I’m well aware of the amount of story summaries, spoilers, and background informations out there about The Wind Rises, so I wanted to discuss something a bit more different.

A lot has occurred during the last few years in Japan, with the most notable and society-changing incident that took place obviously being the Tohoku earthquake and tsunamis that wrecked Japan in March of 2011. Two (now almost three) years later, Japan is still dealing with the aftermath of this natural disaster— not only is Japan still rebuilding from the devastations of the quake, but the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima continues to worry the livelihood of the Japanese people. In addition to the natural disaster, the Japanese government under Prime Minister Abe is striving to pull Japan back up economically. Of course, the Abe regime’s actions and efforts aren’t without criticisms, as it is frequently condemned among the Japanese public.

In short, Japan is going through some tough, stormy times.

Ghibli’s Kaze Tachinu might be a historical fiction based on a designer of the fighter plane Mitsubishi A6M Zero— but as I watched the film, I couldn’t help but compare the Japanese society of today to that of the one illustrated on screen in front of me. Perhaps it’s the tumultuous times that Japan faced in the last few years that overlaps with the turbulence of Japan before it launched into WWII, but the events and scenes within the film forced me to compare the current Japanese society with the one that Jiro Horikoshi (the main character) lived in during a pre-WWII era.

So I came across this question and wanted to discuss it a little further after watching Miyazaki’s final masterpiece—what did Miyazaki want to say about the Japanese society today through this film? Hopefully I’ll be able to give a different perspective of this film without giving away the plot!

To Be “Japanese”

One thing that’s particularly interesting about this film is that it’s based on an actual historical figure, Jiro Horikoshi, who designed the infamous Zero fighter planes.

Throughout the film, Jiro meets people of different countries— the famed aircraft engineer and designer Caproni of Italy, the European engineers he meets during his travel to a German aircraft manufacturers, to name a few. I think this movie might be the first time Miyazaki illustrated interaction of characters of different nationalities so clearly to the audience— and perhaps intentionally to make the audience (in this case the Japanese ones) think of what it means to be Japanese.

Historically speaking, Japan appears to have always played the role of “catching up” to the West— for the longest time, Japan’s goal has been to modernize to join the ranks of US and the European states, and maybe even surpass them. Miyazaki’s film touches upon this notion in the film through Jiro’s interaction with the engineers of a leading German aircraft manufacturer.

But the highlight here isn’t that Japan lagged behind technologically in terms of aircraft manufacturing— it’s how Jiro interacts with his German counterparts. Jiro’s a collected individual, and seeing the way he interacts and negotiates to achieve an “equal playing field” with the German workers might have been Miyazaki’s desire to remind his Japanese audience to be proud of who they are. It’s not exactly imbuing them with nationalism persay, but perhaps Miyazaki wanted to remind his Japanese viewers that despite certain disadvantages to other states, their country holds a lot of good qualities as well, many of which are portrayed through Jiro’s personality and nature.

Slowing Down

There’s quite a lot of comparison between the “old” and the “new” in the film, during which Jiro was at the forefront of modernizing and making the “new” generation of Japanese airplanes. Jiro might have been placed in charge of designing a new, fast and durable fighter plane in the film— but throughout the film, he drops hints of his appreciation for slowness.

Jiro’s plane is lugged onto the testing field “old school” fashion— using oxen.

“Is “fast”, “modernity” and “convenience” the be-all and end-all?” I felt like Miyazaki was constantly throwing this question at me during the film. It’s an appropriate question for the Japanese society today, especially in the light of recent Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Sure, nuclear energy is convenient for a country like Japan that lacks energy resources— does it mean it should put its dependency and priority on it? This might just be one example, but I felt that Miyazaki was beckoning his audience to question this dependency on modernity, and instead consider the alternatives and remember how things were done in the past. There’s not only one way to do things— and perhaps Miyazaki wants his audience to recognize the implications of such conventional methods on the society today.

All You Need Is Love

Jiro and Nahoko share a kiss sporadically throughout the film.

My god, the PDA in this film.

I’m sure many of you are aware that this movie, aside from being about the aspirations of a budding aircraft engineer, also has romance. In the film, Jiro meets and falls in love with a beautiful yet ill-fated girl Nahoko. Despite her illness, the two lovers seek to cherish each other, treasuring every moment that they get to share together.

Miyazaki films aren’t known for overt displays of affection— if I think back, the first time I recognized obvious kissing being part of the film was in Howl’s Moving Castle, when Sophie kisses Howl and in Ponyo on the Cliff By the Sea, when Ponyo also kissed (more like pecked) Sosuke at the end of the film.

Regardless, The Wind Rises goes past the light pecks and kisses and really goes above and beyond to show Jiro and Nahoko’s love for one another— and if the film insisted on such blatant forms of PDA all throughout the movie, I knew it meant something significant.

Despite the volatility in their era, Jiro and Nahoko stuck to one another and supported each other— Miyazaki might have wanted to relay the same lesson to the Japanese society today, which also faces equally disturbing political and socioeconomic issues. As a country still rebuilding from a massive earthquake, there’s a lot that needs to be taken care of in Japan— perhaps through his film, Miyazaki is urging the Japanese to support one another, to cherish your loved ones, and to have each other’s backs in this time of struggle. The Japanese society is still in for a wild-ride, and the people can’t possibly stand it without the help of others. As simple as it might sound, helping other people- and being helped by them- can’t be any more relevant to the Japanese society than today.

All you need is love— and everything will fall in place. I felt like that message sat well in me at the end of this beautiful movie.

So, when this film comes to a theater (or download) near you, be sure to watch out for some of these things. What does this historical film say about society today? Certainly something, anyways. If you’ve seen the film let me know what you thought too (without giving away spoilers!)

Seen the movie already too? Think differently about what Miyazaki wanted to relay in his final work? Post on the comment below!

Before we get into Jiufen and Spirited Away, though, let’s look at the history of this little Taiwanese town. It has had an interesting one, much of which is actually Japanese related, and will set the table for the comparison between the place and the film later in this article.

A Japanese-ish History

In 1895, Taiwan became Japan’s first colony, so Japan wanted to try to show off to the rest of the world that they could do the whole normally-Western-but-not-this-time imperialism sort of thing. They decided to make Taiwan a “model” colony for all their future colonies, so much effort and money was put into building up Taiwan’s infrastructure, industry, standard of living, and economy. They also made a big effort to change the culture and get everyone speaking Japanese. In fact, to this day elderly Taiwanese people still speak Japanese fluently, as that’s what they grew up speaking. I spent a good amount of time talking to one elderly Taiwanese person (in Japanese) and she was certainly a wealth of “Japanese Era” information… maybe more on that in another post.

Jiufen itself was starting to get popular even a couple of years before Japan appeared. Why? Gold was discovered. If I know anything about gold and the olden days, it’s that people like to “rush” for it. The height of Jiufen’s gold rush occurred during the Japanese occupation when (I imagine) the Japanese got really into mining for gold. Gold helps to fund war-related things, I imagine, and I hear the British POW labor from Singapore sent to work in the mines was top notch. Quite a bit was built up around here, and Japanese ryokans and bath houses exist in the town to this day. I seem to remember Spirited Away having one of those…

Jiufen And Spirited Away

While the story of Jiufen, its gold rush, its POW gold miners, and its rise to tourist popularity has nothing to do with the actual story of Spirited Away, many parts of the film do tear off some huge Jiufen chunks as inspiration for the characters and places that Miyazaki created. Unfortunately, having not seen the film recently, I was relying on some pretty shaky memories, so below are some pictures that I took as well as some pictures others took (these are the ones with a citation). I’ve broken it up into sections too, to help you to see exactly what parts of Jiufen made it into the film. Hopefully someday you can visit this place too and be able to say “hey, wait, that was in Spirited Away!”

Dragons

The dragon Haku was an important part of the film. This much I remembered. While this is true for much of Taiwan and not just Jiufen, there were dragons on top of the temple right when you get off the bus.

This alone is hardly enough to convince anyone that Jiufen was the inspiration for the places in Spirited Away, it’s a start. Let’s move on to something more connecty: FOOOOD.

Food

The spirits in the film ate tons of food (you know that from Fiona’s post about the foods of Spirited Away). The girl’s parents ate tons of food (and turned into delicious pigs). Food was a huge part of the film and Jiufen had plenty of it. Lining the streets were many stalls, and I’d say more than half of them centered around something you could consume. Certainly one of the main attractions of this place is the things that can be devoured.

Suffice to say, the variety and uniqueness of the food could have easily been a small inspiration for Miyazaki in making this film. While I don’t think I saw any of  the more unique Jiufen foods in Spirited Away (or in any pictures of Spirited Away), both places had numerous food stalls, food, and people/spirits eating the food. The vibe of the food stalls and the people eating the food was similar as well. Delicious.

Streets, Stairs, And Red Lanterns

The architecture and street layouts of both Jiufen and Spirited Away are quite unique yet quite similar. Jiufen has the whole Japanese but not Japanese thing going for it, due to the occupation period. Spirited Away has the Japanese but somewhat other-worldy thing going for it due to the other-worldliness of it. Not too far off from each other, I’d say.

Another notable similarity is all the red lanterns. Both Jiufen and Spirited Away are teaming with them. Just the amount you see in both the film and real place is enough to convince me that Miyazaki was here and taking notes. If that’s not enough for you, all you have to do is look at the winding roads and long staircases featured in both places.

Stairs.

And even more stairs.

Jiufen seriously had way too many stairs, but it made for a very unique looking place. I seem to remember stairs being a common occurrence in Spirited Away, as well. Up the stairs down the stairs, stairs in the background, egg and stair, bacon and stair egg, bacon, sausage and stairs with eggs, stairs stairs stairs stairs.

Buildings

The buildings in Spirited Away were incredibly iconic. What stood out the most (because this is where much of the story took place) was the Bath House in which the main character worked. This building was supposedly inspired by the Grand Tea House in Jiufen. While not as magnificent as the anime version, it’s difficult to not see the similarity:

Another thing I noticed were the tunnels all throughout Jiufen. It was a mining community for most of its recent history, so it’s only natural that there be tunnels. One thing that surprised me were the tunnels that you could go through in Jiufen. They’d lead you to new areas of the town, almost magically. One tunnel we went through (pictured below) took us out to a tea house and beautiful view. You don’t expect that kind of thing when you get into small, scary tunnels. Viet certainly wins this “More Meta Than You” photo contest.

The surprise and magic of coming out of a tunnel and into a newish world (in Jiufen) felt really reminiscent of the beginning of Spirited Away when Chihiro and her parents go through the tunnel and into the town. Luckily, on the other side of our tunnel all we had was a tea house, run by ordinary people.

I believe there were other tunnels in the film as well, though someone will have to remind me since it’s been a while. The tunnel up above supposedly has a tunnel in Jiufen that’s more similar to it, but I didn’t find it in my journey. Anyways, Jiufen had tunnels galore, and it rewarded discovery and exploration, making the place feel more magical. When you go through one, who knows where you’ll end up! Dun dun dunnn.

Characters

Of course, Spirited Away was filled with interesting characters… that being said, I couldn’t stop getting the impression as I walked through Jiufen that the real place had just as many odd people/spirits. Usually in Taiwan you don’t see this many odd people gathered all in one place. In Jiufen, these kinds of folks were a dime-a-dozen. This isn’t a bad thing – I think weird is great (where’s my “Keep Jiufen Weird” bumper sticker?) – what’s interesting to me is that there’s potential that some inspiration for Spirited Away could have come from Jiufen. Most people just mention the streets and architecture when making the Spirited Away / Jiufen comparison, but I think I’m onto something here.

Take a look at this guy, for example. He runs a leather shop in the middle of Jiufen, but he’s just in the back rocking out on his electric guitar, never selling any leather. I was the only one who stood there to watch, then clapped a bit at the end. He seemed a bit surprised by that, so I quickly moved on. Anyways, he’s a little bit odd, all things considered. It gets more interesting, though.

Take a look at this guy. He sells and plays (and maybe makes?) ocarinas. Of course, he runs an ocarina store so this makes sense. That being said, his personality and look were pretty unique to me yet a little familiar…

Maybe in twenty or thirty years? Haku does not age well.

Apparently, and you can see them in the background in the ocarina guy’s picture, he has some ocarinas that have a resemblance to No Face in the film. I’ll let you decide on that one, but perhaps this real-life character made a fairly big impact on Miyazaki?

The last guy I’m going to show you was the most direct correlation between the characters of Jiufen and the characters of Spirited Away. I have no clue if he was around when Miyazaki was here, so perhaps I’m just throwing this out there, but do you remember the three heads that rolled around in the movie? These guys right here?

Well, there was a mask exhibit, which was basically a place where this one dude who makes a ton of crazy masks/heads/busts displays his art. They immediately reminded me of this part of the film, just because they were unattached heads like the masks/busts that this guy made. Here he is in all his glory with a bust of… himself making a face. Actually, he made all the faces for us, but I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

It doesn’t end here. He had three and a half large rooms filled with masks/busts that he had made, usually not of himself. Just about everything looks like something from the mind of a serial killer / psychopath, though the guy himself was super friendly and nice (but aren’t they all?). Take a look at some of his other masks. There were too many for me to take pictures of them all and too many pictures to spam up on this post, so suffice to say there were a lot. I can only imagine the time he put into all of this.

Lots of masks, and lots of sources for possible character inspiration, wouldn’t you say? Whatever happened or didn’t happen here, though, I can easily conclude that this was my favorite part of Jiufen. I really like this sort of thing for some reason… Maybe Miyazaki stopped by to walk through this exhibit as well? Spirited Away was definitely one of Miyazaki’s most unique and interesting films character-wise, I’d say. If he ran across this place, there would have been no shortage of wild inspiration for him to draw from.

Getting To Jiufen

If you want to go to Jiufen, of course you’ll want to first make your way to Taiwan. Once there, go to Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station in Taipei and leave Exit 1. You should see Bus #1062 near the corner. Get on that bus, and prepare for a fun ride (remember, left side of the bus = “best” / most terrifying view!). If you get the bus driver that we got, you’re going to have somewhat of a lead foot on the ol’ gas / brake pedal. Oh, and did I mention there are plenty of steep ledges? It will make the food of Jiufen taste all the more better because you’ll feel alive (or you’ll just be dead from rolling bus syndrome).

Besides Jiufen, Taiwan is a great place to visit. It really does feel kind of like Japan in a way. Of course, it’s not anywhere near the same and a unique society and culture exists, but there’s that sort of background, white noise sort of feeling that Japan is subtly there, somewhere, watching you. There is still something remaining from the occupation years and it makes for an interesting mix of people, food, and culture. Definitely pop down to Taiwan sometime if you get the chance!

And lastly, if that wasn’t enough, I found this side-by-side picture comparison of Jiufen/Spirited done by Oh What A Day that I thought was quite good. It’s hard to not see the similarities when you see it presented this way!

Hope you enjoyed this post. Jiufen and Spirited Away certainly have connections, though I don’t know how much is real inspiration and how much is “reading too much into things.” Whatever it was, it was a fun trip and I highly recommend it. You can fly from Japan to Taiwan for fairly cheap, so if you have an extra week or so pop down to see what the fuss is all about. Hit up some night markets while you’re at it.

Or is it?

Will Hayao stay retired, or will he make a stunning return to film years later? With the way people have been receiving his son’s films so far (not so great to mixed), your guess is as good as mine. But more importantly, will Hayao’s final film leave us with fond memories of the man? Or will he be leaving us with a sour taste in our mouths?

Retiring? Really??

“Am I retiring? No… Yes I am! Oh ho ho~”

Okay, so Hayao “retired” a handful of times already, actually. Some people say he’s “retired” five times already, others say he just “retires” once every three years. But all of these weren’t actually official and some were just rumor or speculation.

Except for one time.

After the international success of Princess Mononoke (a great film to end your legacy on, by the way), Hayao officially left Ghibli and “retired”. Apparently the amount of work he did on Princess Mononoke was insane. He oversaw 144,000 animation cells and personally redrew about 80,000 of them. Holy crap. I can understand someone being worn out after something like that.

Anyway, after he officially left, he created another studio called Butaya/Nibariki. It was located very close to his old studio and was known as his “retirement place”. While there, he created a manga based on the exploits of Otto Carius, held weekly classes to teach young animators, hosted other activities, and made some animated short films.

In my opinion, this is a pretty awesome and respectable thing to do after retiring. Working on little side projects and teaching others all the great animation knowledge and know-how he possessed? Fantastic. However, he returned to film a mere four years later to direct Spirited Away.

Spirited Away was awesome too, so he probably could have re-retired again and it would have been a great bittersweet moment. But Hayao soldiered on and stepped in to take over Howl’s Moving Castle when the original director left the project. This film wasn’t as amazing as the previous two, but it was still pretty solid.

But this latest retirement announcement sounds like it could actually be legitimate. It seems that Hayao has been “training” his son Goro to take over the family business, but his son (in my eyes) is currently having one hell of a struggle to fill his father’s gigantic shoes. From Up On Poppy Hill was painfully boring. Even if Hayao doesn’t make a second return to film, hopefully he’ll be working with his son behind the scenes to improve the quality of his work.

“I have no idea what I’m doing.”

At 72 years old, Hayao is one of the most celebrated figures in animation. The Wind Rises is his 11th feature length film. Together with Isao Takahata, he founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 which has produced 18 feature films to date, so Hayao’s had a pretty fulfilling career. Studio Ghibli films are loved by many and several of them have topped the Japanese box office. Spirited Away even won an Academy Award for best animated feature over in the good ol’ US of A.

Hayao’s latest film does have the makings of a director’s swan song. The Wind Rises is described as Hayao’s first film made specifically for adults. It’s a very personal film, and it’s also stirring up a bit of debate among the political circles of Japan. Let’s get into that.

The Wind Rises

Hayao’s final film, The Wind Rises, tells the tale of a man named Jiro during World War II. Jiro is a brilliant but naïve engineer, and his character is based on the real designer of Japan’s Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane, Jiro Horikoshi. The story looks to explore love, responsibility, and death.

From what I can tell, it’s certainly not going to be as lighthearted as what we’ve come to expect from Hayao’s films. This one looks to be more akin to the likes of Ghibli’s most famous heart-string puller, Grave of the Fireflies.

Even so, the film still seems to maintain a bit of that classic Ghibli whimsical feel. This should add a nice contrast to all of the terrible sorrowful feelings that look to be so prevalent in this film. The sad things will probably be made even more sad and striking due to the dichotomy between them and the occasional fantastical whimsy.

The film takes us along on Jiro’s journey from a child fascinated by planes to a man creating one of the most feared aircrafts of the war. Jiro’s love for planes and flight is depicted as simple and pure. Jiro doesn’t care about the war effort, he just wants to make a great plane that he can be proud of. But by the end of the film, Jiro starts to question everything.

The Reception Thus Far

Hayao has traditionally been somewhat of a pacifist, so some fans were a bit confused as to why he would choose a film like this to go out on. Some people think that it was strange for Hayao to choose the manufacturer of a vehicle of destruction as the star for his film, but Hayao doesn’t see it that way.

Hayao was drawn to the story because it featured one of Japan’s eccentric geniuses and this appealed to him. Plus Hayao has always been fascinated with planes and flight himself. In an interview, he stated that “It was wrong from the beginning to go to war, but it’s useless to blame Jiro for it.”

“Pipe down, Hayao.”

The film has also sparked some political debate. Hayao recently published an article saying that he was disgusted by the government’s plans to expand Japan’s army. He was also taken aback by the government’s apparent ignorance of history. Though not mentioned specifically by name, most believe these statements were directed at Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe.

Japanese conservatives have pretty much told Hayao to keep his opinions to himself and stay out of politics.

“I’m watching you.”

As for the film itself, some feel that its slow moving style and lack of visual flair make it boring. Overall, though, it’s received favorable reviews and is a box office success. I can understand the slow moving complaints though. I feel that way about a decent amount of Japanese movies, but if Japanese critics are the ones calling this movie slow moving, it must be really slow moving.

I wouldn’t say I’m getting my hopes up too high for this film though. My two favorite films of his were Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, and I don’t think he (or Ghibli for that matter) have come close to matching them since. I do really hope my expectations are exceeded though.

Now I’m not saying that I’m not looking forward to The Wind Rises. I just don’t want to set my expectations too high only to be disappointed. I feel like the film will be a good one, I’m just not sure if it’ll be blowing me out of the water with how good it is. But I really want this film to surprise me and make me glad that it’s the last film he left us with. The trailer makes it seem like the film could be really moving and powerful, and I sincerely hope that it is.

Hayao’s Future

“Sayo~nara~”

I think it would be absolutely fantastic if Hayao returns to Butaya and does what he was doing the last time he retired. His son could still use a lot of training and improvement and I’m sure many other animators could benefit from his vast pool of animation knowledge too.

And just because he’s retiring from film doesn’t mean that he won’t be creating anything. Last time he made a manga and some animated shorts. Who knows what he’ll come up with this time? I know I’m certainly looking forward to finding out.

So, do you think The Wind Rises will be a good one to end his career on (if he really does retire for good)? What do you think he’ll get into over at Butaya? Think he’ll stay retired for good this time? Either way, Hayao Miyazaki has had a brilliant career and he certainly deserves all the respect in the world.

Bonus Wallpapers!

[2560x1600] ∙ [1280x800]

Sites Referenced:
The Economist
The Guardian
Kotaku

So now you know that I love Ghibli films just as much as you guys, but here’s my question: How many of you have ever been scared of Studio Ghibli? How many of you have heard of Totoro’s urban legend and / or Ghibli’s Curse? Regardless of whether or not you know about them (or believe in them), I personally have literally shuddered and trembled because of them. Ready for some ghost stories? C’mere, gather around my camp fire to stay awhile and listen…

“My Neighbor Totoro”

One of my favorite Ghibli films, 隣のトトロ (Tonari no Totoro / My Neighbor Totoro), has a deep and dark secret. Before we get into that, though, let’s take a look at its fun, friendly plot! Many of you guys probably know of it already, but let me introduce it to you anyways. The story is about two young girls, Satsuki and her little sister, Mei. They move into a house in the countryside with their father to be closer to their mother, who is sick and hospitalized. Then, they discover magical creatures called Totoros inhabiting the nearby forest. They become friends with the Totoros and have magical adventures.

Just to be sure, I’d like to explain that Totoro is not a Japanese traditional character but rather a creation of Hayao Miyazaki. They look like a mixture of several animals: 梟 (fukuro / owls), 猫 (neko / cats), and 狸 (tanuki / raccoon dogs). They are so cute and one of my favorite characters in all Ghibli films. These cuddly creatures seem to be called many names varying from “a giant furry thing” to “a rabbit like spirit.”

One day, though, I found out that the name “Totoro” comes from when Mei mispronounces the word トロール (tororu), the Japanese word for “troll.” It seems so clear watching the movie now, but as a kid I didn’t realize this because the Totoro is so cute! Of course, I was shocked and thought, “TROLL???” My image for trolls wasn’t cute at all. Instead, they were large, stupid, hairy, long-nosed, horned, and creepy bug-eyed creatures.

But, if Totoro is a troll, at least in the eyes of a child, what else could it be? Maybe the child didn’t know better, so she called it a “troll” when it was something else. But what else? Some people out there think that the Totoros are 死神 (shinigami), aka “Gods Of Death.” Considering how often Hayao Miyazaki puts hidden meanings into his Ghibli films, I think it is possible. If you keep reading, you’ll see why other people think this, too.

The Sayama Incident

It has been said that My Neighbor Totoro is actually based on a famous murder case called “The Sayama Incident.” This case occurred on May 1, 1963 in Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, when a man kidnapped, raped, and killed a 16-year-old high school girl. Although a suspect was arrested and imprisoned for 31 years, he claimed that he was arrested, wrongfully convicted, and the police failed to catch the real murderer when they had the chance. He also claimed official discrimination against Japan’s 部落民 (burakumin), a social minority in Japanese society. He was paroled and released from prison in 1994, but he still remains guilty and continues to seek a fair trial for the chance to clear his name.

Let’s get back to the connection between the Sayama incident and My Neighbor Totoro, though. Why do people think that this film is related to the Sayama Incident? Why do they think that Totoro represents the God of Death? Here are a few theories:

The Month Of May

The first clue for this conspiracy theory is that both of the sisters’ names related to “May,” the month that the Sayama incident occurred in. The older sister’s name “Satsuki” means “May” in Japanese and the younger sister’s name “Mei” is pronounced just like the English word “May.”

Sayama City

The model of the house from the film is located in 狭山丘陵 (Sayama Kyuryo), which means “Sayama Hills,” and the movie’s location was inspired by Tokorozawa-city, which is next to Sayama City where the incident took place. This all explains why it’s called “My Neighbor,” right? But, the town in the film is in Sayama. Here’s the first clue:

On the box behind the old lady it says “Sayama Tea.” Hmm, suspicious, but not damning. Here’s another clue:

The hospital in the film, 七国病院 (shichikoku byouin) had a real-life counterpart in Sayama, called the 八国病院 (hachikoku byouin). Only one number apart. Coincidence? Probably not. This hospital was supposedly located in the same place as portrayed movie.

Suicide

The girl who was killed in Sayama had an older sister who loved her little sister so much that she committed suicide after her death. It’s said that the older sister was seeing big raccoon or cat-like ghosts before she killed herself, due to so much stress. The Totoros could have been inspired by this. It could be interpreted that Satsuki did the same in the film, though we’ll talk about that in just a second.

Soot Sprites (Susuwatari)

Early in the film the girls see these things, which apparently in Japanese folklore mean you’re about to die. Not a good sign. They also appear later, when Satsuki tries to join her sister in death (whoops, spoilers, okeep reading).

Seeing The Totoros

If you can see the Totoros (aka the God of Death), it means that you’re either dead or almost dead. Kanta, the old lady’s grandson couldn’t see the Totoros even though he was a kid (supposedly kids can see the magic things, though in this case he couldn’t). Yet, the two girls could see them. Remember when Mei goes missing and her slipper is found in the pond? Supposedly Mei actually drowned here. Ruh roh. Actually, though, the slipper is not hers (if you compare slipper pics). So, could this be a representation of something? Or, does it debunk all of these conspiracies? I’m sure you’ll have an opinion on the matter.

Knocking On Death’s Door

So, in this theory, Mei is dead. Satsuki goes to look for her, and opens death’s door, going inside. She’s so wrought with grief that she joins her sister in death, which emulates the girl’s suicide in the Sayama Incident. Remember the susuwatari? They come back during this sequence. Death is not far away… she’s running right into it!

When she’s crossed over to the other side, the Totoro then helps Satsuki to find her sister in dead-land, and then they later go visit their mother. Strangely, nobody notices they were there except for their mother, who is dying. “I felt Satsuki and Mei just laughed near the tree,” the mother said.

This suggests they came to say goodbye before heading off to heaven in their Cat Bus. Speaking of cat buses…

Neko Bus

Some people think the Neko (Cat) Bus is a 1-way trip to heaven (or maybe hell). While I don’t know about this, one of the stops on the Neko Bus is “grave road,” so that sounds pretty must like dead people ride it to me.

Shadows

In the ending scene, Mei and Satsuki don’t have shadows. Only dead people don’t have shadows (for some unknown reason).

There is a lot more of this, but this set of gifs summarizes most of the points. Gifs make everything more understandable, right? Prepare for your childhood to be torn straight from your hearts.

This conspiracy theory has been around for a long time, actually. It got really heated on the internet, and then finally Ghibli had to make an official statement. In 2007, they did just that, denying that the urban legend was true.

“No need to be alarmed. There is absolutely no truth or configuration that Totoros are the Gods of Death or that Mei is dead in My neighbor Totoro.” – said Studio Ghibli

Still, when I was reading this everything made sense and it caused me to shudder and tremble when I thought about it. Who thought a children’s movie could have such scary undertones! So, who’s telling the truth? It seems like there’s a lot here that makes sense. But, people will read into just about anything too much from time to time. Were you convinced either way? Or do you think it’s just a silly story that someone made up. I think that Miyazaki likes to put hidden meanings in his films so… who knows.

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Bonus Wallpapers

[2560x1600] • [1280x800] • [1280x800 Animated] • [700x438 Animated]

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Sources: sukekomashi gaijin

Over the years Studio Ghibli has won many awards for their whimsical creations and in 2002, Spirited Away won a Golden Bear and an Oscar for Best Animated Feature. To this day it remains the only film made outside of the English-speaking world to have done so. Do you know the secret that makes all of Ghibli so magical? No? Read on to find out.

Ghibli and Friends

So where does the name Ghibli come from anyway? Well, Ghibli is based on the Arabic name for the sirocco (Mediterranean wind). During World War II the Italians used the sirocco for their Saharan scouting planes. Although pronounced with a hard g in both Arabic and Italian, the Japanese pronunciation of the word is with a soft g (ji-bu-ri).

The reason the studio chose to go with this name was because they wanted to “blow a new wind through the Japanese anime industry” changing things up and offering a breath of fresh air – pretty ambitious to say the least. But the studio has certainly lived up to its namesake. Check out this quick list showcasing some of the studio’s top highlights.

• The first real box-office success in Studio Ghibli’s history (just over $18 million) was Kiki’s Delivery Service in 1989, four years after the studio’s creation.
• The highest-grossing film of 1992 in Japan was Studio Ghibli’s very own Porco Rosso (¥2.8 billion in distribution income).
• The first ever Studio Ghibli film to use computer graphics was Pom Poko in 1992, starring a group of tanuki.
• The first Miyazaki film featuring computer graphics, and the first Studio Ghibli film featuring digital coloring was Princess Mononoke in 1997. Roger Ebert placed the movie sixth on his top ten movies of 1999 (after it had been released in the US) and it was also the highest grossing movie in Japan (overtaking E.T.) with $134 million in box office revenue until the achievement was claimed by Titanic several months later (but not for long!)
• The first Studio Ghibli film made entirely with digital processing was My Neighbors the Yamadas in 1999.
• Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away was the first film to gross $200 million worldwide before opening in North America (eventually making about $275 million in total), and it was the only anime film ever to win an Academy award for Best Animated Feature, and it took over Titanic ($135 million) at the Japanese box office, becoming the top grossing film ever in Japanese cinema.

The achievements above, along with a lot of other information can be found on Studio Ghibli’s Wikipedia page. And for those of you who are unfamiliar with the history behind the origins of Studio Ghibli, a good synopsis can be found here.

What Makes Ghibli Special

So what makes a Studio Ghibli film a Studio Ghibli film? Well, their works most often feature common motifs, themes, and imagery for one. These commonalities include female leads (usually younger), (talking) cats, sweet old ladies, things related to aviation, trains, boutiques, characters with multiple forms and identities, flocks of birds, birdlike creatures, misunderstood male characters, secret or hidden places, and in many cases a lack of a clearly defined antagonist.

These were things I never really thought about much before I actually took the time to look back on the films, but once you realize the commonalities they’re pretty easy to spot. Take Spirited Away for example: its setting is in a secret place, we’ve got a young female lead, a sweet old lady, birdlike creatures, characters with multiple forms and identities, and a misunderstood male character. Studio Ghiblianism at its finest.

But did you know that the “first Studio Ghibli film” isn’t actually a Studio Ghibli film at all? Even though Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki himself, the film was created one year prior to the creation of Studio Ghibli. Nausicaä was actually published by a studio known as Topcraft. So even though it’s not technically a Studio Ghibli film, it is often credited as one due to how influential it was to the studio’s creation in 1985.

Another fun fact is that Studio Ghibli has adopted a strict “no cuts” policy. This policy was introduced after the unfortunate butchering of the American release of Nausicaä which can be read more about here. The policy was brought up again after the release of Princess Mononoke in 1997 because Miramax wanted to make changes to the film in order to make it more marketable to the United States when it was released over here in 1999. Apparently Studio Ghibli responded by sending Miramax an authentic katana with a simple message reading “no cuts” attached to it. That’s certainly one way to get your point across.

I really respect this about Studio Ghibli. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always hated it when localized films are cut or altered from their original forms by someone other than the actual creator of the film. Knowing that all of Ghibli’s films are now brought to the United States exactly as they were meant to be viewed is a very comforting feeling even if the American production companies insist on having them dubbed into English. But hey, that’s what multi-language DVDs are made for, right? Right.

Studio Ghibli was even nice enough to give a shoutout to Pixar for their 25th anniversary. How kind! Both studios have collaborated with Disney, drawn inspiration from one another, and have even visited each other on various occasions. Both Pixar and Studio Ghibli are argued to be two of the best animation studios in the world today and are right up there with Disney in my opinion.

Upcoming Films

Is that a berry in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

The next film due to hit the States from Studio Ghibli is The Secret World of Arrietty/The Borrower Arrietty (借りぐらしのアリエッティ). I was lucky enough to get to see Arrietty and it was pretty good. Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away are definitely still my favorites from the studio however, but Arrietty was pretty solid as well.

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If the song at the end of the trailer sounds familiar, it’s probably because you heard it from the Imaginary Flying Machines album I posted about a while back. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you really should. It rocks.

Studio Ghibli’s From up on Poppy Hill (コクリコ坂から) came out in Japan earlier this year, (trailer can be found here) and The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is currently in the works.

The Studio Ghibli Museum

The Totoro went thataway!

Did you know that Studio Ghibli also has its very own museum? Well they do, and from the looks of it, it’s a pretty cool place to be. Located in Mitaka, Tokyo, the museum promises to make all of your Studio Ghibli dreams come true. Unfortunately I haven’t actually been there myself, but you can read all about it over here.

Have you been to the Ghibli Museum before? Tell us about how cool it is in the comments!

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So tell me – what’s your favorite Studio Ghibli film of all time?

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