Disillusioned to the “Disenchantment” of the World: How Culture, Art, and Environment Contributes to Mental Health, Part Two

Wabi-Sabi is an aesthetic and worldview that focuses on finding beauty in imperfection and uniqueness, accepting the natural cycle of life/death and growth/decay, and the realization that nothing lasts forever—impermanence. Undoubtedly, Shinto is also a form of animism since it promotes the idea that spirits, or kami, are interconnected and intimately associated with the entire material universe, including humans. Shintoism also teaches that everything, including spirits, people, animals, plants, and even stones, can have value without human judgment; “‘It is a conceit, to the Japanese mind,’ religious scholar Brian Bocking argues, ‘to think that humans have superior rights over other kinds of beings. And all of this can be seen quite clearly throughout Miyazaki’s corpus’” (Barkman).

Miyazaki focuses more on Shintoism or the philosophy/religion of “The way of the gods” or “divine way.” “The word Shinto (‘way of the gods’) was adopted…combining two kanji: ‘shin’ (神), meaning ‘spirit’ or kami; and ‘tō’ (道), meaning a philosophical path or study (from the Chinese word dào)” (Wikipedia). In “Shinto (神道 Shintō), also called kami-no-michi,” nature and nature “spirits” or “gods” (called “Kami” in Japanese) are held in the highest regard and are seen as being greater than human beings. “Since [the] Japanese language does not distinguish between singular and plural, kami refers to the divinity, or sacred essence, that manifests in multiple forms: rocks, trees, rivers, animals, places, and even people can be said to possess the nature of kami. Kami and people are not separate; they exist within the same world and share its interrelated complexity” (Clenista). 

For instance, in Miyazaki’s film, Princess Mononoke (も ののけ姫, Mononoke-hime, 1997), the theme of purity and harmony with kami is explored. The film carries the message that sin and impurities in our actions and beliefs, further sunder us from spiritual transcendence and “the gods.” In the film, sin—"impurity"—is a result of mankind polluting the purity of the natural world. 

Shrines and Torii gates are material manifestations that remind us “that humanity must once unite itself with nature, as per the Shinto philosophy” (Ruiz), and we must connect with “the spiritual world/nature, the world that is the source of all life…the ‘life-world’ (いのちの世界)” (Yoneyama). Even the sound of rain in Shinkai’s Weathering With You is seen as a natural, spiritual life source, although rain causes the main issues in the film. The rain is still seen as beautiful and life-giving, rather than a wicked force of nature that needs to be constrained and contained. Embedded in the sound of rain Shinkai's message is “‘Live (ikinasai 生きなさい)! Live. Live. Just Live’...When Hodaka and Hina are returning to this world and making a wish as they float through the air, they hear: ‘Our hearts say, our bodies say, our voices say, our love says, Live!’” (Yoneyama). 

Essentially, the end of Weathering With You can be considered an extension of Wabi-Sabi too, as “Shinkai concludes the story by saying that they will be all right (daijobu 大丈夫). He has Hodaka say to Hina: ‘No matter how wet we get, we are alive. No matter how much the world changes, we will keep living’...‘we’ll be all right’ …after they have chosen to live together regardless of what happens in the world around them” (Yoneyama). 

Furthermore, enchanted forests are usually created by magical beings, like kami, that exhibit freedom but are inseparable from their surroundings. By emphasizing the beautiful visuals of the wilderness and spirituality—which are correspondingly influenced by his views of environmental responsibility and Japanese animism—Miyazaki interprets nature as spiritual sites and liminal spaces “between reality and the supernatural.” The enchanted forest's vastness and Miyazaki's unwavering claim that it is pointless to try to tame and dominate its primal energy make up his representation of the Shinto-sublime and animism in these movies.

Thus, the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Makoto Shinkai are highly significant, as their films transcend Japanese culture and have had vast global, international influence and invoked inspiration in the hearts of many. “The international success of works by Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki Hayao has also prompted associations between anime and animism… Many commentators have seen in Miyazaki’s films a re-animation of Shintō’s immanence and vitalism through ‘experiences of wonder and intimate connectedness in nature’” (Animate Assembly). Miyazaki utilizes his films to exemplify Shinto’s concept of purity, to emphasize human-nature relationships within “the spirit world,” and to highlight ever-growing modernity- environmental dichotomy concerns within Japan. 

To conclude, the self-centered, Western view of nature and overall disenchantment and disillusionment with society has been a draining and negative factor when it comes to my mental health and the mental health of many. This cultural attitude is definitely harmful to all of us and the earth itself. However, the import of Eastern cultures and philosophies—such as Postmodern Animism–-as well as Japanese culture, media, and art has opened my eyes to new worldviews and ways of thinking that have since impacted me positively and given me hope in these uncertain times.

Sources:

1. Rethinking Human-Nature Relationships in the Time of Coronavirus: Postmodern Animism in Films by Miyazaki Hayao & Shinkai Makoto | The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus Yoneyama, Shoko. “Rethinking Human-Nature Relationships in the Time of Coronavirus: Postmodern Animism in Films by Miyazaki Hayao & Shinkai Makoto.”, 15 August 2020

2.  “The Earth Speaks to Us All”: A Critical Appreciation of … https://christianscholars.com › the-earth-speaks-to-us-all… Barkman, Adam. ““The Earth Speaks to Us All”: A Critical Appreciation of Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s Shintō Environmental Philosophy.” Christian Scholar's Review

3. Clenista, Justin. “The Intricacies of Makoto Shinkai's Newly Coveted Kimi No Na Wa (Your Name).” Medium, 7 December 2016, The Intricacies of Makoto Shinkai's Newly Coveted Kimi No Na https://medium.com/afsa-box/the-intricacies-of-makoto-shinkais-newly-coveted-kimi-no-na-wa-your name-fef4bc366313.

4.  Shinkai Makoto – Animate Assembly “Animate Assembly.” Animate Assembly, https://www.animateassembly.org/on-shinkai-makoto-spiritual-imagination-and-animation-ecologies/