Examples Of Shintoism In Spirited Away

Spirited Away uses the motif of food, which plays a crucial role in every transformation. The first transformation occurs when Chihiro’s parents devour the food they find in an empty park. Because the spirits perceived them as greedy consumers without appreciation, they transform the two consumers into pigs – a possible source of food themselves. The intemperate consumption of food resulted in a negative transformation, which began the plot for Chihiro to rescue her parents. The negative consequences from excessive consumption are also seen through the character No-Face, a spirit that eats others to gain their identities. The ‘consumption’ of others is the result from ‘greed’ for their identities. When Sen refuses No-Face’s gold, it chases after her, constantly vomiting spirits it has eaten. After it returns to its original self, it eats a cake and realizes that it could have companionship without having to eat …show more content…
Discuss one of the social or cultural values reflected in the film. Explain how the film represents the value through its narrative, characters, or other elements.

A cultural value reflected in Spirited Away is Shinto belief, an ethnic religion of Japan that practices the belief of the connection between nature and humanity. One of the key rules of Shintoism is that one should not destruct the environment. Two characters in the film successfully represent such value. The first is the stink spirit that arrives at the bathhouse for a wash. The staff at first attempts to drive the creature away but fails. Chihiro discovers something sticking from the side of the creature and pulls it, eventually realizing that the creature is not a monster but a river spirit who was contaminated by the human pollution of his river. After he was fully cleansed, he was freed as a dragon. The river spirit represents two values of Shintoism: that human pollution causes harm on nature, and that such negative damages on the environment can be repaired with human