Japanese Identity as Represented in Miyazakis Spirited Away

Japanese Identity as Represented in Miyazaki’s Spirited Away Aliza Belcourt and Eve Rabinowitz

Japan: Facts and Figures w w 2 nd largest economy 4 th largest importer 5 th largest exporter 1639 – 1854 - Closed Country period, ended with US navy forced entry, led to Meiji Restoration w 1868 – rulers wanted to use Western style free market w 1940 – invaded French Indo-China, frowned upon by rest of world, resulted in US placed oil embargo

Japan: Facts and Figures Cont. w 1941 – attack on Pearl Harbor, declared war on US, UK and Netherlands w 1945 – US atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, later that year Japan agreed to unconditional surrender w 1947 – Pacifist constitution; renounced right to declare war w 1960 -1980 – period of economic growth w 1990 s – decline in economy, “lost decade”

Western Influence and References in Spirited Away w Character appearances w Audi, Adidas w Western Architecture w “Finish what you started, human” w Live pigs and dead fish w Time cards

Western Representations through Yubaba w Top of hierarchy, called “Head Honcho” w Watches over the bathhouse w Office is decorated in Western style w Very greedy w Spoils her oversized child

Loss of Identity w Chihiro turns invisible w “Sign your name away” w Chihiro becomes Sen w Koreans in Japan forced to take Japanese names w Haku does not know his real name w Job becomes identity w Human smell from food

Loss of Identity: No Face w No name, masked face w Unable to speak until transformation w Manipulated by surroundings w Overtaken by greed of bathhouse w Tries to make Chihiro greedy w Upon leaving bathhouse, returns to former self w Warning for Japan

Greed w “Don’t worry, you’ve got Daddy here. He’s got credit cards and cash” w Willingness to take what is not theirs, thought they could as long as they had money w Gold is Yubaba’s top priority w Stink/river spirit w “Something precious to you has been replaced” w Mayhem at prospect of gold w Chihiro is only not greedy character

Baby as Japan as US w Closed Country mentality w Fear of things that are different w Took outside influences to realize its problems and to change w After seeing error of his ways, became a pacifist Baby w Only communicates through threats w Fear of things that are different w Wants to make everyone the same as them w Spoiled w Oversized

Japan and the Environment w Environmental issues include: w Air pollution w Waste management w Poisonings from industrial waste in 1950 s and 1960 s w Chronic arsenic poisonings in 1970 s w Largest importer of fossil fuels w Leaders in developing environmentally friendly technology w 5 th largest emission emitters in the world w Under treaty obligations to reduce CO 2 emissions and to take other steps to curb climate change

Pollution and the Environment w The bathhouse is a place where spirits come to be cleansed w The Kohaku River was destroyed leaving Haku homeless and confined to spirit realm w Leads to questions about other spirits in the bathhouse - how they got there, where they came from w Polluted river spirit thought to be stink spirit

The Confused National Identity of Japan in Spirited Away w As a result of being a closed country for 200 years, Japan does not know where it fits in with the rest of the world w Freud: you have to identify who you are not in order to identify who you are