The Bathhouse of the Gods: Spirited Away and Japans Religious Traditions

Table Of Content

• The characters' names reflect who they are
• Indulge a Bit in Shima Onsen with the Private Bath “Seki” and “Zen”
• “Genroku-no-Yu” – Experience the Showa-era’s early days of therapeutic bathing.
• You can visit the setting for Spirited Away in real life
• Which one would you like to stay in? The unique charms of “Honkan”, “Sanso”, and “Kamatseitei”

You can get there by walking up a series of stone steps located directly north-east of Dōgo Park. 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.

The characters' names reflect who they are

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. 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. The spirits in the film ate tons of food (you know that from Fiona's post about the foods of Spirited Away).

Indulge a Bit in Shima Onsen with the Private Bath “Seki” and “Zen”

While one polluted river spirit cleansed by Chihiro is apparently quite important, others are quite ordinary, despite being gods, and most travel in groups. Chihiro (千尋) becomes Sen (千) when Yubaba, who runs the bathhouse in the story, takes one character of her name and gains control over the girl. But no one is an island, and the creative teams at Ghibli have frequently looked to real-world locations to give them the juice they need to conjure up such incredible realms. If you're planning a trip to this part of Japan, check out some of the other beautiful hot spring areas too!

“Genroku-no-Yu” – Experience the Showa-era’s early days of therapeutic bathing.

The Japanese Folklore That Inspired Spirited Away - Screen Rant

The Japanese Folklore That Inspired Spirited Away.

Posted: Sun, 05 Mar 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The change of locale affects not just heroine Kiki but also the audience – we are outsiders in a new place, beautiful but also foreign, and we are discovering it in tandem with the film’s protagonist. Within the museum's perimeters lie Kodakara Yu, a Japanese bathhouse called Kagiya, a uniquely designed bar; and a stationery store called Takei Sanshodo. All of these buildings were important sources of inspiration for the Spirited Away bathhouse.

She returns to realize that a "Stink Spirit" is trying to walk into the bathhouse during the rain and orders her workers to chase the spirit away. Realizing later that the guest is in fact not a Stink Spirit, she orders Chihiro to serve him. After Chihiro successfully removed large amounts of junk and debris from the spirit, Yubaba hugged her in happiness, revealing that the dirty spirit was actually a River Spirit, and a very wealthy and powerful figure in the Spirit Realm. Shikoku’s biggest city is also one of the island’s most interesting places to visit, as it features an unusual mixture of historic sites and wacky newer attractions.

You can visit the setting for Spirited Away in real life

The River Spirit is a supporting character in the movie, and Chihiro is in charge of taking care of him. At first, Yubaba thinks the River Spirit is a Stink Spirit because of the nauseating stench coming from the shapeless, sludge body that enters the Bathhouse. However, after removing a bike from the spirit's body and draining the spirit of all the junk, it's revealed that the spirit was a River Spirit who was wealthy. The River Spirit is a significant character in the movie because, in a way, he helps Chihiro grow as a character and he gives her special medicine that helps No-Face and Haku later in the movie.

Spirited Away has the Japanese but somewhat other-worldy thing going for it due to the other-worldliness of it. In the second half of the film, No-Face scatters counterfeit gold that emerges from his hands, eats gluttonously, and acts without restraint. Then he transforms into a disproportioned and uncanny creature, like a spider or tick, with a tiny head on a giant body. In Japan, however, the gods have long maintained their connection with the natural world. The fact that kami are counted using the word hashira (pillar) conveys an association of being rooted to the ground.

Next to the traditional Japanese-style room, there’s a space where you can relax in chairs. The window is wide, allowing you to bathe as if you’re one with nature. The easiest way to get from the city centre to the Dogo Onsen Neighbourhood is Matsuyama’s Iyotetsu Tram Network. To get to the Matsuyama Kankoko Ferry Port, you can use the Shuttle Bus Service by the same company. The Takashimaya Department Store south of the castle sets itself apart from the surrounding buildings by the huge blue Ferris Wheel on its roof. Taking a ride is certainly one of the most fun ways to survey Matsuyama from above and offers awesome views of the castle and the surrounding area in all directions.

Connect with Japan through tsunagu Japan

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. However, when they leave the tunnel, the wall has changed to look completely different from when they went in, overgrown with vegetation, while their car is covered in dust and leaves. Some considerable time may have passed, and if so, one worries whether Chihiro and her family have really returned to where they came from. Around three days and two nights pass for Chihiro from when her father takes the wrong road until she comes back to our world, but for her parents, it is an extremely short time. They do not even remember eating the gods’ food without permission and being transformed into pigs.

They are numbered in a special manner that incorporates use of the words "天", literally meaning "heaven" and "地", literally meaning "ground". There are working, one-way elevators that travel to some of the floors if not all the floors by the pull of a lever. The Bathhouse (油屋, Aburaya) is the main location of the Studio Ghibli film, Spirited Away.

One the third floor is a rest space where visitors can eat or take a nap. The agricultural lifestyle of Yamagata prefecture is represented through the film’s unique soundtrack, which makes use of Romanian folk songs. Throughout Only Yesterday, Takahata’s reverence for the earnest beauty of farm life is shown through the film’s bright, beautiful animation. The main building offers private hot spring baths where you can enjoy having the onsen all to yourself.

Ignoring warnings that Miyazaki hated computer animation, Lasseter showed the filmmaker Luxo Jr. and Red’s Dream. It was made by a Japanese Twitter user who goes by the name of @Sorakio. They constructed the model entirely by hand using commercially available plastic as well as parts from plastic warship models. The artist’s work has been viewed almost 400k times since it was recently shared online, and we’re really not surprised, because their awesomely intricate model is nothing short of stunning.

In the Onbashira Festival at the Suwa Shrine complex in Nagano Prefecture, which is said to be one of Japan’s oldest such sites, sixteen huge pillars are dragged to and raised at the corners of the four shrines. In the Old Testament, when Moses brings the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai, there is thunder and lightning. 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. 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 is one example showing that trees have been revered for their divine nature. When Buddhism spread to Japan from continental Asia, the first statues of the Buddha were made from camphor trees, which were considered the most sacred of trees. In Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro, the titular creature lives in a camphor tree, and may possibly be its spirit. The lost family first encounters an old Japanese cedar (sugi) stretching upward with a torii gate built in front of it, and stone hokora, “houses for the guardian spirits,” piled up beneath it.

Kanaguya’s hot spring water comes from 4 different sources, and you can choose from 3 common bath areas and 5 reserved baths. The hot spring water here contains a high concentration of iron, which is effective in moisturizing the skin. With arched windows, cypress decor, and other interesting elements, this unique age-old hotel can bring you back in time.