for no reason. It was apparently due to the absence of a known reason that such events were attributed to the kami (gods). Or it might be that identifying the kami as the perpetrators was a way of finding acceptance. This is one example showing that trees have been revered for their divine nature. When Buddhism spread to Japan from continental Asia, the first statues of the Buddha were made from camphor trees, which were considered the most sacred of trees. The term shinboku is used for trees venerated as divine. In Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro, the titular creature lives in a camphor tree, and may possibly be its spirit. This attitude to kami could also be said to be Japanese tradition. It is true that some are powerful, like the sun goddess Amaterasu, who is said to be the ancestor of Japan’s emperors. Most kami, however, are familiar, approachable beings like Totoro, and there are loose boundaries between their world and the one where humans live. Animism and Buddhism

Singer Matsutōya Yumi expressed the same idea in simpler terms in her song “Yasashisa ni tsutsumareta nara” (Embraced by Tenderness): “If I open the curtain, and I’m embraced by the tenderness of the calm sunbeams through the trees, everything I see is surely a message.” The tsuchigumo are a type of yokai from Japanese folklore. They are also known by several other names such as yatsukahagi or ogumo. They appear in artworks as giant, spider-like monsters but their appearance in Spirited Away is very different. In the Old Testament, when Moses brings the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai, there is thunder and lightning. In Hinduism, Indra derives originally from a thunder god. However, in many religions, the gods’ origins in thunder and lightning have been forgotten, as they have become detached from natural phenomena to become omnipotent deities transcending human understanding.At the start of Spirited Away, Chihiro’s father gets lost and takes the wrong road. This pattern of traveling along a mistaken path as a route to entering an entirely different world is very similar to Dante’s Divine Comedy. While Chihiro’s voyage is not on the same scale, it does an excellent job of presenting Japan’s unique spiritual world. Thunder and Lightning of the Gods The Yama-uba inspired the villainous character Yubaba. The Yama-uba are a type of yokai that appear as mountain crones or old hags (see also ‘ Can A Human Become A Yokai? – What You Need To Know‘). Tales tell of their cannibalistic nature and they are often compared to witches in western cultures.

Kasuga-sama are a type of yokai which make a brief appearance on the boat that approaches the bathhouse in the beginning of the movie. At first, they are invisible and you can only see the paper masks they wear. The tsuchigumo were the inspiration behind the character of Kamaji, the multi-limbed boiler man. Of course, there’s nothing monstrous about Kamaji (apart from his multiple arms). Although Kintaro is a Japanese hero, Boh is very cruel and spoiled – until he goes on a sort of redemption arc through the movie. The Zen master Dōgen (1200–53) said that “even tiles and stones can achieve enlightenment to become a Buddha.” Thus, Japan’s great spiritual minds created a unique advanced synthesis of animism and Buddhism.In truth, the Oshira-Sama we see in Spirited Away more closely resembles the dolls linked to it rather than the spirit itself. Despite this, the original Japanese version of Spirited Away refers to the spirit as Oshira-Sama. This served as the inspiration for the character of Boh, Yubaba’s giant baby son. Boh is very strong due to his size and is being raised by Yubaba, who is also inspired by the yokai yama-uba. Japan is said to have myriad gods, or literally 8 million, and so Shintō is entirely different from monotheistic religions. In Spirited Away, there are gods everywhere.

They work in the Bathhouse in return for small star-shaped food, called Konpeitō. They are seen carrying coal to help power the boiler in Kamajī's Boiler Room. The have super strength relative to their body weight. Even Chihiro Ogino couldn't take a piece of coal without overextending herself. As a result, a lot of people found out about kami and yokai from Spirited Away. These Japanese spirits are everywhere in Spirited Away. Some have large roles, others have small cameos – but which yokai make an appearance? When Chihiro changes clothes for working in the Bathhouse, Sootballs will also take care on other her clothes she wore outside, her striped shirt and her shorts.

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It does return to its usual timid self by the end of the movie, thanks to Chihiro and her emetic dumpling. In one well-known example, the Buddhist monk Kūkai (774–835) stated: “Composed of the five elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space, all things in creation contain echoes of the truth. . . . Dainichi Nyorai, the supreme Buddha, is the image of the world as it is.” The iconic Pixar lamp could have also inspired the hopping lantern as they both act in similar ways. As Spirited Away takes a lot of inspiration from yokai and kami, it is more likely that this is a tsukumogami. Kappa are reptilian humanoids that live in aquatic environments in Japan. They thrive in the water, and require a lot of respect and worship – or they can become nasty! In Japanese folklore, their favorite meal is the cucumber.