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THE LANDSCAPE OF MIYAZAKI; ENVIRONMENTAL
CHARACTERISTICS AND MESSAGES
Sema MUMCU1 Serap YILMAZ2
1 KTÜ, Faculty of Forestry, Landscape Architecture Department, Trabzon
2SDÜ, Faculty of Forestry, Landscape Architecture Department, Isparta
Abstract
Anime, Japanese popular culture phenomenon, nowadays become a
globally consumed cultural product. In 2002 for the first time an anime,
Spirited Away, won the Academy Award. Since this award the demand
for anime dramatically increased and the director of Spirited Away,
Hayao Miyazaki is accepted as anime’s leading artist. In his films mostly
the dignity of life (human life, plant and animal, vertebrate and
invertebrate), human relationship with technology and nature especially
the negative effects of human on nature, environmental destruction and
damage and its effect on human health, and gender identity are the
motivating concerns. With his storytelling and drawing abilities
Miyazaki’s effect on audience is striking. This study aims to examine the
underlying ideas in Miyazaki films and to understand his messages in
deep by analyzing the relationship between the events and the
environmental characteristics. Especially his two films; Nausicaä of the
Valley of the Wind (1984) and Princess Mononoke (1997) were
considered. Some dominant characters from his other films were also
expressed. It was understood that what Miyazaki reflects in his films is
Japanese view of nature as they do not separate themselves from nature
which is opposite to Western thinking which views man separate from
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nature. Environmental characteristics like deep forests, ancient and giant
trees, rice paddies, Japanese Alps, animals, plants and spirits living in
deep forests (forest ecology) were all examined. Messages like “respect
for dignity of all life”, “human interconnectedness with other beings in
nature” were expressed.
Keywords: Anime, Hayao Miyazaki, Landscape characteristics, Human-
environment relationship
MÝYAZAKÝ’NÝN PEYZAJI: ÇEVRESEL KARAKTERÝSTÝKLER VE
MESAJLAR
Özet
Japon popüler kültürünün ortaya koyduðu “anime” günümüzde tüm
dünyanýn talep ettiði kültürel bir üründür. 2002 yýlýnda ilk kez bir anime,
“Spirited Away”, Akademi (Oscar) ödülünü kazanmýºtýr. Bu ödülün
ardýndan animeye olan talep önemli ölçüde artmýº ve “Spirited Away” ýn
yönetmeni Hayao Miyazaki animenin en önemli sanatçýsý olarak kabul
görmüºtür. Miyazaki filmlerinde genellikle hayatýn deðeri (insan hayatý,
bitki ve hayvanlarýn, omurgalý ve omurgasýz canlýlar), insanýn teknoloji ve
doðayla iliºkisi özellikle insanýn çevre üzerindeki olumsuz etkileri,
çevresel tahrip ve zarar, bunlarýn insan hayatý üzerindeki etkileri;
toplumsal cinsiyet rolleri gibi kavramlar yönlendiricidir. Miyazaki hikaye
anlatým ve çizim yetenekleriyle izleyici üzerinde çarpýcý bir etki
býrakmýºtýr. Bu çalýºma Miyazaki’nin filmlerinde altta yatan fikirleri
incelemeyi, gerçekleºen olaylar ve bunlarýn gerçekleºtiði ortamlarýn
çevresel karakteristikleri arasýndaki iliºkiyi inceleyerek verdiði mesajlarý
daha iyi anlamayý amaçlar. Özellikle iki filmi “Nausicaä of the Valley of
the Wind” (1984) ve “Princess Mononoke” (1997) ele alýnmýºtýr. Diðer
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bazý filmlerindeki ön plana çýkan baskýn özelliklere de deðinilmiºtir.
Miyazaki’nin filmlerinde insan ve doðayý ayrý bir ºekilde kabul eden Batý
düºüncesine ters olan Japonlar’ýn doðaya bakýº açýsýný yani kendilerini
doðan ayrý görmediklerini yansýttýðý görülmüºtür. Derin ormanlar, anýtsal
dev aðaçlar, pirinç tarlalarý, Japon Alpleri, derin ormanlarda yaºayan
hayvanlar, ruhlar (mistik canlýlar) ve bitkiler (kýsaca orman ekolojisi)
gibi çevresel özellikler ve anlamlarý ele alýnmýºtýr. “Hayatýn deðerine
saygý göstermek”, “insanýn doðadaki diðer varlýklarla birbirine baðlý
oluºu” gibi mesajlar irdelenmiºtir.
Anahtar kelimeler; Anime, Hayao Miyazaki, Peyzaj karakteristikleri,
Ýnsan-çevre iliºkisi
1. Introduction
Anime, Japanese popular culture phenomenon, nowadays become
a globally consumed cultural product. They affect a wider variety of
audiences because of their popular reach. That’s why anime clearly
appears to be a cultural phenomenon worthy of being taken seriously,
both socially and aesthetically (Napier, 2005).
In 2002, for the first time an anime, Spirited Away, won the
Academy Award. Since this award the demand for anime dramatically
increased and the director of Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki is accepted
as anime’s leading artist. Because of his amazing success Miyazaki is
called as “legendary artist” (Jay, 2000), “The Wizard of Awe” (Heffern,
2005), “great master of anime” (Yamanaka, 2008), “a masterful creator”
(Cavallaro, 2006) in different studies. He has received several major
awards for his works including; The Saturn Award in USA (2001), the
Golden Bear Award in Germany (2002), The Academy Award for Best
Animated Feature film (2002), Silver Scream Award, and Broadcast Film
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Critics Association Award (2003).
Mostly the dignity of life (human life, plant and animal, vertebrate
and invertebrate), human relationship with technology and nature
especially the negative effects of human on nature, environmental
depletion and damage and its effect on human health, the horrors of war
and gender identity are the motivating concerns (Bigelow, 2005;
Cavallaro, 2006; Napier, 2005). With his storytelling and drawing
abilities Miyazaki’s effect on audience is striking.
When the effect of anime on audience joined with the talents of
Miyazaki the messages become more efficient and important. Firstly the
background of Miyazaki was analyzed and so the underlying reasons of
messages in his films were tried to be enlightened.
2. Background of Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki was born in Tokyo in 1941. His father was
employed as an executive at his uncle’s factory which constructed parts
for the Japanese fighter planes. Miyazaki’s passion for aviation and flying
machines of all sorts is seen as related to this familial background. In
1963 his career in anime world began by joining Toei Animation Studios.
The turning point in Miyazaki’s career took place in 1984, when he
released Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind which was an unprecedented
success. In 1985 he founded his own studio, Studio Ghibli, which is
responsible for the production of some of the most popular and
acclaimed Japanese movies in history such as Princess Mononoke (1997)
and Spirited Away (2001) (Cavallaro, 2006).
The most powerful influence that changed Miyazaki’s ideas
completely about his Japanese identity and human-nature relationship
was formed when he encountered with Sasuke Nakao’s book, “The
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Cultivation of Plants and the Origin of Agriculture”. Many of the studies
about Miyazaki’s works express this encounter in order to understand
underlying ideas in his works (Bigelow, 2009; Mayumi et.al, 2005;
Yamanaka, 2008; Yoshioka, 2008). For Nakao Japanese culture has
much in common with other cultures in forests of evergreens with thick,
dark green and shiny leaves (Yamanaka, 2008). This common culture is
called as “the shiny-leaf culture” (Yamanaka, 2008) (or “evergreen-
forest culture” Yoshioka, 2008) by Nakao. In the evergreen-forest
culture, people depended on the forest and were anxious to coexist with
it rather than destroying it (Yoshioka, 2008). Learning about the
“evergreen forest culture” Miyazaki had a drastic turn on his thinking
where the Japanese people come from. When Miyazaki imagined himself
as a part of the shining leaf culture he turned his eyes to the trees and
the forests of Japan (Mayumi et.al, 2005; Yamanaka, 2008; Yoshioka,
2008). Yamanaka explained this situation as awakening of Miyazaki to
the beauty and the richness of Japanese natural environment which is at
the center of many of his films. So environmental issues such as human-
nature relationship, love for nature, environmental pollution and
depletion, vanishing evergreen forest culture become the most salient
characteristics of Miyazaki’s films which make each of the film worthy of
examining as an environmental narrative.
3. The Role of Miyazaki’s Films as Environmental Narratives
Since narratives are the medium through which the majority of
people are exposed to specific perspectives about nature, they are
important. Many benefits of environmental narratives were mentioned as
having the potential to provide environmental information and
environmental values, communicating messages about environmental
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values. These messages influence a mass audience, so these narratives
might succeed in promoting awareness of environmental problems and
constitute events, actions, beliefs (Ball-Stahl, 2005; Tschida, 2004).
Miyazaki combined his storytelling and drawing abilities with the
power of environmental narratives and created a strong influence on his
audience about environmental issues. Given the clarity and high quality
of his works, Miyazaki’s films with ecological themes were seen to have a
great potential for teaching important lessons (Mayumi et.al, 2005).
The film My Neighbor Totoro (1988) played a powerful part in
raising public concern for satoyama landscapes (satoyama as a
traditional form of agricultural environment where sato; village/people
and yama; mountain/nature coexists side by side in harmony, Yokohari
and Boldhouse, 2010). The film became the mascot of the conservation
campaigns of satoyama landscapes. Some forests in Sayama Hill district,
where the events had taken place in the film were renamed as “Totoro
forests" after the film and become a symbol for forest conservation as an
important element of rural landscapes (Kikuchi, 2008; Yokohari and
Boldhouse, 2010).
In this study in order to reflect the power of Miyazaki films as
environmental narratives a different dimension will be discussed. This
study aims to understand his messages in deep by analyzing the
relationship between the events and the environmental characteristics.
The landscape characteristics in Miyazaki films act like human actors do
by changing, evolving, and adapting to events and themes. Especially his
two films; Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and Princess
Mononoke (1997) were considered. Some dominant characters from
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), and My Neighbor Totoro (1988) were
also expressed.
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4. Method
The study consists of two steps. In the first step a broad literature
review of anime in general and Miyazaki films were done and basic
information on terms and Miyazaki’s films most cited dimensions were
obtained. In second step the films were watched and each films most
prominent and influencing scenes and common scenes between the films
were photographed by snapshots. Some of the scenes were
photographed serially and these photographs were joined with each
other by using “Paint” software and panoramic views were obtained.
Each photograph was classified depending on its landscape type. The
classification groups were determined in light of literature review which
revealed three stances on Miyazaki’s approach on human-environment
relationship.
5. Human-Environment Relationship, Landscape Types and
Messages in Miyazaki’s Films
Miyazaki’s works were often explained in light of Shinto religion
which stresses relation and connectedness, emphasizing internal over
external relations where each part is reflected in the whole, and the
whole is evident in the part, bringing spirit and matter together,
internally (Bigelow, 2005; Boyd and Nishimura, 2004; Wright, 2005;
Yamanaka, 2008; Yoshioka, 2008). So Miyazaki rejects the definition of
the human as separate and distinct from nature and from others,
drawing on ancient Shinto notions of human interconnectedness with
sentient and non-sentient being he questions human relationships in the
encounter between human and nature (Bigelow, 2005) and tries to
understand this relationship from different perspectives. He shows both
ends of this relationship, in other words imbalance and disharmony
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between nature and human as nature’s power over human (1) and
human’s power over nature (2) and also reflects beautifully the
landscape of human living in harmony with nature (3).
5.1. Human-nature relationship: nature’s power over
human; forest landscapes
“Shishi Gami’s Forest” in Princess Mononoke and “Sea of Decay” in
Nausicaä are the forests where ruled by nature’s powers such as spirits
and insects. For humans these places are frightening and must be
avoided but also in both movies the forest is a source of life power with
which human life must harmonize spiritually (Yoshioka, 2008).
5.1.1. Shishi Gami’s Forest (Princess Mononoke)
Princess Mononoke’s forest is based on Miyazaki’s reading Sasuke
Nakao’s. “Shishi Gami’s Forest” is a dark sacred, enormous and magical
forest of ancient trees that is populated with spirits, mainly “Deer God;
Shishi Gami” who occupy superior positions to humans. We see a forest
in deep green and browns, with the occasional radiant shafts of light
penetrating the depths of the quiet forest pools (Figure 1) (Napier,
2005). The forest of Shishi Gami gives voice to the world of insects and
plants with rich textures, colors and forms (Bigelow, 2005).
Figure 1. The view from inside of Shishi Gami’s forest (Princess
Mononoke, 1997)
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Through the depths of forest the wonders of nature in bacteria and
photosynthesis are brought to the life in rich forest undergrowth, in the
gentle ripple of healing pristine water, the twinkle on a butterfly’s wings
and the quiet passage of deer visible in distant rays of sun filtering
through the canopy (Bigelow, 2005). The ancient trees are mother to the
Kodama spirits whose presence means that forest is healthy. But from
humans’ perspective the forest of the Shishi Gami is a wild and
threatening place, consistently avoided by human characters in the film
(Bigelow, 2005; Napier,2005) (Figure 2).
Bigelow (2009) describes the visual poetry of Princess Mononoke as a
call to awareness of a larger life system that the human being is a part
of. Miyazaki says that what he was interested in portraying was a sense
of the depth and the mystery of the friendliness and the awe-
inspringness of a forest (Miyazaki, cited in Wright, 2005) but at the same
time the Forest of Shishi Gami symbolizes the boundary beyond which
human should not enter. With this symbolic boundary Miyazaki refers
the fact that human cannot wholly control or domesticate the nature.
With the events happened after cutting off the Shishi Gami’s head, the
messages such as when humans go beyond the boundary between
human and nature, they have to face nature’s wrath and the affords for
going beyond the boundary will be harmful for them are symbolized.
These situations will be examined in the next chapter, under apocalyptic
landscape caption.
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Figure 2. Different scenes from Shishi Gami’s Forest showing Kodoma
spirits, Shishi Gami in Nightwalker form, and butterflies in the forest
(Princess Mononoke, 1997)
5.1.2 Fukai (Sea of Decay) (in Nausicaä of the Valley of the
Wind)
“Sea of Decay” or “Fukai” in Nausicaä is a new type of ecosystem
which is a huge fungi forest with phosphorescent plants, cathedral like
caverns, water, mutant insects, snowstorms of pollens from plants, and
giant mutant insect called Ohmu rules this forest. The flora of the jungle
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pictured in tones of blue and purple with rich variety of textures, size
and forms which gives the imagination of very lively place full of
mystery. It’s a toxic jungle forest that is heavily polluted and deadly to
humans (Yang and Buffington, 2007). Cavallaro (2006) describes the
forest as awe at a deadly but beautiful landscape teeming with life. Its
floor turns out to be to the branches of subterranean canopy of huge
trees and with their help the forest is actually purifying the Earth’s air
and soil by absorbing their toxins (Figure 3).
The entire forest operates as purifying organism: the trees absorb
the poisons from the soil, crystallize and neutralize them, before
eventually dissolving into sand (Wright, 2005).
The one big event that gave the inspiration for creating Nausicaä
was the pollution with the mercury of Minamata Bay, as a result of which
the fish stocks adjusted to the uncongenial environment by learning how
to absorb the poison and continued to
reproduce. The Minamata Bay fish are unquestionably the real life
correlatives for the immensely and ingeniously adaptable fictious plants
of “Fukai” (Sea of Decay) (Cavallaro, 2006).
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Figure 3. Different scenes from “Fukai” (Sea of Decay) showing flora of
forest with different form and colors, snowstorm of pollens, and the
canopy of the forest under the bottom of Fukai (Nausicaä of the Valley of
the Wind,1984)
Since the plants release poisonous gasses and because of the wild
mutant insects, “Fukai” is strictly avoided by humans, but in fact, the
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reason for poisonous gasses is not the fungi itself but the polluted soil
and the insect gone wild only when humans try to harm forest. “Fukai”
symbolizes forests’ purifying functions and being source of life. Also the
message of “despite the frightening mask of nature, indeed it cannot
harm human and oppositely functions for humanity’s well being” is given
and the biased, negative attitudes of human through nature is reflected.
The jungle serves as a practical wisdom, as a warning to the hubris of
humanity’s desire to control nature (Yang and Buffington, 2007).
5.2. Human-nature relationship: human’s power over
nature; apocalyptic landscapes
Miyazaki often shows bad outcomes of humans’ efforts for
dominating nature. Under this section, in the relationship between
human and nature the emphasis is placed on the detrimental effects of
human technology upon nature.
5.2.1. Destruction of Shishi Gami’s Forest (Princess
Mononoke)
Princess Mononoke opens with a text message “In ancient times, the
land lay covered in forests, where, from ages long past, dwelt the spirits
of the gods. Back then, man and beast lived in harmony, but as time
went by, most of the great forests were destroyed” (Princess Mononoke,
1984). And parallel to this message the film shows the destruction of
“Shishi Gami’s Forest” as a result of humans’ efforts for dominating
nature. The period in which Princess Mononoke is set is Muramachi
period (1392-1573) when the first deliberate attempts by humans takes
place to master nature rather than honor and appraise it so a time of
great upheaval when the relationship between humanity and nature was
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radically changing in Japan (Cavallaro, 2006; Wright, 2005). Miyazaki
says “It was in this period that people changed their value system from
gods to money” (cited in Bigelow, 2005).
Figure 4. Destruction of Shishi Gami’s Forest; different scenes showing
black smokes of the fires of the war, Shishi Gami searching for his head,
the forest turning brown after the head of Deer God cut off (Princess
Mononoke, 1997)
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In Princess Mononoke the fights of forest’s spirits against humans
who abuse the Earth’s resources to their own benefit and thoughtlessly
destroying their world (Yamanaka, 2008) were illustrated. Humans
succeed to cut off the head of Shishi Gami in the battle which causes the
destruction of forest. The destruction scenes shows the lively, green
forest turning brown and cracking open and the forest spirits dying
(Figure 4).
In the end Shishi Gami’s head was turned back to him and
following his death the apparent restoration of nature and the harmony
as the world turns green again is seen (Figure 5). Miyazaki explains
these scenes as:
“Despite the balding mountains and decimated species of wildlife,
resilient nature returns, as it did after the deer god’s death, and this is
the hope that human spirit has. The nature has regenerated but as a
tame, non-frightening forest of the kind we are accustomed to seeing
(Figure 5)” (Miyazaki, cited in Wright, 2005).
Miyazaki relates the changes at nature which are results of human
actions with humans’ morality and values as: “the glossy-leafed forests
that once covered Western Japan have been replaced by bald
mountains…But the heart of the Japanese also changed.” (Miyazaki, cited
in Bigelow, 2005). By these sentences Miyazaki refers to the relationship
between and interconnectedness of human and nature so if one of them
looses so as the other. In other words Miyazaki suggests that what the
human being has destroyed in nature is also a part of the human self.
For Miyazaki destruction of nature and destruction of the human soul are
one and the same (Bigelow, 2005).
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Figure 5. Shishi Gami’s Forest from outside green and healthy with
Kodama spirits (above) and Shishi Gami’s Forest from outside after
Shishi Gami’s death, the forest is gone and mountains became bald
(below) (Princess Mononoke, 1997)
5.2.2. Destroyed Human Settlements and Nature in
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
The destruction of human settlements and nature in the film takes
place in diverse times, both in the past and present. Nausicaä opens with
a scene of a long-destroyed town, with spores filling the air and
blanketing things so heavily that crumbling houses cannot easily be
distinguished from plants and trees (Looser, 2002) (Figure 6).
The houses, windmills and trees with spores blanketing them,
things crumbling into pieces, creepy sound of howling winds and the
silence because of no living creatures, the strong feeling of loneliness
makes this landscape frightening, painful and alien and reminds us the
bitter results of misuse of technology for humans and all other creatures.
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Figure 6. Long-Destroyed town at the opening scenes of Nausicaä
(Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, 1984)
The destruction scenes in the film not ends with these, the
communities in present time ignoring the past, continue to destroy the
nature with misuse of technology. Ruined, blasted cities in fire and black
smokes evoke considerably dramatic and scary feelings (Figure 7).
With these scenes Miyazaki powerfully illustrates how human who
didn’t respect for other creatures life and nature, instead searched for
the power, harms nature but more importantly themselves. Seeing the
harms that human gave Princess Nausicaä says “Who made such a
terrible mass of the world?” (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, 1984)
which also expresses the reaction of Miyazaki for the destructions human
made in the real world. Also the mushroom cloud (Figure 7) in this film
refers to atom bombs from which Japanese people suffered so much and
so the real face of wars and again the misuse of technology.
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Figure 7. Destructed human settlements, cities in fire and the mushroom
cloud from the war (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, 1984)
5.3. Human-nature relationship: harmony; satoyama
landscapes and utopic landscapes
5.3.1. Satoyama Landscapes of My Neighbor Totoro
The environment depicted in My Neighbor Totoro (1988) is
nostalgic landscape of Japan which consists of human settlements,
agricultural fields and forests. The traditional rural landscape, which is
called “satoyama”, represented in the film tells us about 1950s post-
World War II Japanese landscape and shows the rural settlements,
vegetable gardens, forests behind them, and upland and tea-rice fields
1076
around them (Figure 8). The film opens with Kusakabe family’s
movement from city center to countryside and takes place in a village in
Japan portraying the post-World War II countryside in detail and reflects
the spirit of nature (Okuhara, 2006).
Figure 8. Different scenes showing characteristics of satoyama
landscape; rice paddies, forest, human settlements (My Neighbor Totoro,
1988)
The countryside is in close proximity with surrounding nature and
offers a more relaxed, spontaneous life style. It allows one to be more in
touch with the natural rhythm. Yoshimura (2007) explains the family’s
move to the countryside as seems to be representing a movement
toward introversion, an attempt to connect with the natural wisdom and
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spontaneity, and a desire for healing and wholeness. The family’s garden
is next to an enormous, ancient camphor tree which is believed to be
protecting from disease, a dispenser of vital power and never failing
source of energy (Yoshimura, 2007)
Wright (2005) interprets the landscape of Totoro as nostalgia for a
time when people lived more closely with nature. She also expresses
that the nostalgia in the film stems from the sadness of severing spatial
and temporal links with the natural world and the past, leaving behind
the richness of a childhood spent in the woodlands, or the heartfelt
spirituality that comes with being a part of nature and of social tradition
(Wright, 2005).
The satoyama landscape in Totoro reminds and reflects the beauty
and importance of living harmony with nature. With the peacefulness
and beauty of Japanese countryside Miyazaki provokes audience about
being more sensitive to nature by showing how living harmony with
nature creates a joyful, relaxed, and healthy life.
5.3.2. Utopian Landscapes; Laputa
In Laputa Miyazaki imagines a flying city, built around a massive
central tree, in which nature and high technology live together in peace.
The city was described as an ecological utopia where the biosphere and
the technosphere live in harmony (Lioi, 2010). Mac Carthy (cited in
Cavallaro, 2006) describes the city as an ideal combination of science
and nature… a series of tranquil gardens unfolding round a hidden core.
The settings in the floating island of Laputa were inspired from
Greek architecture and European urbanistic templates. (Cavallaro,
2006).
Buildings covered and mixed with plants, grasslands full of colorful
1078
plants and flowers, water surfaces, columns and arches, statues,
bridges, ancient trees, animals (Figure 9) were all in harmony which
reflects what kind of environment can be created when humans use
technology advisedly and at the same time not to forget respect to
dignity of life. This situation is completely reverse for the humans in
Nausicaä, who misused technology.
Figure 9. Different scenes from Laputa’s flying island showing Greek
inspired architecture, buildings covered with gigantic camphor tree
(Laputa: Castle in the Sky, 1986)
The gigantic camphor tree covering whole city from above with its
crest and inside with its root is the most dominant character of Laputa’s
1079
landscape (Figure 9). With the buildings which can be seen partly from
covering tree or hidden behind it makes the setting looks like
unbelievably natural even though it is completely man-made. And view
of the city gives the imagination that it is being protected by the
camphor tree from above and inside which can be accepted as the
reflection of Japanese belief as camphor tree protects from diseases, is a
dispenser of vital power and a never failing source of energy (Yoshimura,
2007).
Lioi (2010) expresses Miyazaki’s city as containing the hope that
ethical people can disrupt the destruction of the world by techno-culture,
and, moreover, the machine intelligence itself can teach human
intelligence what a just relationship to nature might be like. Some
dialogues in the film obviously gives the message of a life in harmony
with nature like Sheeta telling the lyrics of an old song “Take root in the
ground, live in harmony with the wind, plant your seeds in the winter
and rejoice with the birds in the coming of spring.” (Laputa, Castle in the
Sky, 1986) or Uncle Pom advising the children “The earth speaks to all of
us, and if we listen we can understand.” (Laputa, Castle in the Sky,
1986).
5.3.3. The Valley of the Wind
The Valley of the Wind is Princess Nausicaä’s realm and opens to a
sea, that’s why it is protected from poisonous gasses with the help of
breezes from the sea. Surrounded by high mountains the small
community of the Valley of the Wind is isolated from other communities
and is different from them who destroy nature, here people lives in
harmony with their natural surroundings.
Windmills are the most dominant characters of this valley, which
1080
reflect harmony with nature by using the wind as a source of energy
without giving any harm to nature. The settlement of the small
community is surrounded by the vegetable gardens which were shown
like a patchwork from bird’s view vista, with this settlement, the
windmills dispersed in gardens, and forests compose the landscape of
the valley (Figure 10).
Figure 10. Different scenes from Valley of the Wind; the valley facing
sea, the patchwork look like gardens, windmills (Nausicaä of the Valley
of the Wind, 1984)
Despite the hazard of Fukai’s poisonous gasses and spores it is
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seen that the community’s life is peaceful and colorful. The landscape of
the valley is peaceful like the community rules it.
6. Conclusion
Miyazaki tries to understand the relationship of human with the
world by illustrating various states of humans confronting nature. Even
though the situation changes in human-nature relationship Miyazaki
always give the same message: human and nature are parts of a whole,
they can’t be considered as separate and different parts. As parts
affecting each other and being affected from each other human and all
beings in nature forms a whole. Yamanaka (2008, p. 248) explained
Miyazaki’s Shinto related idea as: “Miyazaki is making a more general
theological statement: the web of life that naturally, socially and
cosmically links human beings with a mysterious other world beyond
ourselves, permits every being to find a place in which it is totally
accepted and can thrive. Therefore this powerful web of life, biologically,
psychologically, ecologically interlinked through a web of personal
interrelationships in his films, is the key symbol of Miyazaki’s utopian
ideal.”
It was this idea of Miyazaki that inspired this study. Since human
and nature are inseparable parts of a whole, in Miyazaki’s films not only
humans but also nature gives effective messages. Miyazaki used the
landscape not as a background or as a mare image but rather as an
active actor like humans in his films. Curti (2008) explains the
importance of landscapes in film in terms of this function as filmic
landscapes themselves may be understood not just as passive back-
drops or foregrounds of human activity, whether within a film or between
the film and viewer, but as `actors' or `workers' in their own right. The
1082
landscape characteristics in Miyazaki films act like human actors do by
changing, evolving, and adapting to events and themes.
It was understood that what Miyazaki reflects in his films is
Japanese view of nature as they do not separate themselves from nature
which is opposite to Western thinking which views man separate from
nature. He had shown that every act of human influences nature (good
or bad) and eventually this effect turns back to humanity. Thus
messages like “respect for dignity of all life”, “human interconnectedness
with other beings in nature” were efficiently expressed in Miyazaki films.
When humans realize this and accept it, when they see that this world is
also the world of other creatures and their habitat, and use technology
parallel to this understanding living with nature without disasters and
destructions will be possible.
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