Supernaturalism
The major themes of Spirited Away, heavily influenced by Japanese Shinto-Buddhist folklore, centre on the protagonist, Chihiro, and her liminal journey through the realm of spirits. The central location of the film is a Japanese bathhouse where a great variety of Japanese folklore creatures, including kami, come to bathe. Miyazaki cites the solstice rituals when villagers call forth their local kami and invite them into their baths.[7] Chihiro also encounters kami of animals and plants. Miyazaki says of this:
In my grandparents' time, it was believed that kami existed everywhere – in trees, rivers, insects, wells, anything. My generation does not believe this, but I like the idea that we should all treasure everything because spirits might exist there, and we should treasure everything because there is a kind of life to everything.[7]
Chihiro's archetypal entrance into another world demarcates her status as one somewhere between child and adult. Chihiro also stands outside societal boundaries in the supernatural setting. The use of the word kamikakushi (literally 'hidden by gods') within the Japanese title, and its associated folklore, reinforces this liminal passage: "Kamikakushi is a verdict of 'social death' in this world, and coming back to this world from Kamikakushi meant 'social resurrection.'"[33]
Additional themes are expressed through No-Face, who reflects the characters who surround him, learning by example and taking the traits of whomever he consumes. This nature results in No-Face's monstrous rampage through the bathhouse. After Chihiro saves No-Face with the emetic dumpling, he becomes timid once more. At the end of the film, Zeniba decides to take care of No-Face so he can develop without the negative influence of the bathhouse.[34]
Fantasy
The film has been compared to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, as the stories are set in fantasy worlds, involve disturbances in logic and stability, and there are motifs such as food having metamorphic qualities; though other developments and themes are not shared.[35][36][37] Among other stories compared to Spirited Away, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is seen to be more closely linked thematically.[36]
Yubaba has many similarities to the Coachman from the 1940 film Pinocchio, in the sense that she mutates humans into pigs in a similar way that the boys of Pleasure Island were mutated into donkeys. Upon gaining employment at the bathhouse, Yubaba's seizure of Chihiro's true name symbolically kills the child,[38] who must then assume adulthood. She then undergoes a rite of passage according to the monomyth format; to recover continuity with her past, Chihiro must create a new identity.[38]
Traditional Japanese culture
Spirited Away contains critical commentary on modern Japanese society concerning generational conflicts and environmental issues.[39] Chihiro has been seen as a representation of the shōjo, whose roles and ideology had changed dramatically since post-war Japan.[39] Just as Chihiro seeks her past identity, Japan, in its anxiety over the economic downturn occurring during the release of the film in 2001, sought to reconnect to past values.[38] In an interview, Miyazaki has commented on this nostalgic element for an old Japan.[40]
Japanese philosophy plays a huge role in Spirited Away, specifically through concepts like Kami and principles like Mottainai and On.[41] The concept of Kami, for instance, involves various spirits that each represent different elements and aspects of nature. The principle of Mottainai, which is deeply ingrained in Japanese culture, embodies a sense of regret towards waste, valuing the complete utilization of an object or resource. While the principle of On, a key tenet of Japanese ethics that signifies a sense of moral indebtedness, plays a significant role in Chihiro's character development.
Western consumerism
Similar to the Japanese concept of On, the film can be partly understood as an exploration of the effect of greediness and Western consumerism on traditional Japanese culture.[42] For instance, Yubaba is stylistically unique within the bathhouse, wearing a Western dress and living among European décor and furnishings, in contrast with the minimalist Japanese style of her employees' quarters, representing the Western capitalist influence over Japan in its Meiji period and beyond. Along with its function within the ostensible coming of age theme, Yubaba's act of taking Chihiro's name and replacing it with Sen (an alternate reading of chi, the first character in Chihiro's name, lit. 'one thousand') can be thought of as symbolic of capitalism's single-minded concern with value.[39]
The film's setting encapsulates Miyazaki's commentary on modern Japanese values and the erosion of cultural heritage. The bathhouse, situated within an abandoned theme park, symbolizes Japan's distorted cultural identity. This once-traditional locale is marred by neon signs and Westernization, exemplifying cultural degradation. Early scenes highlight economic concerns and consumerism. The film's visuals underscore the commercialization of Japanese culture. The failed theme park serves as a metaphor for the unsuccessful fusion of ideologies. The Meiji design of the park is the setting for Chihiro's parents' metamorphosis – the family arrives in an imported Audi car and the father wears a European-styled polo shirt, reassuring Chihiro that he has "credit cards and cash", before morphing into literal consumerist pigs because of their bad habits.[43] Miyazaki has stated:
Chihiro's parents turning into pigs symbolizes how some humans become greedy. At the very moment Chihiro says there is something odd about this town, her parents turn into pigs. There were people that "turned into pigs" during Japan's bubble economy (consumer society) of the 1980s, and these people still haven't realized they've become pigs. Once someone becomes a pig, they don't return to being human but instead gradually start to have the "body and soul of a pig". These people are the ones saying, "We are in a recession and don't have enough to eat." This doesn't just apply to the fantasy world. Perhaps this isn't a coincidence and the food is actually (an analogy for) "a trap to catch lost humans".[42]
The bathhouse of the spirits cannot be seen as a place free of ambiguity and darkness.[44] Many of the employees are rude to Chihiro because she is human, and corruption is ever-present;[39] it is a place of excess and greed, as depicted in the initial appearance of No-Face.[45] In stark contrast to the simplicity of Chihiro's journey and transformation is the constantly chaotic carnival in the background.[39]
Environmentalism
Commentators have often referred to environmental themes in the films of Miyazaki. In Spirited Away, two major instances of allusions to environmental issues have been noted. Pam Coats, for example, a Vice President of Walt Disney Feature Animation, describes Chihiro dealing with the "stink spirit", who, it turns out, is actually a river spirit but is so corrupted with filth that one can't tell what it is at first glance. It only becomes clean again when Chihiro pulls out a huge amount of trash, including car tires, garbage, and a bicycle. This alludes to human pollution of the environment, and how people can carelessly toss away things without thinking of the consequences and of where the trash will go.[46]
The second allusion is seen in Haku himself. Haku does not remember his name and lost his past, which is why he is stuck at the bathhouse. Eventually, Chihiro remembers that he used to be the spirit of the Kohaku River, which was destroyed and replaced with apartments. Because of humans' need for development, they destroyed a part of nature, causing Haku to lose his home and identity. This can be compared to deforestation and desertification; humans tear down nature, cause imbalance in the ecosystem, and demolish animals' homes to satisfy their want for more space (housing, malls, stores, etc.) but do not think about how it can affect other living things.[47][48]
