Kintaro is less of a Japanese yokai and more of a figure in folklore tales, but he still makes an appearance in Spirited Away. In Japanese folklore, Kintaro is a superhuman child raised by a yama-uba. When Chihiro was a child, she once fell into the Kohaku river but was safely washed ashore. This is why she and Haku have such a close connection. 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. 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.

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. Their cameo in Spirited Away is relatively minor but they also serve an important signal for the story. In folklore, Umi-Bozu appear when a calm sea becomes tumultuous. The susuwatari also make an appearance in other Ghibli movies like My Neighbor Totoro – see if you can spot them! One of the most famous Japanese anime movies of all time is Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away. It was a moving tale about a young girl who accidentally enters the world of spirits from Japanese Shinto folklore.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. This large/small combination seems to symbolize overflowing desire and the weak spirit unable to control it. Although he swallows other characters, he regurgitates them just as they are, which may show that knowledge and experience cannot truly be made one’s own. It could be that No-Face represents us all. The Onama-Sama share a lot of similarities to the Namahage. Those are yokai from the Oga Peninsula with ogre-like faces and straw capes. Today, Namahage appear during New Year’s rituals and celebrations.

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. 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. 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.A close look at the old cedar shows that it is broken at the top. These kinds of old trees are often found at shrines in Japan, such as Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto and Kasuga Taisha in Nara. They are revered, due to being seen as locations where kami descended from the heavens in the form of lightning. This divine connection makes these trees sacred. Chihiro is the name of the main character, a 10-year-old girl. Miyazaki said that girls of that age are tough these days, which is why he chose one as the heroine. She is the daughter of middle-class parents, as is apparent from the four-wheel-drive Audi they own, the upscale brand of the supermarket bag inside, and the relatively young age at which they have been able to buy a detached house in the suburbs. The couple and their daughter Chihiro are selfish, ill-mannered, and devoted to their desires. They are typical of the Japanese people of the time, who ignored the country’s traditional, spiritual culture to sing the praises of economic prosperity. 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).

The character No-Face (Kaonashi) has no voice of his own, instead, using the voices of those he swallows. The lower half of his body is also semitransparent. These aspects may symbolize that he has no real self.

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 In Tibetan Buddhism, a faithful descendant of the Indian original, there has also been the idea that only animals can move along the path to enlightenment. In recent years though, the Dalai Lama has shown a great understanding of the concepts of Japanese Buddhism, and now tends toward the idea that all of nature can become Buddha. There’s a lot of debate around the meaning of No-Face and its inspiration but many believe that it is a type of yokai known as the Noppera-Bo.