Spirited Away: Yubaba is a Capitalistic Girlboss and other Fun Facts
Hayao Miyazaki. A critically acclaimed director, animator, producer, screenwriter, author, manga artist as well as co-founder of the now iconic Studio Ghibli. Under his direction the studio has gone on to achieve numerous accolades for their movies. One such work that has gone on to win an Oscar for Best Animated Feature is Miyazaki’s 2001 release, Spirited Away. One reason why this film still manages to captivate audiences is due to its magical, timeless feel and its continued relevance with the real world.
This children’s movie combines delightful imagery and characters with its unique and riveting plot. However it would be an insult to confine this masterpiece to the under-10s genre. Miyazaki’s use of subtle but mature themes, attention to detail and thought-provoking graphics pack a much deeper punch. This article will be focusing specifically on how Spirited Away makes use of Japan’s rich mythology and folklore to comment on the effects of westernization, capitalism and imperialism and how that has shaped the Japan of today.
Yubaba & Zeniba, Capitalism and the Westernization of Japan
Yubaba is Spirited Away’s out and out “villain” and is portrayed as a ridiculously proportioned elderly woman. (Le) Her supernatural powers as well as her appearance remind many scholars of the “Yamauba”, a mountain-witch believed to have used her powers to trap, kill and eventually dine on her victims. Yamauba was also known for being surprisingly, incredibly maternal and protective over her children. (Reider) And fortunately, these ruthless and intense traits are focused into caring for her scarily large son Boh as well as making a profit from her bathhouse.
In examining the structure of the bathhouse (the primary location for most of the movie), it’s important to note the irony surrounding its origins compared to what it is used for in the film. Onsen’s (traditional Japanese bathhouses) arose due to Japan’s naturally occurring hot springs, which were believed to be a miracle of nature in the Shinto religion.
Bathhouses were built as a way for the Japanese to cleanse themselves, both spiritually and physically. (Le) We see Yubaba use the bathhouse as a profitable enterprise to make money from spirits. (Le) Leaps and bounds away from its humble origins and intended pure purpose. A subtle comment on how western, capitalistic values have embedded themselves so much into modern Japan’s everyday culture.
Not only that but it soon becomes clear that this capitalistic business tycoon is intent on controlling her bathhouse employees as much as possible. By stealing parts of their names, Yubaba entraps them within the bathhouse. To understand the significance of this one must understand the importance of names and words in Japanese folklore. Yubaba’s name directly translates into “hot-water witch”, characteristic of who she is as an individual. Her urban-legend inspiration, Yamauba, directly translates to “mountain witch”. There is also a scene in the movie where Chihiro, upon realising that she’s unable to escape the spirit world, sinks down, muttering “disappear, disappear”. At those words her physical form begins to fade. Of course this is partly due to the fact that Chihiro, a human, simply isn’t meant to exist in the spirit world; however, I also believe that Miyazaki used this moment to imply the power of words, especially in the spirit realm.
Dressed in a distinctive Victorian dress; (Le) her hooked nose and bigger eyes assimilate Yubaba to a woman of western descent. This is an interesting portrayal as commonly in anime, characters are drawn to look ethnically ambiguous. So by stealing a part of their names, Yubaba is also stealing a part of their identity, part of what makes that person who they are.
This moment could signify how western powers (Yubaba) are gradually influencing Japan (Chihiro) into disregarding its heritage and culture in favour of imported western goods and practices. Her lavishly furnished Western-styled apartment sharply contrasts her employees’ sleeping quarters, cramped into smaller Japanese styled rooms, and donning traditional servant garments.
(Le) The significance of this characteristically Western-looking person in charge of this Japanese bathhouse is also emblematic of the power Western nations had over Japan. Especially during the Meiji Restoration Era (1868–1912), where the education, governmental and military sectors were reformed completely after western models. (Schauwecker)
The capitalization of this traditional bathhouse doesn’t stop at Yubaba but perpetrates throughout the rest of the bathhouse. The audience gets to see this clearly through the differences between Chihiro and the rest of the bathhouse staff. Chihiro has one main goal throughout this movie: the desire to save her parents. This nobility is a trait not seen in the rest of the bathhouse workforce, who are easily motivated and swayed by the presence of money. They worship, celebrate and cavort in-front of No Face because of his perceived wealth and their own greed, a capitalist byproduct.
However, this also happens to be their downfall. In their attempts to collect more gold they get eaten by No Face in the process. An indicator of the dangerous allure of money. Chihiro, on the other hand, accepts tokens, money and help on a need-to-have basis and then only takes what she needs, because ultimately her goal isn’t rooted in wanting more. An issue directly related to today’s issues of overconsumption and gluttony. In the movie, Chihiro is rewarded for her integrity, freeing her parents and Haku in the end. Miyazaki’s message is obvious: don’t be superficial.
However, in this modern age and as we grow up it becomes increasingly harder to do so. This struggle is portrayed in Spirited Away through their employees. They are all, although spirits, appear physically older than Chihiro; the frogs sport moustaches and the women are taller and wear makeup. These employees are the very ones that prize money and wealth above all else. Miyazaki’s intention could have been to portray how progressively difficult it is to break out of Japan’s capitalistic society as one grows older.
The audience does note someone’s desire to leave this materialistic life behind through Lin, one of the bathhouse employees and a friend of Chihiro’s. She is quoted, saying “I’ve gotta get out of this place. Someday I’m getting on that train”. However, her words sound as if they lack conviction, as if she knows that she too, like almost everyone at the bathhouse, is trapped here forever. This goes to show that without any direct action, nothing will ever change. Despite her desire to leave this artificial and money-oriented work environment behind, money still continues to be her motivating factor.
Chihiro, on the other hand, is protected by her youth and naivete as well as her lack of awareness about the grown-up world and their dependency on money and wealth for survival. But the same cannot be said by these possibly hundred-year-old spirits.
So is it then true that this vicious cycle cannot be broken? Everyone eventually will age and join some kind of work-force, whether that be through employment or a corporate 9–5. Where, when and how will this harmful pattern be broken? However, in intentionally making the movie’s main character an adolescent, Miyazaki may also be optimistically implying that the youth of Japan will hopefully be the generation to finally break-through this toxic cycle.
This is not to say that Miyazaki is an anti-Western extremist. He realises that Japan will never be what it once was and uses the character of Zeniba to portray the balance between Japanese and Western powers. Zeniba, Yubaba’s twin sister and who is only shown near the ending of Spirited Away, is Yubaba’s perfect antithesis.
Although they both adopt western dress and aesthetics for their homes, that is where their similarities end. Zeniba, inhabitant of Swamp Bottom, lives a much simpler, pastoral life than her extravagant sibling. Her cottage and humble location hints at traditional rural Japan, long before its economic boom.
Zeniba appears to have found a perfect middle ground between accommodating both traditional and modern values. She enjoys her western aesthetics in her style of dress and house decorations but also retains strong Japanese values, like community, humility and simple living.
Tsuchigumo and Soot-balls
“I am Kamaji, slave to the boilers that heat the baths” words gruffly uttered by a now beloved character of the Studio Ghibli franchise that many suspect to be inspired by the mythical tsuchigumo.
A monster, dating back to Early Japan (till 710 AD) and one that was allegedly rumoured to have the head of a demon, spiders’ limbs, the trunk of a tiger and a habit of devouring the heads of hikers on mountain trails. Over time, this term, which directly translates into “Earth Spider” evolved into a derogatory insult for the aboriginals of Japan — or “Yamato”, renegade clans who weren’t in support of the emperor and must therefore be exterminated.
Tsuchigumo were said to have been short in stature, reside mostly in caves (hence, the “pit dwellers” stereotype) and instead of traditional farming would mostly hunt and gather all their own food. This was supposedly the reason for much of the discrimination and disdain against them.
(Japanese-English Bilingual Corpus of Wikipedia’s Kyoto Articles) Tsuchigumo were widely considered an enemy of the central government and were decreed to be extinguished. They were either brutally murdered or had to prostrate before their perpetrators, begging for forgiveness and promising gifts in exchange for their lives. It is only in later texts are they presented as victims of the government rather than as an evil force. (Reider)
Personally, I believe that Miyazaki presents Kamaji as a sympathetic figure, and a victim of Yubaba’s capitalistic enterprise. This, of course, connects to bigger intentions of displaying tsuchigumo as victims of imperialist forces rather than the olden assumed role of perpetrators.
Kamaji sports six long limbs as well as two normal length legs, which only serves to emphasize his spider-like appearance. His likeness to a tsuchigumo is only deepened as he resides in the boiler-room, reminiscent of their own pit dwellings, designed with little luxuries and for maximum efficiency.
He is gruff and coarse but is ultimately presented as kind-hearted and hardworking. He seems to be a mixture of the two types of tsuchigumo in Japan’s past: although he doesn’t oppose Yubaba who is obviously the main villain in this story he often defies her and her rule. (Reider) Instead of turning Chihiro into Yubaba or the bathhouse employees to be eaten, he lies in order to protect her. He also bestows his long-cherished train ticket as well as advice on how to find Zeniba’s cottage to Chihiro.
This train ticket in question is “40-years old”, perhaps implying a secret desire to leave the bathhouse. (Reider) When he gives away this train ticket, he is perhaps also sacrificing his potential freedom and trapping him forever in this bathhouse, a depressing fate. This of course, relates to tsuchigumo of Japan’s past, and although never proven, is very likely that they too shared a similar desire for escape from the all-encompassing rule of the emperor as well as all those who hated them.
Accompanying Kamaji are his soot-balls. These adorably animated spider-looking balls of soot cannot stop working otherwise they will disintegrate and cease to exist, according to their curse. This of course addresses the wider problem of citizens being deemed worthless if they stop working or can no longer add value to their economy. Their abundance, easily replaceable nature and identical appearances symbolize the Japanese workforce. (Jaich) Many believe that Miyazaki wanted to criticize the cold manner in which employees are treated merely as objects to gain profit rather than as actual people.
The way in which Kamaji utilizes and treats these soot-balls is worryingly indicative of the easily abused and replaced employees in modern society. Kamaji is not an evil man. The nature of his never ceasing job causes him to be irritable towards his soot-balls, which to him are meaningless puffs of smoke. It is also interesting to note that the soot-balls boss, Kamaji, is also a subordinate of Yubaba, the head of the onsen (bathhouse).
Miyazaki could have structured this hierarchy this way to imply the expansion of capitalism. Kamaji, in the grand scheme of the bathhouse, is only a supplier of hot water and herbal baths. The blame cannot be solely placed on him because he’s not the one setting these exhaustive work conditions to begin with. Exploitation of employees doesn’t simply stem from one person but may have several moving parts from higher up. We can then conclude that it may be difficult to solve these exploitative work issues when there is no real idea of who is in power.
Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away remains, to this day, one of his best and most powerful works and is widely considered to be a modern masterpiece. And if only to gaze upon it’s stunning and breathtaking visuals, it should be a movie on everyone’s “to-watch” list. As it is, Spirited Away serves as a very necessary and multifaceted piece of art in today’s contemporary society.
By: Eirene Chiam
