Daniel Avila

Sather-Sensei
Correlations between Spirited Away and Japanese Mythology

It has been said that Japan has held an influence over western audiences in
many ways. In a post World War II society, a slew of pop culture idols and anime culture
holds tight the hearts of many American and other western nations hearts. Ranging
from popular Kawaii Culture 1 (source) to pocky to their quirky comics, its safe to say
that Japan has a commercial standing in the western market. The aspect of anime,
short for animation, is known widely for being the go-to source for Japanese pop
culture. It is a fact that many of the children in generation X grew up watching several
Japanese animations, such as Naruto, Dragonball, and One Piece, which has
influenced and shaped their lives and actions. One such movie, Spirited Away, directed
by the renown Hayao Miyazaki, leaves quite the impression on Japan on the viewer.
Obviously set in a fantastical world, the building structures and creatures that inhabit the
world are surprisingly historically accurate to many of the monsters and ykai2. This
essay will outline and define many of the creatures that are most likely direct influences
in the design and behavior of the cast of Spirited Away.
The plot of Spirited Away is in itself, an artifact of poetic Japanese inspiration
based on the old stories and myths. A young ten year old Chihiro finds herself separated
1 Kawaii Culture, or cute culture emphasizes a girly innocence or cuteness quality in Japanese
pop culture

2 Yokai are Japanese apparitions, both friendly and maleviolent.

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from her parents and accidently enters the realm of spirits via an old abandoned tunnel,
which serves as a liminal zone of sorts. She is forced to work in a bathhouse in the spirit
world until she can find a way to reunite with her parents and safely exit. Besides her
parents, who only make appearances in the beginning and the end of the movie, Chihiro
is the only human in the story, with the rest of her encounters being ykai or magical
encounters. Many of the creatures here, although not all, can be traced to one or more
spirits that have been recorded in Japanese folklore. One such example to the rule are
the soot sprites, the makkuro kurosuke, which are fictitious ykai with no true lineage to
traditional apparitions, although they may fall under another category of Kami 3. It is of
importance to note, that while many of these follow the rule, much of this is simply
conjecture; Theories and concepts derived from proof of similar appearance or
behavior.
The first apparition that Chihiro meets is a young boy her age. His name is Haku,
and while he may look like a human with medium length black hair and fair features as
the story unfolds his true nature is revealed. He knows magic and was trained in part by
Yubaba, the owner of the bathhouse. He is later discovered transforming into the shape
of a dragon and is ultimately determined to be a river god. Dragons have always been
an integral part of Japanese and Chinese rivers and seas when it comes to mythology.
In both the Kojiki and the Nihongi, the two best kept records of Japanese history, the
creation myth tells a story of water deities birthed from the gods Izanami and Izanagi in
the form of Watatsumi, or in other words, the sea god. Watatsumi also had a daughter,

3 Kami are, simply put, supernatural beings of higher divine powers.

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Otohime, who was detailed extremely well as being a Wani, meaning dragon or sea
creature. (nihongi 95) In this way, the lineage of river dragons has progressed so far as
to even show Haku, a shapeshifting dragon of the swift amber river. A second river deity
that makes an appearance is the unnamed water god that is purified by the bath water.
He is admitted as being a venerable river spirit and takes a dragons form and flies
away, leaving gold in his wake.
Hakus mentor and owner of the Bathhouse, Yubaba, holds a great deal of power
in her hands, both magical and otherwise. She has been shown to have both the
powers of spellcraft as well as written curses. In this way, she greatly resembles the
onmyji, or yin-yang diviners, that the courts would employ to engage in supernatural
warfare against each other. Yubaba is also shown using the power of ones name to
control them. She takes Chihiros name by making her sign a contract. This is
reminiscent to the movie Onmyji, a theatrical rendition of the tales regarding the
prominent Heian diviner Abe no seimei. He said, That the shortest spell in the world
is a name. A spell is something that binds something, or someones heart.(onmyji
source) In this way, she may have been derived by one or both of the following
creatures. There is the Onibaba, a yokai that takes the form of an elderly woman and
feasts on human beings, or more likely, the shugenja, or mountain warrior. Shugenja
were known for having supernatural powers and divine abilities extremely close to those
of Onmyji.
Perhaps the most iconic character of the movie would be that of no-face, Kaonashi in Japanese. His ghostly transparent black body is mostly amorphous, with the

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true distinguishing feature being his masklike face. His face is white with a hole
representing his mouth and two holes representing his eyes. Purple triangles
resembling face paint adorn his face for an overall emotionless and eerie appearance.
No-face has all of the makings of a Ykai, with his desire to punish certain Buddhist
sins, such as desire (He does this by eating the greedy to fuel his existence), however,
he cannot be identified closely to any true ykai. Oddly enough, he also does not really
have any strong visual connections with any existing ykai. He slightly bears a
resemblance to some Japanese yurei, or ghost, but due to his mask-like face, it is
widely speculated among fans that he can claim his origins to that of Noh drama, known
for its use of masks in the theatre above all else.. Noh is an ancient art of storytelling
that was performed on stage in a theatrical fashion. The defining aspect of Noh plays
was always the elegant Noh masks, which no-face does take after. While not a
traditional ykai, his mask-like appearance is strongly suggestive to originate from Noh
dramas due to facial paint and style being strikingly similar to some Noh masks..
When Chihiro is first enlisted by Yubaba to work in the bathhouse, her first friend
and senior is a leader among the Yuna, which will be describes at a later point. Rin
looks human enough, but in the first scene that she makes an appearance, she is
bribed with a roasted newt from the creature in the boiler room, Kamaji. She is unable to
resist the temptation of eating it and takes great delight in eating the newt, which gives
away her existence as an apparition. While is it not stated directly in the movie, her true
form is actually that of a Byakko, a white fox spirit. This is given away in a concept art
book that gave insight to the character design. The Kitsune, or fox spirits are an

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extremely prominent ykai that appear multiple times in Japanese history. They have
been known to shapeshift, possess humans, and hold a higher than average I.Q.
Kitsune spirits have also been known to play the part of the trickster, and this is
portrayed well by Rin by her willingness and skill at manipulating others with confusion
distractions.
The next ykai is one that is portrayed many times within the context of
Japanese folklore as well as in the movie. Both used by Yin-Yang diviners and the
Shugenja of Japanese folklore, the subservient Shikigami make an appearance.
Shikigami, according to Japanese myths and legends, are Kami that are created or
enticed to serve the wielder or caster. Kamaji, a spider-like ykai that works in the boiler
room of the Yubabas bathhouse showed the first usage of shikigami in the film, the
aforementioned soot sprites (makkuro kurousuke). Kamaji, (lit. boiler geezer) explains,
The place is full of soot. I just cast a spell on it and Ive got all the workers I need.
which is generally the way that Shikigami are represented. A majority of the time, paper
dolls are used to focus the spell, which takes the form of a humanlike or animal like
appearance. In the film onmyji, The famous diviner Abe no Seimei used these several
times, using paper dolls to replicate the appearance of women in his dwelling, as well as
enchanting a butterfly to serve as his personal shikigami. The same paper doll design is
similarly used by both Yubaba and Zeniba, who is Yubabas sister. Zuniba cast a swarm
of flying paper doll shikigami to attack Haku and wound him. Shikigami were typically
used for the dirty work or particularly dangerous activities, such as spying or stealing, or
in this case, assaulting. Just as Abe no Seimei employed his butterfly as a personal

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shikigami, Yubaba also held close a special shikigami, which took the form of a raven
with Yubabas head. It often flew over the vicinity and reported back to her, acting as a
spy.
There are still many more Ykai that appeared in the film that are and are not
traditional monsters in Japanese folklore. The Japanese radish spirit that may have
been an obscure god not covered in the Nihongi or Kojiki may have been fictitious.For
example Yubabas bodyguards and shikigami, Kashira bears a striking resemblance to
the kubi and Tsurube otoshi demons in Japanese folklore. Whatever the case, it is
obvious that Japanese mythological creatures still hold great importance in todays
media. Even if the creatures cannot directly correlate, the foundation built by Japanese
folklore have inspired new character designs and ingenious new spins on creatures that
have long since been recorded. In any case, Spirited away can give an interesting
window into Japanese culture and history, while keeping the legends alive and
breathing life into beings of extraordinary power, giving them significance.

Daniel Avila
Sather-Sensei

Bibliography ( I know this is not a real bibliography, still a work in progress)

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130603-cute-culture-and-catchy-pop
http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/The_Dragon_in_China_and_Japan_1000
061471/147

onmyouji film

Daniel Avila
Sather-Sensei