In Japan, I worked for an investment company as a financial planner and broker. While working there, I shuddered and trembled upon witnessing the so-called “ジブリの呪い” (giburi no noroi), aka “Ghibli’s Curse” aka “The Curse Of Ghibli.”

I had no idea until I started working as a financial planner that this curse even existed, holding itself over the stock and currency market. However, as soon as I joined the financial industry, the curse occurred. After a Ghibli movie was aired on TV one Friday night, bad things happened to the market. Very evil and curse-like things (dun dun dunn).

You see, Nippon Television Network Corp airs a movie every Friday night. That spot is called “金曜ロードショー” (kinyou roadshow/ Friday Roadshow). Occasionally on this show they air a Ghibli movie. When this happens, bad stuff happen to the Japanese stock market or currency market soon after.

Sometimes it’s related to 米国雇用統計 (beikoku koyoutoukei / US jobs numbers), which is also called 米国非農業部門雇用者数 (beikoku hinougyoubumon koyoushasuu / US nonfarm payroll dates). Other times it has to do with bad reports. No matter what the trigger may be, Japanese traders, investors, and other related workers are acutely aware of this eerie “curse” and will pay attention to the TV schedules for just this reason.

Running The Numbers

It’s been a while since I quit my job so I don’t remember exactly, but I feel like I remember how on these days other countries’ currencies would go down or the Nikkei (Japanese stock market) would drop. I wanted to make sure that I could show this to you guys so I ran the numbers and made a diagram from February 22, 2008 until August 2, 2013. Please take a look below. There you can see that with 28 out of 35 of these days, either the US currency went down or the Nikkei went down. Isn’t that insane? I thought so, at least the first time I learned about this.

So, that’s what happened over last four year eight months. You can see that the Ghibli Curse has taken place an eerily and head scratching amount of times. Of course this could be a coincidence that just lines up with the poor economy, but there is a reason why people believe in this curse, so something must be going on, even if it is completely by chance.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL recently picked up Ghibli’s Curse as a topic, as well. They interviewed some traders in Tokyo, so I’m going to introduce some parts of the article.

“Yen watchers expect the worst when a Ghibli flick airs at the same time that nonfarm payroll data is released in the U.S. (That is at 8:30 a.m. in Washington, D.C., and 9:30 at night in Tokyo.) In eight of the past nine such convergences, the data came in weak. In seven of those cases, the dollar tanked versus the yen and Japanese stocks fell.

On July 8, 2011, during a showing of “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” a Ghibli film about a young witch and her cat, the payroll numbers came in 86% below expectations and the dollar fell 1.2%. The following Monday, Japan’s benchmark index fell 0.7%.

“I always factor into my trading that when a Ghibli movie airs on a Friday, the dollar-yen market could get volatile,” says Yukio Nakamura, a senior manager at a French insurance company in Tokyo, who dabbles in foreign exchange on the side.

“I don’t watch Ghibli movies on TV myself, but I’m always checking the broadcast schedule as a kind of risk hedge.”

So it’s not just me! I’m not crazy, right? Now are you getting scared of Ghibli? Apparently some people who support the conspiracy have even thought that NTV is timing the broadcast deliberately to coincide with the bad news. Against this argument, a spokeswoman for NTV didn’t really mention a lot but said, “We decline to comment. Actually these questions do not merit commenting on.”

Do you believe that this Ghibli’s curse is all a setup? Personally, I want to believe it for fun, but there also is some reasoning behind why this might happen. The movies usually start at 9pm Japan time, on Friday where Japan’s market is already closed for the weekdays. The market in Europe still continues during the movie and the New York market opens afterward. Plus, Current Employment Statistics (CES) in the US is revealed at 9:30pm Japan time on the first Friday of every month. So, bad things tend to happen on Friday nights. Hence, I’d believe the curse more if it continued even if the movie spot changed from Friday to another weekday.

A Destructive Coincidence

This is not directly market related, but there is another mysterious phenomenon on Friday movie night related to Ghibli that I’d like to introduce you guys. It’s actually not for all Ghibli films but for “天空の城ラピュタ (tenkuu-no-shiro-Laputa/Laputa: Castle in the Sky)” and while it’s being aired, Japanese Netizens spam “バルス (barusu/Balus or Balse)!” on either 2-channel or twitter as many times as possible, for some reason.

‘Balus!’ is the magic spell of destruction, which Pazu and Sheeta cast at the climax of the movie. It’s said that spamming ‘Balus’ in sync during Laputa broadcast was started by 2-channelers in 2003.

According to the Twitter Japan official account, the word ‘Balus’ was tweeted 25,088 times-per-second at 11:22pm JST on December 9th, 2011 during the 13th Japanese television broadcast of Laputa. That established a new word record of the number of tweets per second.

However, this record was defeated easily by the 14th airing of Laputa on August 2, 2013. It’s almost like a festival event on the Internet. In order to let more people enjoy this event, ニコニコ動画 (Niko-Niko-Douga) and the Japanese SNS site Mixi launched special web pages for users to spam ‘Balus’ and even Yahoo Japan enabled a ‘Balus’ button on its top page.

And guess what? These all efforts caused 142,199 tweets per second, which is over five times more than the last record and four times more than the existing 2013 record of 33,388 “あけおめ” (akeome -abbreviation of akemashite-omedetou-gozaimasu / A Happy New Year) tweets, according to Twitter JP.

Is it just a coincidence that people tweet the name of the spell for destruction on such a “cursey” day? (Probably). Are you convinced that the Ghibli Curse is real? Me? Well…I am wondering if I am indeed, cursed…because I wrote this entry more slowly (のろい/noroi) than I usually do.

Did anyone get it? Yup, “curse” in Japanese is 呪い and pronounced “noroi” just like the word 鈍い which means “sluggish” or “slow.”

Even if you don’t believe in curses, I hope that you at least enjoyed reading about these Ghibli superstitions! If not, hopefully anyone can enjoy this “Nikkei” Choral Ensemble video doing Ghibli tunes, at the very least (because 日系 sounds like 日経!).

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

Facemelting claims yet another victim.

Like many others, I have my fair share of fond memories and nostalgia when it comes to the many works of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. So needless to say when I heard talk of an album consisting of reworks of the most popular Studio Ghibli tunes, I was a little bit more than excited. And then I found out that they were metal remixes. Guttural squealing, guitar shredding, double bass pounding, mosh-until-you’ve-lost-a-limb inducing death metal. Wait, what?

That’s right, Japan’s Media Factory has brought us 12 very famous tracks remixed by the likes of Blood Stain Child, Breach the Void, Destrage, Disarmonia Mundi, Living Corpse, and Neroargento. Skeptical yet? I too was like you once.

Nothing says metal quite like a flower princess

The collective project has been dubbed “Imaginary Flying Machines” after one of the many short films directed by Hayao Miyazaki and the album itself goes by the title “Princess Ghibli.” While some die-hard Ghibli purists may turn their noses up at this release, (Fie upon you! This album is awesome!) *ahem* the album has been receiving its fair share of warm reviews thus far.

The cover of (a cover of) Country Road was a bit strange if not unexpected, and at some points during the album things seem to get a bit… off, but for the most part the album is very solid. Then again, I am a fan of both melodic death metal and Studio Ghibli, so this album was more or less tailored directly to my interests. Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro) is definitely my favorite track the album has to offer. Never have I smiled so much while listening to metal.

Here are the tracks available on the album.

1. Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro)
2. Kimi Wo Nosete (Laputa: Castle in the Sky)
3. Teru No Uta (Tales from Earthsea)
4. Gake No Ue No Ponyo (Ponyo On The Cliff)
5. Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke)
6. Country Road (Whisper of the Heart)
7. Itsumo Nandodemo (Spirited Away)
8. Arrietty’s Song (Japanese version) (The Borrower Arrietty)
9. Yasashisa Ni Tsutsumaretanara (Kiki’s Delivery Service)
10. Toki niwa Mukashi no hanashio (Porco Rosso)
11. Sanpo (My Neighbor Totoro)
12. Nausicaä requiem (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)

However, if you have never seen a Studio Ghibli film, (shame on you!) then much of the hilarity and awesomeness will unfortunately be lost on you and it will definitely not be as enjoyable. If you absolutely cannot stand metal, screaming vocals, or pounding double bass, then chances are you will not enjoy this album. But regardless, if you’re a fan of Studio Ghibli, you owe it to yourself to at least check it out just to see what they’ve done with this release. And if you feel the need to watch all of your childhood favorites ten times over again to reaffirm to yourself that Totoro is indeed not a devil worshipping speed metal addict, then we understand.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfA9VA5u9kI']

You can actually purchase these in mp3 format, too. They’re available on Amazon as well as iTunes. Give them a little sample listen and tell us what you think!

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