Miyazakis Animations and the Japanese Culture - Essay Example

Across the world, social culture plays a role of layinga basis that facilitates behavior among the populace. The culture embodied by the Japanese society has strong connections with various gender roles1. Contextually, the Japanese inhabitants seem to change the gender roles of men and women in the contemporary era2. The past decades have established a extraordinary change concerning modernization due to significant influences that emanate from technology and culture consequentially changing the expectations of gender and gender roles in the society. In perspective, Japan had a fair and justifiable matriarchal system in the society until the Confucian ideas from China became the center stage. Further, the Confucian ideas define Japanese Society and its culture till the completion of World War II. Concisely, Confucian categorized structures illustrated a situation whereby men dominated, a case that shifted the gender roles toward the patriarchal system. In essence, both women and men shared expectations regarding the Confucian system that is courage and loyalty. During the 1920 and 1930s, Japan had a significant expansion of the modern institutions where media culture emerged. It is in the 1930s that the visual media also known as the field of Manga observed a fall and success of the proletarian movement. The cartoonists helped in the propagation their ideologies using Manga.3 Therefore, this essay analyses Kiki’s Delivery Service to realize the changing and diversity of the Japanese culture besides the technological development; especially the altering of women’s social position, Miyazaki’s personal psyche and his psyche as an animator. Hayao Miyazaki’s experience in the animation industry Hayao Miyazaki is a renowned animator and director in Japan whose entertaining characters, plots, and awe-inspiring animations has received success from varied critics and public recognition in the global context. Born on 5th 1941 in Japan, Hayao Miyazaki started his professional career back in 1963 in Toei Douga as an animator and brought about significant contributions to the Japanese animation early classics. He has director numerous films, over 100 pieces of work including The Castle of Cagliostro. In many incidences, his themes revolve around technology, feminism, and relationships that exist between humans and nature. Moreover, Miyazaki has received praises due to his concerning and placement of the female experiences at the center stage of hi rich imaginative world4. At the start of his career it was not easy to point out whether Miyazaki could become a famous animator; however, his animation works have a substantial influence regarding the Japanese culture. In this memoir, there is an elucidation of how Miyazaki started his successful journey and how he became a renowned animator in Japan and across the world. The book, Kiki’s Delivery Service, explicates the challenges faced by Miyazaki in the animation industry in Japan. They encompassed the dislikes of his vision alongside the attempts made to kill his vision and inventiveness in initial stages of his career5. In his understanding, Miyazaki defines animation as anything that he wants to create. He adds that if the idea is not something he wishes to create, then it is not animation.6 In his viewpoint, Miyazaki thinks that all individuals enjoy watching animations because it can satisfy expectations in the future and those set in the past. In this context, Miyazaki is fond of asking himself the reasons for creating various animations, what is he doing the work for, and whether he is just animating to make a living. He asserts that, to become an animator it is not getting a matter of the technology, but having a good topic that can draw a scenery from the heart, stimulate ideas, and feelings through animation7. The plot of Kiki’s Delivery Services illustrates a period when there poverty and wealth coexisted in the Japanese society. Mainstream of the population listened to music despite that only a few could touch them. A considerable number of the fans watched comics in spite of the fact that it happened only at leisure or dinner time. For these populace, comics is a book that can be abandoned8. Miyazaki’s personal psyche and its effects on his career As depicted in the Japanese cultural context, most stories written by Miyazaki have bedrocks of folk religiosity or the animistic-shamanistic complex indicated by a tension between Kami and those that need reverence and thanks. In his films, Miyazaki blurs the line occurring between the Kami and the other spirits. At its verge, Miyazaki’s sympathies leaned towards the San and Kami where Eboshi seems to be fair and benevolent ruler who helps lepers and prostitutes shunned by the normal society. He acknowledges that there are divisions even among the world dogs and the wolves display a taste for blood. The various works of Miyazaki portray him as a wide-reaching director who has vast experience in animation. He captures diverse aspects of spirits and humans bringing aboard the differences enhanced by their variations. For instance, he demonstrates the divisions that exist between the Kami and other spirits alongside the wild animals. In his entirety, Miyazaki portrays a situation where Prince Ashitaka attempted to strike a balance between desires and needs of these figures. Notwithstanding, harmony receives value over and above the aspect of justice. When Miyazaki met Spirited Away and Mononoke, his earlier disavowal regarding religious influence concerning films had faded away. However, these two works represented the re-envision of various core elements that embody the Japanese religiosity. Content of Kiki’s Delivery Service Kiki’s Delivery Service has its foundation on Eiko Kadono’s famous novel written in 1985. The titular protagonist Kiki emerges as a 13-year-old witch that follows tradition and sets off to locate a town to live and work for a year.9 Kiki, in the novel, encounters a myriad of adventures and challenges where she overcomes them before going back home to meet her parents. Pertinent to the film, Kiki undergoes an extensive development in her character and learns how to see good in all people even herself. Afterward, Kiki loses her magic powers and self-confidence depicted to fly and understand the cat familiar, Jiji. As the film progresses, the pressure to rescue her friend permits her to regain the flight ability though she is mature enough to use Jiji. The Disney version of 1977 is different. For instance, Kiki can lastly speak using Jiji and there is an emphasis on the small adventures leading to a loss of a large-scale arc of developments In this context, Miyazaki’s films do not provide a gaze through which women become objects, but rather as creators and artists with their right. Kiki’s Delivery Service characterizes two female protagonists who revise and express their artistry through different persons. Kiki was a trainee witch at the start of the film, and she had to develop other varied skills to be part of the community. As the movie ends, Kiki can fly over the countryside. The situation shows a clear indication of how Miyazaki picks a character and develops it through imaginary fusion embedded in his film. The contexts of social and artistic nature bring Kiki to life and portrays her as a woman of character. Background Japan has depictions as a matriarchal society before the Chinese Confucian ideologies set in from Korea and China.10 In the early Japanese society, women had prominence and held positions of esteem where they headed families and even clans through matriarchal structures. After modernization, the women were in extreme subordination, an era that saw men transcending to patriarchal system to lead the society. However, the men saw this transition during the third century dominated by polygamy. In essence, the women’s role in ancient Japan elicits various inconsistencies resulting from influences observed due to Confucianism and religion. The integration of Buddhism and Shintoism explicated a paradox of female identity that altered the place of women I Japan. In this particular context, conjectures of ancient women in Japan formed direct correlations with the spiritual beliefs. Evaluating Miyazaki’s work and relating it to feminine identities it educed that these beliefs illustrated drastic changes in women. Through Miyazaki’s animations, there is creation of a window to the ancient Japan through which there can be modern day analysis regarding women’s antiquate. Miyazaki provides a primary historiography elucidating the role of Japanese women and sets a foundation supporting this argument. In ancient Japan, the Confucian culture had foci on hierarchy where men dominated, particularly regarding gender roles and general viewpoints of life.11 For instance, in the place of work as explicated by Mizu Shabai, the talks at the workplace revolved around sexual talks and the hostess clubs. In this context, the women who operated these clubs needed to treat the clients as superior hence affecting family, gender, work, national identity, and sexuality. Observations point that Japanese Confucianism places more weight on hierarchy and rank through emphasizing on order. The verticality in Japan defined how people interacted and had a significant impact on relationships of men and women across the ages.12 People receive ranking according to their titles pertinent to the hierarchical structures that are in place and are men dominated. In this respect, the men and their families expected the women to be loyal13as depicted by the dominance observed in the Confucian stress on hierarchy. Shift in Japanese Culture The Japanese societal expectations concerning women’s gender roles their views of life started to change. Basically, women did not exist legally during the reign of Tokugawa Shogunate, they were subordinate and could not have a right to own property. However, the Confucian family gradually shifted with a massive shift occurring after the Second World War II. In essence, The Japanese Constitution, in 1946 redefined the laws that outlined the relations within the family and women had the legal right to basic rights such as owning property, voting, and inheritance. As time evolved, women made various strides toward equality altering the hierarchical structures observed in Japan for quite a long period. During the Japan-China War, that broke out in 1937 men were involved greatly paving way for the women to gain financial independence.14 Before this instance, women were a stay at home guardians evidencing the stereotypes that embodied the hierarchical structures. Due to the men’s involvement in World War II, more women had to engage in varied activities so that they could keep their families and finance the men. In essence, they worked in factories and other areas such as the clubs to generate money. The situation escalated the women’s financial status and their empowerment. In Kiki, Miyazaki emblematically illustrates the stories of young people, both young men and women who nurture their talent in cartoonist industry. However, many cartoonists still struggle to make a living in Japan as denoted by Miyazaki. For instance, Miyazaki notes that there are approximately 300,000 young women and men who aspire to be cartoonist, but the industry tags itself as unusual job. Consequently, Miyazaki is keen in illustrating the young witch’s efforts when she tries to stand out as a cartoonist beating thousands who are desperate to make their names stand out. Further, he concedes that the economic concerns regarding daily life can be dealt with easily except that there is a problem of self-realization. Moreover, the women have a depiction of workers whereas the men can have careers. Contextually, the works of Anne Allison tells the readers more about the gender roles and the Japanese culture. She asserts that these gender roles have become a mixture of the traditional and western cultures. In Japan modern gender dualism, the rulers tried to disassociate modernity from the traditional ways of life but they seem to be intertwined. Modernization and Westernization are speeding up social adjustments, and it accelerates due to the influence garnered from Western modernization. Fundamentally, the notion of gender roles has characteristics of dualism and naturalistic. In spite of these illustrations, Allison concludes that men received more preference as opposed to the women in Japan.15 When comparing Kiki with Nausicaa and Mononoke films by Miyazaki, the readers realize that Nausicaa is a film that concentrates on the future woman. A woman that inhabits the future world where there is a post-apocalyptic dystopia that results from human pollution besides being troubled with warfare between the superpowers. Nausicaa has a depiction as a young woman, a skilled fighter and friend of the animals. Finally, the film comes to and end while showing the young woman as a resurrected messiah to unite the world. Similarly, Princess Mononoke comes in handy to refurbish the place of women in the society in Japan.16 The film comes in when there is a transition between the early modern and medieval period in Japan. The San or Mononoke is a bold being destined to destroy the humans as she is poised with power as a leader in Iron Town. These two films show that women are not object but can have significant impacts on the society if given chance. Kiki’s Delivery and the Changing Culture The criticism against Japanese animation filled with violent scenes encapsulated the 1980s period over a stimulation of children that emerged in 1980s, and the numbers of televised anime fell dramatically. Toward the end of this decade, a novel wave of productions arose, and anime reclaimed the past stature. The situation led to a growth in the impression of creators from various countries especially with Otomo Katsuhiro’s AKIRA, Miyazaki’s Tonari no Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Services. Besides these works, Kokaku Kidotai coined by Oshii mamoru among other various pieces of work enhanced the coining of the term Japanimation.17 Pertinent to Kiki’s Delivery Service, there is an illustration of a changing culture where there is portrayal of women as beings that can facilitate change within the society. For instance, Kiki decides to be a witch and fit into the situation at hand. These works of animation depict a change of the gender roles due to Westernization and modernization that result from Western culture and advancements in technology. Due to technological advancements, Miyazaki creates animations that transcends and transforms the Japanese society and its culture.18 Furthermore, Miyazaki emphasizes his belief in the spirits and independence regarding finances. For instance, he remarkably explains the relationship between the Kami spirits and those that need thanks and reverence. As illustrated in Kiki’s Delivery Service, the spirits of being a witch bolsters the young girl’s empowerment when she goes to find work in a distant town. These spirits coupled with financial independence characterize Japanese culture and illustrates the relationships between the men and women in Japan.19 Relevance of Kiki’s Delivery Service in the Modern Society The contemporary society does not embody any relationship between financial independence and the spirits. Contextually, many people engage in modern jobs to earn money and not to pursue their dreams.20 As opposed to the ancient Japan where people engaged in work and believed in spirits as the ones that provide and help in their various life instances. For example, Miyazaki notes that there is a mysterious forest god who has fertility and destruction powers. Similarly, the Kodama are tiny luminous spirits that appear and disappear who help Miyazaki in the portrayal of mystery, depth, and awe-inspiringness in the forest. Kiki’s Delivery Service portrays a context where the young generation struggles to make their ends meet. For instance, Kiki moves from her home and inhabits a distant town to work, and she indulges in witchcraft to enable her carry out her work effectively. Conclusion The Japanese society had a matriarchal system where women could take control of family structures and various relationships in the family. However, the gender and gender roles gradually changed due to modernization and Westernization influenced by the Second World War, Western culture, and advancements made in technology. Through Miyazaki, a renowned film director in Japan, the Japanese Society received various works that enhanced the shift of gender roles. Miyazaki’s personal psyche had a great impact on his animation career and bring about a positive influence on the shift evidenced in the Japanese shift regarding gender roles. Kiki’s Delivery Services forms a basis for the shift of gender roles seen in Japan through Miyazaki’s contributions. Confucianism in the ancient Japan accelerated the change of gender roles since the Japanese copied the modern cultures from China and Korea. Therefore, Hayao Miyazaki makes a considerable contribution toward the changing of culture in Japan through his Kiki’s Delivery Service, his personal psyche and commitment to the animation industry. Bibliography Allison, A. Nightwork Sexuality, Pleasure, and Corporate Masculinity in a Tokyo Hostess Club. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. Cavallaro, Dani. The Anime Art of Hayao Miyazaki. New York: McFarland, 2006. Ellis, Jonathan. “The art of anime: Freeze-frames and moving pictures in Miyazaki Hayao’s Kiki’s delivery service”. Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema, vol. 2, no. 1 (2010): 21-34. Hu, Arthur. Introduction to Basic Asian Values | Asianweek. Asianweek.Com . 2012 Kincaid, Chris. “A Look at Gender Expectations in Japanese Society.” Japan Powered. 2013 McCarthy, Helen. Hayao Miyazaki, Master of Japanese Animation: Films, Themes, Artistry. Reprinted with Revisions. ed. Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press, 2002. Miyazaki, Hayao. Starting Point, 1979-1996. New York: VIZ Media LLC, 2014. Momma Takashi. "Miyazaki Hayao and Japanese Animation. Journal of Japanese Trade & Industry. 2012 Rei Okamoto Inouye. "Theorizing Manga: Nationalism and Discourse on the Role of Wartime Manga." Mechademia 4, no. 1 (2009): 20-37. Rifa-Valls, Montserrat. "Postwar Princesses, Young Apprentices, and a Little Fish-Girl: Reading Subjectivities in Hayao Miyazakis Tales of Fantasy." Visual Arts Research 37, no. No. 2 (2011): 88-100. Zoelen, Par van. Hayao Miyazaki: Recovery of Japanese Cultural Values | Introduction to Visual Culture. Culturevisuelle.Org. 2012 Read More