The Environmental Themes and Messages of Hayao Miyazaki in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Spirited Away
The way the planet’s youth is being educated has been completely revolutionised since the invention of print media and more recently the beginning of the digital age. The world’s inhabitants, particularly younger generations, now have a wider range and more freely reachable access to information and education than ever before. Hayao Miyazaki has attempted, through his own work with Anime (Japanese Animated Television/Movies) to teach his wider audience the importance of environmental preservation and consumption habits, in order to help the world become a more sustainable place.
Born in January of 1941, Miyazaki grew up during one of the most historically significant and tumultuous times in Japanese history, witnessing the effects of World War 2 during and after its occurrence, first hand. From a young age, Miyazaki was exposed to the extremes of human consumption and destruction which could be argued as one of the major influences on his own productions Early in life, he had aspired to become a manga artist, heavily influenced by the works of Tetsuji Fukushima, Soji Yamakawa and Osamu Tezuka (manga artists during his childhood). He would eventually go on to graduate from Gakushuin University in 1963, with degrees in political science and economics. Miyazaki’s chosen courses at university again showed his more human and compassionate side, as it can be argued he chose his disciplines in a manner as to benefit those around him and the planet by being a better leader in his fields than those before him had been. Shortly after graduation, Miyazaki began work for Toei Animation. According to Miyazaki ,’the Japanese people have a strong tradition of telling stories of politics,economy, religions, arts, wars, and other human affairs using Emaki (a method of telling a story with a combination of paintings and words) to portray events such as those during the Heian Period (794–1192) and the Kamakura Period (1192–1333)’ (Miyazaki, 1996). Miyazaki is clearly a follower of the Emaki tradition and has used this devotion to his craft to attempt to influence past and current youth into a larger level of responsibility, and respect for themselves, others and the planet as a whole.
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Based on a manga created by Miyazaki himself, Nausicaa of the Valley of the wind is widely regarded as masterpiece in both the Eastern and Western world and is also one of Miyazaki’s earliest films. It is Miyazaki’s first film with the central theme being one of environmental protection and conservation and also an anti-war sentiment. Like much of Miyazaki’s other work, the main character is a strong woman who is tasked with completing an ancient prophecy to essentially end all violence, “by tying the strings of the earth together”. An excerpt from one of Miyazaki’s books explains the thought and origins of the character in his own words. “When I encountered Nausicaa in the book by Bernard Evslin (Gods, Demigods, and Demons: An Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology), I recalled another heroine, Mushimezuru Princess who is a princess that appeared in Tsutsumi Chunagon Monogatari (ten short stories edited in the Heian Period). Mushimezuru literally means deep respect and affection to insects. Unlike other princesses in that period, this princess did not cut brows and did not paint her teeth black. I continued to wonder how she lived after this story? In my mind these two princesses, Nausicaa and Mushimezuru Princess, became fused into one lady and created the story. I feel that there is something inside myself that can be called animism rather than religion. In fact, Nausicaa herself in this movie is governed by a sort of animism” (Miyazaki, 1996). The setting of the film is 1000 years after an apocalyptic war, named ‘the Seven Days of Fire”, which destroyed civilization and created the ‘Sea of Decay’, a toxic and poisonous jungle, filled with mutant insects. The main protagonist Nausicaa, travels the jungle, in an attempt to understand the jungle in hope that someday humans may co-exist with it. Nausicaa seems to understand the importance of co-habitation, eventually manages to convince people to understand and respect nature.
The themes seen in Nausicaa of the valley of the wind are themes which Miyazaki would continue to portray in his later works, in an attempt to convince the world the importance of peace, co-habitation, waste and consumption.
Spirited Away (2001)
Spirited away is the most widely known Miyazaki film, not only in Japan but in the rest of world, particularly North America and Europe. It is an incredibly well animated and colourful film, with a level of fantasy comparable to that of Alice in Wonderland and many Walt Disney Films.
Travelling to their new home, a family featuring the main protagonist (a little girl named Chihiro) take an unfortunate detour at an old amusement park, which Miyazaki uses to introduce subtle ecological effects of human construction. She is eventually separated from her parents who are turned into pigs after eating food that was not intended for them. This touches on Miyazaki’s themes of consumption, in this scenario the direct consequences of consumption on all parties. As night falls Chihiro and the spirits of the amusement park arrive, Chihiro must seek employment in the Bath House boiler room, but instead finds work as a bath assistant, after losing her name to the evil witch Yubaba, who gives her the new name ‘San’. As the film progresses it becomes apparent that Chihiro must produce traits she may not have before while performing a sort-of coming of age in an effort to rescue her parents and turn them back into humans. During the film Miyazaki introduces a theme not often seen in his other films, the love and effect of the material object. In the film, ‘No Face’ a lost spirit appears and begins luring and devouring the inhabitants of the bathhouse by using animated gold, eventually destroying the entire bath house. The people of the bath house pay special attention to the wealthy as seen earlier during the bathing of the stink spirit who pays Chihiro in multitudes of gold for cleaning it and the residents all flock to gain a share. This theme of materialism is used to show how behaving and flocking towards the material is not important in the long run, and can often be seen as non-beneficial to the user. No face learns this lesson after Chihiro rejects his offers of gold, in total contrast to everybody else in the bath house, instead focussed on helping her friend Haku by visiting Yubaba’s sister, Zaneba, to break the curse that has been put on Haku. No face learns that true happiness is not material, when he is taught how to knit by Zaneba.
Eventually, Chihiro is able to escape the bath house with her parents turned back into humans and completely oblivious to everything that has happened. They return to a dusty and windswept car and drive off into their future. The end of the film leaves viewers confused about what is real and what isn’t due to the reaction of Chihiro’s parents, but whatever the answer may be, Miyazaki had once again created a character that undergone a coming of age and growth in maturity that had the best interests of those around her at heart.
This is the formula that Miyazaki used for many of his protagonists, with strong young females leading the way in saving the day in most of his films. He argued that the innocence of such characters always brought the right emotions out of viewers, as socially and in other pop culture, these types of characters would not usually be the ones to save the day.
Miyazaki, throughout his decades of film making, has touched the minds of many generations of adults and children, in teaching them important lessons about peace, consumption, materialism and ecological preservation. Originally this effect was only felt in Japan but has grown and spread through the Western world for many years now. By creating characters that people could relate to Miyazaki made it easier for humans to look at problems that often too confronting to face head on. He also achieved this by using the fantasy worlds his stories were often based in. By removing the user from the present world and forcing them to see the consequences of their actions in other worlds, he managed to evoke feelings that some people may not find possible in their own lives. Miyazaki’s work has become iconic in its own right, by shining light on some of the tough to face issues in a fantasy world, viewers are able to confront them in a different way and choose to apply them to themselves and their lives as they feel fit and feel necessary. The work of Miyazaki has and will remain popular far into the future with current generations and the many generations to follow. The hope is that the lessons he has tried to convey, are listened to and followed far into the future.
References
- Miyazaki, H., 1996. The Starting Point (1979–1996) (in Japanese).Tokuma Shoten, Tokyo.
- Martiniez-Alier, J., 2003. The Environmentalism of the Poor: AStudy of Ecological Conflicts and Valuation. Edward Elgar Publishing, Chelthenham, UK
- Miyazaki, H., 2002. The Returning Point of Wind: From Nausicaato Spirited Away (in Japanese). Rocking On, Tokyo.
