Hayao Miyazaki’s Pastoral Nostalgia:

Abstract

In the post-war years, rapid industrialization in the name of economic recovery resulted in several Japanese environmental crises. A number of these crises were high profile and reported by new agencies and environmental activists on a national and international level. As a result, Japanese culture and media has been influenced by images of pollutions' effect on the body and developed into robust Japanese environmental movements and policies. This essay builds on the environmental analysis of Hayao Miyazaki's films, but offers a counter perspective arguing that the body horror of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away is more representative of Japanese pastoral nostalgia (which suggests a feeling of cultural loss and a rejection of a possible return human-nature harmony) rather than pure environmentalism.