Crossroads of Experience: Miyazaki Hayao's Global/Local Nexus

This paper explores the double folding of time and space in the anime films of Miyazaki Hayao: the past becomes the present and the present becomes the past. Particular attention is paid to Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke) and Sen To Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away). Miyazaki entertains a unique Japanese response to the cultural challenges of globalization with the use of Shinto and Buddhist themes. For him, "global goes local" is more than a slogan. In the wake of the influx of American commodity culture in Japan, Miyazaki's films attempt to enact an ironic reversal. Global trends (especially from the West) are themselves "spirited away" and transformed into deep Japanese and Chinese philosophy against a backdrop of local folk culture. Hence, the roots of Japanese heritage emerge through the crossroads of experience: East and West, ancient and modern, old and young, inside and outside.