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Comparative Literature: East & West
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A Modern-Day Romantic: The Romantic Sublime in
Hayao Miyazaki’s Creative Philosophy
Brendan C. Walsh
To cite this article: Brendan C. Walsh (2019) A Modern-Day Romantic: The Romantic Sublime in
Hayao Miyazaki’s Creative Philosophy, Comparative Literature: East & West, 3:2, 176-191, DOI:
10.1080/25723618.2019.1710941
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/25723618.2019.1710941
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa
UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis
Group.
Published online: 20 Jan 2020.
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A Modern-Day Romantic: The Romantic Sublime in Hayao
Miyazaki’s Creative Philosophy
Brendan C. Walsh
Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia
ABSTRACT
This article explores how the concept of the Romantic sublime is
presented within the filmography of acclaimed animator Hayao
Miyazaki (1941-). Fronting the Japanese animation house Studio
Ghibli from 1985, Miyazaki has developed into an auteur figure
with his films attracting considerable attention from scholars. The
films of Hayao Miyazaki are characterized by a consistent creative
philosophy, a philosophy that this article contends is profoundly
shaped by the esthetic, philosophical, and artistic traditions of the
European Romantic movement. Miyazaki’s engagement with
Romanticism can be characterized by his interpretation of the
Romantic sublime, a concept inherently linked to the traditions of
the Romantic hero, the magical imagination, and the natural realm.
This engagement with Romantic ideals is illustrated in this article by
analyzing the thematic and visual elements of Miyazaki’s films,
highlighting how these particular films reflect, and embody, particular
Romantic ideals. In studying these films through a conceptual
framework of the Romantic sublime, this article provides a deeper
insight into Hayao Miyazaki’s creative philosophy.
摘要
本文探讨了浪漫主义崇高的概念是如何在著名动画师宫崎骏
(1941-) 的电影中表现出来的。从1985年起, 宫崎骏就引领日本吉
卜力动画工作室, 以其电影吸引了众多学者的关注, 演变成了一个
导演形象。宫崎骏的电影具有始终如一的创作哲学。本文认为这
种哲学是由欧洲浪漫主义运动的美学, 哲学和艺术传统深刻塑造
的。宫崎骏与浪漫主义的交融体现在他对浪漫主义崇高的诠释
上。这一概念与浪漫主义英雄的传统, 神奇的想象和自然王国有
着内在的联系。本文通过分析宫崎骏电影的主题元素和视觉元
素, 强调这些特定的电影如何反映和体现特定的浪漫主义理想, 以
此阐明其与浪漫主义理想的结合。通过对这些电影的浪漫主义崇
高的概念框架的研究, 本文对宫崎骏的创作哲学有了更深的理
解。
KEYWORDS
Hayao Miyazaki; Studio
Ghibli; animation;
romanticism; sublime
关键词
宫崎骏; 吉卜力工作室; 动
画; 浪漫主义; 崇高
1. Introduction
The sublime, as both an esthetic and philosophical notion, is one of the defining aspects
of European Romanticism. Dating back to the Greco-Roman tradition, the sublime has
endured over the centuries as it encapsulates a range of emotional experiences inherent to
the human condition. While existing in many different incarnations across various
CONTACT Brendan C. Walsh uqbwals2@uq.edu.au
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: EAST & WEST
2019, VOL. 3, NO. 2, 176–191
https://doi.org/10.1080/25723618.2019.1710941
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
cultures and periods, it was only under the Romantics that the full transcendental
phenomenon of the sublime was defined and articulated. When the sublime is invoked
in modern art forms, it is the Romantic incarnation that holds sway. One of the most
pertinent examples of this enduring legacy of the Romantic sublime is in the works of
animator Hayao Miyazaki (1941-). Among the pantheon of animators, few figures
command as much popular and scholarly attention as Hayao Miyazaki. Fronting the
Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli from 1985, Miyazaki has been involved with
some of the most critically acclaimed animated films in history. What sets the films of
Studio Ghibli apart from other animated works is the underlying ideology. Miyazaki’s
films are characterized by a distinct creative philosophy, expressed not only through the
characters or narrative, but also through Studio Ghibli’s unique style of animation
(Napier, Anime from Akira 153). At the center of this creative philosophy is Miyazaki’s
interpretation and presentation of the Romantic sublime: in all its many forms.
Miyazaki has been the subject of much scholarly analysis in the past few decades by
a number of the leading animation scholars, but there has been relatively little written on
this figure’s creative philosophy. As Miyazaki has become more familiar to audiences in
the West over the past two decades, the scholarship has developed alongside it. Scholars
such as Susan Napier and Helen McCarthy have been at the forefront of this scholarship,
examining the fundamental themes that underline Miyazaki’s filmography. In recent
years, Dani Cavallaro has emerged as the most prolific writer in this area. An impressive
body of work on Miyazaki now exists, covering his animation techniques, creative
process, and thematic concerns. However, the scholarship has not explicitly engaged
with his creative philosophy; a philosophy that has been profoundly shaped by European
Romanticism. Consequently, this paper addresses this gap in the scholarship by contextualizing
Studio Ghibli’s engagement with the Romantic sublime. It explores how the
Romantic sublime is presented within Miyazaki’s filmography, thereby identifying
a defining aspect of Miyazaki’s philosophy of artistic and creative expression. This is
accomplished by analyzing the thematic and visual elements of Miyazaki’s films, highlighting
how these particular films reflect, and embody, Romantic ideals. Miyazaki is
influenced by a number of different esthetic, artistic, and philosophical traditions of the
Romantic sublime that he fashions into a coherent creative philosophy. Thus, the
animator embodies the spirit of the Romantic sublime, rather than any one interpretation
of this concept. Each of the sections in this paper examines the sublime as it is
represented in a number of prominent Romantic tropes and traditions: the magical
imagination, the Romantic hero, and natural (spiritual) landscapes. In framing
Miyazaki’s creative philosophy through the lens of Romanticism and the sublime, this
paper establishes a fresh approach to the study of this figure that enables scholars to more
effectively analyze his substantial body of work.
2. The sublime in romantic thought
The term “Romanticism” is problematic. European Romanticism emerged as a distinct
philosophy in the 18th and 19th centuries, inspiring artists to produce some of the most
influential art and literature of the modern era. This movement was far from unified
though, existing rather as a series of overlapping schools of thought in Western Europe
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: EAST & WEST 177
that shared a common philosophical outlook. Interpretations of Romanticism as
a coherent ideology have increasingly been challenged over the last few decades, yet
the basic elements that have traditionally characterized the movement are still generally
agreed upon in modern academic discourse (Day 4). This paper frames Romanticism as
an intellectual movement that placed emphasis on individual artistic expressions of
emotion and imagination, particularly focusing on humanity’s relationship with nature
and spirituality. Here, Romanticism is defined in broad terms primarily as an artistic
movement underlined by an explicit spiritual and philosophical ideology. In turn, this
definition is also shaped by the Romantic interpretation of the sublime. The interpretation
of Romanticism in this paper is thus conceptualized primarily through the “historical”
Romantic sublime, rather than through the many other diffuse variations of this
concept that exist in contemporary discourse. Brady explains that while the sublime has
become “outmoded” in many disciplines, the fundamental principles of the Romantic
sublime remain central to contemporary esthetic, artistic, and philosophical discourses
(2–3). In postwar Japan, with its global turn, Romanticism has come to exert a powerful
influence on the creative arts. Susan Napier asserts that Miyazaki’s works express visuals
that verge on the “textbook definition of the sublime,” an illustration of Japan’s close
engagement with European art and literary traditions (Miyazakiworld 18, 192). The
Romantic sublime is therefore employed in this article as it maps so closely to
Miyazaki’s creative philosophy and provides a suitable theoretical framework for studying
this figure’s expansive filmography within the historical context of postwar Japan.
While the focus on this paper is the Romantic sublime, it is necessary to consider how
the sublime has been shaped within the Japanese context. Japan experienced its own
Romantic movement (Nihon Romanha) following the end of the Bakumatsu period in
the mid-nineteenth century. Reaching its peak in the early 1900s, Japanese Romanticism
drew upon the ideals of its European counterpart (particularly the German model) in an
attempt to construct a form of national identity during a period when both the state and
society were undergoing modernization. Populist interpretations of nationhood and
national identity were championed by individuals who were attracted to Romanticism
and it was these figures who established a form of Romantic nationalism for Japan (Doak
78). In this period, Romanticism was already a global–orientated movement and the
Japanese Romantics drew upon traditions that suited their own national objectives
(Kaffen 4). Writers such as Miyazaki Murryu, Komuro Angaido, and Koda Rohan,
were among some of the major Romantic nationalist writers, rising to prominence
with the Freedom and Popular Rights Movement in the 1880s, while also defining the
style of modern Japanese literature (Kurita 9–11).
Japanese Romanticism took a decisively different turn in the postwar era, with many
scholars hesitant to engage with anything too ideological or political. There was little
critical work undertaken until the 70s when Japanese scholars revived the study of
Romanticism, linking this to the prevailing contemporary sentiments of aspiration or
yearning (Okada 62–3). This revival was inspired by the “Japanese Economic Miracle,”
and the political and social context of the postwar era. This reading of Romanticism
would soon shift though, becoming more concerned about the challenges that the
Japanese people currently faced. Over the past few decades, this engagement with
Romanticism has continued to gain momentum. In the face of the perceived failings of
modern society – overindustrialization, collectivism, and widespread disillusionment –
178 B. C. WALSH
traditional Romantic notions have been embraced by many contemporary Japanese
artists and writers. Shintoism – with its unique spiritual connection to nature – also
comfortably accommodates Romantic conceptions of the natural sublime, thereby providing
a cultural model for the adaptation of European ideals. As Kaffen argues, Japanese
postwar Romanticism sought to “reveal the world beyond mediation [. . .] as spirit, will,
genius, the absolute, the infinite” (1–3). Miyazaki embodies many of these postwar
attitudes to Romanticism. It is thus in this post-modern landscape that Miyazaki’s
works became “part of [a] national debate in Japan during the 1970s through the 1990s
(and, indeed arguably, from the Meiji period opening to the West) about what it means to
be Japanese in an increasingly global world” (Napier, “Confronting Master Narratives”
474). As it was for the earlier Romantic writers, themes of cultural identity became
central to modern Japanese Romanticism and profoundly shaped artistic expression in
the late 20th century. Miyazaki’s films therefore develop out of, and reflect, this Japanese
postwar engagement with Romanticism.
The concept of the sublime first gained significant traction with Baroque art and
literature in the 17th century. Although, its incorporation into artistic criticism was only
fully realized through the translation of the 1st century Greek work De Sublimitate (On
the Sublime) by French poet and critic Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux in 1674. This text was
concerned with esthetics and literary criticism, positing that the sublime was a state of
being that an individual should aspire toward. It existed as a state of extreme emotion and
ecstasy, conveyed through powerful artistic expression. Edmund Burke’s 1757 treatise,
A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful,
characterized the sublime as a state of intensified emotion that transcended the surface
level of reality. In its German incarnation, das Erhabene, the sublime was more of a social
affect related to the overcoming of melancholy (Koster ix). However, this definition was
largely overtaken by the English estheticism that Burke established, as exemplified in the
works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In his 1773 essay, Von Deutscher Baukunst, the
sublime was described as a state of esthetic perfection found in nature that humans could
emulate. Goethe understood humans as subject to the greater harmony of nature, able to
peer into her secrets and produce “Genius” (Powers 49). He also challenged the displaced
personal subjectivity present in the German tradition, redefining das Erhabene by
incorporating the esthetic notions of the Burkean sublime (Koster, 39). Hence, the
sublime continued to develop as a multifaceted concept across a number of traditions
and cultures.
Immanuel Kant elaborated on the Burkean definition in his 1790 text, The Critique of
Judgement, by linking the sublime to the power of the human imagination and thereby
incorporating the esthetic sense into his moral philosophy. The natural world, seemingly
infinite in beauty and wonder, thus emerged as the logical catalyst for the sublime; this
concept permeating all through Romantic philosophy and developing as a defining
characteristic of the movement (McKusick 13). As expressed in Kant’s definition, it is
not nature itself that holds the sublime, but rather humanity’s relationship with this
natural realm (Vine 2). The natural and human worlds therefore share an almost sacred
bond in Romantic thought, this relationship cited as the source of artistic inspiration.
Within both English and German Romantic philosophy, the sublime further developed
into a state or experience beyond reality, encapsulating the ability of the imagination to
draw inspiration from nature and give birth to new forms of creative expression. William
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: EAST & WEST 179
Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and William Blake, along with individuals from
the “second generation” of English Romantics like Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and John
Keats, offered variations of this concept while still embracing the core Kantian definition.
There are in fact many different sublimes in Romanticism, yet these variations all share
a fundamental engagement with the natural, the spiritual, and transcendent experiences
of creative expression.
Moving forward to the present, the Romantic sublime emerges as a central element of
Miyazaki’s creative philosophy. Miyazaki’s filmography presents a unique interpretation
of the Romantic sublime, blending together elements of the English and German movements.
He does not seem to adhere to any particular definition of the sublime; rather, he
presents a broad understanding that draws on many different esthetic, artistic, and
philosophical interpretations. Miyazaki’s presentation of this concept is very much
a modern one, shaped by two centuries worth of scholarship on Romanticism and
tempered by his historical context. Miyazaki’s sublime, while drawing heavily from
such Romantic themes as artistic transcendence, the Romantic hero, and naturalism, is
also underlined by modern sentiments. The most notable of these sentiments is feminism,
which actually runs counter to many Romantic ideals. A number of Romantic
writers (Burke for example) defined the sublime as masculine in nature but Miyazaki’s
sublime is not specifically gendered. Because of this, the sublime as presented in the films
of Studio Ghibli is not as narrowly defined as its Romantic variations. It is decidedly more
permeable, reflecting upon all the previous incarnations that have come before it.
Accordingly, this paper outlines how the sublime has been adapted from its Romantic
origins and defined within the framework of Miyazaki’s creative philosophy.
3. The magical sublime
Miyazaki’s presentation of wonderous creative expression throughout his filmography is
deeply embedded within the Romantic tradition of the “magical sublime.” In English
Romanticism, magic was invoked as license for the powers of the “composing imagination”
(Covino 71). This interpretation of the sublime cast language as an animating and
magical force capable of enacting spiritual transcendence through the act of creative
expression. As Anya Taylor outlines, magic became a prominent metaphor for Romantic
writers, both as a symbol of “living” spiritual power and as a means to illustrate the
relationship between humans and the natural realm (16–17). Many Romantic figures
subscribed to the Neoplatonist conception of natural magic, which posited that power
and energy were drawn from the environment. Neoplatonism had been revived by the
Romantics as a reaction to prevailing Enlightenment opinions and the perceived trappings
of modern technologies, providing a philosophical foundation for their own cause
(Quinney 412). In this incarnation of Neoplatonism, magic – and by extension creative
thought – was performed by tapping into energies circulating beyond the material
bounds of reality. This type of magic was a means to unify humans with the natural,
infusing the material world with magical wonder (Sasser 63). This conception of magic
also maps closely to the philosophy of the “magical imagination” that developed into
a central theme in many Romantic works. Coleridge advocated the inert magical ability of
the human imagination, relating this to his theory of the “supernatural self” (Taylor
64–65). Wordsworth also wrote extensively on the sublime and its relationship to
180 B. C. WALSH
humanity. As he explained in his fragmentary 1811 essay, The Sublime and the Beautiful,
the mind could not fully comprehend the sublime on a purely conscious level: the mind
attempts “to grasp at something towards which it can make approaches but which it is
incapable of attaining” (356). In reaching out to the natural realm, Wordsworth wrote, an
individual loses their self and, in the process, enters into communion with the magical
sublime.
Miyazaki largely adheres to this Romantic interpretation of magic and the sublime,
with his films presenting these two concepts as synonymous with creative energy. In
Miyazaki’s artistic philosophy, imagination appears to be the primary guiding force of
magic with his characters seemingly having access to the invisible realm underneath the
surface of reality. As Cavallaro posits, “In granting his characters the capacity to bring
about magical phenomena – a power they often have unbeknownst to the them – the
director suggests that all imaginative human beings, not just born wizards and witches,
are drawn to their invisible as their ultimate treasurehouse” (Hayao Miyazaki’s World
Picture, 26). In a similar manner to Coleridge, Miyazaki asserts that the ability to engage
with the creative sublime lies in the deeper part of the human psyche. In a 2002 interview,
he described his creative process as such: “My way is not to use logic. I try to dig deep into
the well of my subconscious. At a certain moment in that process, the lid is opened and
very different ideas and visions are liberated” (in Mes n. pag.). A direct indication of this
sentiment can be seen in Hauru no Ugoku Shiro (Howl’s Moving Castle) – adapted from
the 1986 fantasy novel by Diane Wynne Jones. In this adaptation, Miyazaki builds on the
magical realist aspects present in the source material. Because of this, Howl’s Moving
Castle offers a valuable insight into Miyazaki’s interpretation of the magical sublime. As
this film establishes, magic is synonymous with creative energy and inherent to humanity
with the titular character – the enigmatic magician Howl – representative of this. Howl’s
interaction with the wondrous world around him frames magic as a means of creative
self-expression, only limited by his imagination. Howl’s treatment of magic in the film is
that of an imaginative contribution to the making of reality; essentially a conduit through
which creativity can be born (Cavallaro, Hayao Miyazaki’s World Picture, 28). Magic is
thus depicted in Howl’s Moving Castle as a metaphoric representation of the imagination,
able to tap into the sublime that exists beyond the material realm.
While characters like the wizard Howl directly illustrate how Miyazaki conceptualizes
magic in his films, there is much that can be said about how his own protagonists interact
with this magical sublime framework. Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro), released
in 1988, is perhaps one of the best examples on how Miyazaki conceptualizes magic and
the wondrous natural realm. My Neighbor Totoro focuses on two young girls as they
move to the countryside for the sake of their sick mother (based on the personal
experiences of Miyazaki himself). In this environment, Mei and her older sister Satsuki
are confronted with the realm of the supernatural; best epitomized in the forest creatures
of the totoro. Critics have suggested that this supernatural realm is merely the imagination
of the young girls, a testament to the limitless expression that is present in children
(Napier, Anime from Akira 157). To this effect, the fantastical events of the film: the first
glimpse of spirits when entering the new house, the discovery of the totoro realm in the
woods, the magical seed-raising dance of the forest creatures, and the ride on the
infamous “catbus” to find the missing Mei, can all be viewed as a coping mechanism of
sorts that allows the children to deal with the great psychological challenges facing them.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: EAST & WEST 181
As My Neighbor Totoro establishes, imagination is not only a means of furthering
oneself but also a means of empowerment against the harsh realities of life. The film has
a simple premise: the two girls seeking magic in the everyday world (McCarthy 137). Mei
and Satsuki’s connection with the natural world is one of the fundamental themes of the
film and it is this relationship that allows them to find solace from the realities of their
situation. My Neighbor Totoro demonstrates that magic and the sublime can be accessed
through the natural world but suggests that a certain type of emotional state is required to
do so; this state “perhaps best epitomized in the figure of a young girl” (Napier, Anime
from Akira 161). My Neighbor Totoro stands out in Miyazaki’s filmography as most
definitively capturing the creative power of children, emphasizing his conception of the
ideal Romantic hero and the connection that this figure shares with the magical sublime.
This link is paramount to understanding how Miyazaki’s conceptualizes and presents the
Romantic sublime in his films.
The Oscar winning Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away) also communicates
this theme of humanity possessing an inherent form of magic. Chihiro, the
protagonist, is initially presented as a timid young girl but once she is thrust into the
spirit world and has her name stripped from her (becoming known as Sen) she finds an
inner determination previously unbeknownst to her. As in My Neighbor Totoro, the
fantasy world that Chihiro is thrust into allowed her to overcome her own flaws and
insecurities. In the fantastical realm presented in Spirited Away, Miyazaki suggests that
only the imagination can allow humanity to rise above the inadequacies of modern
society (Napier, Anime from Akira 183). The magical entities she encounters are vestiges
of the sublime esthetic: Shinto gods and deities that have been stripped of their former
power due to the corruption of our modern, industrialized society (Freiberg n. pag.).
These kami (be it an animal spirit or a more powerful river god) represent a particular
aspect of the natural realm and therefore the sublime. By restoring their power and
reconnecting with the natural realm that these deities embody, Chihiro is also able to
realize her inner potential. Miyazaki’s treatment of magic and the fantastical is thus
largely metaphoric, drawing from the literary traditions of Romantic ideology and the
concept of the magical, imaginative sublime.
4. The sublime and the romantic hero
In presenting the wonders of the magical sublime on screen, Miyazaki’s protagonists
function as the conduit through which this transcendental experience is realized. With
this, Miyazaki invokes the close relationship between the Romantic sublime and the literary
tradition of the Romantic hero. The Romantic hero emerged as an idealized figure of artistic
creation, simultaneously developing as a noble and tortured character archetype that rallied
against cultural norms. Due to the fallibility of humanity, this interpretation of the sublime
was predicated on profound emotional experiences and moments of awe and terror.
Therefore, the Romantic hero archetype was closely attuned to the underlying primal
energy of nature and could thus draw upon pools of creative inspiration that few individuals
were capable of. While drawing inspiration from this archetype, Miyazaki’s Romantic
hero is so often embedded in a model of childhood and adolescence. As Cavallaro asserts,
Miyazaki understanding of childhood is one of a “transhistorical, collective state” in which
the child is a “repository of special faculties” that allows them to tap into a form of creative
182 B. C. WALSH
power that is lost in the transition to adulthood (Cavallaro, Hayao Miyazaki’s World
Picture, 29). This form of the Romantic hero seems to echo William Blake’s Romantic
model of innocence. In the first half of the 1789 collection of poems, Songs of Innocence and
of Experience, Blake presents childhood as a state of blissful innocence in harmony with
nature, while also vulnerable to the harsh realities of the material world. In his 1795–5
essays, On Naïve and Sentimental Poetry, Schiller likewise posits that the ideal poetic state
was to be found in the naivete of children. To Schiller, the naïve poet is able to connect and
navigate through the natural realm in a manner that the “experienced” individual cannot.
As is characteristic of Miyazaki, his use of Romantic concepts does not draw on any one
philosophical, esthetic, or artistic model, but exists more as a consolidation of different
English and German literary traditions.
This character archetype featured in so many of Miyazaki’s works can thus be understood
as his interpretation of the Romantic hero, manifesting as a child or adolescent.
The Studio Ghibli protagonists examined in this paper are closely attuned to the creative
energies of the natural realm, fashioned in the tradition of Romantic heroes. These
characters are bestowed with a level of creative (youthful) intuition that allows them to
engage with the natural world on a purely instinctive basis, enabling the impossible to
become reality. Many of Miyazaki’s films can thus be seen as his attempts to embody the
creative spirit of childhood: “If, as artists, we try to tap into that soul level – if we say that
life is worth living and the world is worth living in – then something good might come of
it. Maybe that’s what these films are doing. They are my way of blessing the child”
(Miyazaki in Brooks n. pag.). It is through his disillusionment with modern society that
youth, or rather the nostalgia for youth, becomes a sacred and transcendent experience.
The boundless imagination of children is acknowledged by Miyazaki as the ideal state for
artistic creation. In exploring the creative ingenuity of humans throughout his films,
Miyazaki therefore honors youth as the ideal period of creative expression and the
idealized state in which one can reach out and experience the sublime.
In this model of the Romantic hero, Miyazaki invokes the imagination and sense of
enchantment attributed to adolescence, and links this to a sentiment of boundless possibility.
This notion of limitless possibility is often tempered by a feminine sensibility.
Miyazaki constantly attempts to subvert traditional generic tropes in his films, portraying
females (usually young girls) in the roles that would usually be filled by males. His
protagonists are often girls on the cusp of womanhood that are confronted with the reality
of conforming to societal norms and conventions. Through this, their childlike sense of
innocence and wonder are challenged by their burgeoning adulthood. The young females
in Miyazaki’s films can be understood as conduits through which the promise of magical
alternatives are mediated and communicated with the audience, allowing them to imaginatively
participate in the vision that he has created (Cavallaro, The Late Works of Hayao
Miyazaki, 154). These characters can be considered as “youths wearing shōjo (girl) masks”
as they display behavior common to both traditional gender roles (in Eureka n. pag).
Miyazaki’s female protagonists are thus a combination of both feminine and masculine
attributes, representing an idealized view of childhood and adolescence. In this sense,
Miyazaki’s Romantic hero emerges from the Romantic “expressivity view” of the artist as
a conduit for creative inspiration, rather than strictly as a specific personality (Day 49).
In illustrating the relationship between the Romantic hero and the sublime, Miyazaki
frequently employs the visual and thematic metaphor of flight. Romantic artists had
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: EAST & WEST 183
a distinctive habit of characterizing their selves as eagles or other winged creatures, and
Miyazaki’s fascination with flight thus follows in this tradition (Ferber 7). The flight
scenes in Studio Ghibli films are projected against horizons of endless blues and lush
clouds, giving full sensation to the weightlessness of these motions. Miyazaki’s animation
techniques thereby evoke awe and wonder at a world whose vastness and depth are
somehow ungraspable (LaMarre 62). Napier argues that the motif of flight – along with
all the associated connotations of the act – has a deeper meaning for Miyazaki’s
protagonists (Anime from Akira 168). Flight often provides the viewer with a brief
glimpse at the “true” nature of a character, as both the inner and outer journeys of
Miyazaki’s protagonists are mirrored in the visual image of flight (Osmond 60). Cavallaro
notes that the director “often captures the frisson of flight in a more symbolic fashion by
means of fantasy sequences, where flight is not dependent on contraptions, but rather on
otherworldly phenomena” (The Late Works of Hayao Miyazaki, 143). LaMarre agrees
with this point, forwarding that Miyazaki gives prominence to means of flight that rely on
minimal technology. That is not to say that Miyazaki rejects technology as many of the
Romantics did, but that he celebrates flying contraptions that act in complete unison with
humans (61–2). To Miyazaki, flight is synonymous with imagination and creativity,
a transcendence of personal limitations and a testament to the wonders of the imagination.
It creates an ideal of “boundless possibility in which emotions, imagination, and
sometimes even technology [. . .] combine to offer hope of a potentially attainable
alternative world that transcends our own” (Napier, Anime from Akira 168). It is through
flight that the sublime is articulated in Miyazaki’s works, representing unbound possibilities
and creative freedom.
One of Miyazaki’s earliest works, Kaze no Tani no Naushika (Nausicaä of the Valley of
the Wind), presents the archetype for his many Romantic heroes. The character of
Nausicaä, drawn from Homer’s Odyssey, is essentially an amalgam of Eastern and
Western mythological traditions, woven together to form a new mythology of sorts
(DeWeese-Boyd 1). Nausicaä has also been a symbolic figure for many European
Romantics, encapsulating the qualities that they sought to define their own Romantic
heroes with. While embodying the imagery of the Homeric Nausicaä, Miyazaki’s characterization
is largely drawn from the heroine of the eleventh century fable Mushi
Meduru Hime-gimi (The Lady who Loved Insects). The resulting figure is a subversion
of the traditional shōjo archetype, the first of many empowered female protagonists for
Miyazaki. However, Nausicaä is perhaps the outlier of Miyazaki’s female leads. While
appearing as a complex character, Nausicaä is a paragon of nobility and lacks the subtle
characterization that Miyazaki establishes in his subsequent films. However, within the
confines of this narrative – with its epic scale and heavy themes – her noble character is
entirely fitting. In this sense, Nausicaä is very much a film of female empowerment with
Miyazaki crafting a strong feminine character in a narrative form that has been traditionally
male dominated. As evident of this: one of the visuals presented to the viewer in
the very first moments of the film is a wide shot of the open sky with a glider soaring
through the air, evoking a sense of power, freedom and limitless possibility (Napier,
Anime from Akira 166). Nausicaä herself is a powerful symbol of this hope and can thus
be understood as Miyazaki’s modern archetype of the noble Romantic hero.
Conversely, Majo no Takkyūbin (Kiki’s Delivery Service) provides a more nuanced
examination of Miyazaki’s model of the Romantic hero. Kiki’s Delivery Service uses flight,
184 B. C. WALSH
in both a literal and abstract sense, to explore the theme of childhood with much of the
internal conflict of the film based around this concept. The plot involves a young witch
moving to a seaside town to begin her training: marking her transition into adulthood
and initiating a quest of self-discovery. The presence of magic in the world of this film
draws its influences from traditional European folklore and fantasy, traditions that are
increasingly coming into conflict with technological advancement and modernity. This is
a pertinent example of Miyazaki’s use of magical realist elements. Much of the film is
concerned with Kiki attempting to rediscover her passion for magical flight, a metaphor
for creative ambition. Like the frustrated artist trope in Romantic literature, Kiki must
undergo a journey of personal development to regain her talent. Flight, as McCarthy
asserts, is a metaphor with a triple purpose in Kiki’s Delivery Service – for independence,
for the loneliness of being different, and also for talent of any kind (157). Kiki is thereby
depicted as a somewhat different form of Romantic hero from Nausicaä: demonstrating
the same noble characteristics yet facing inner demons rather than tangible ones. Her
journey is a reflection of the anxieties facing young people today, while also a celebration
of the inner strength that humanity possesses. Such struggles are integral to his depiction
of the Romantic hero, with Nausicaä and Kiki emerging as two different interpretations
of this character archetype.
5. The sublime in natural and romantic landscapes
In his visuals of boundless horizons or with the awe-inspiring beauty of forests and
waterways, Miyazaki mediates humanity’s experience of the sublime through nature.
Miyazaki’s ecological philosophy illustrates a close engagement with Romantic philosophies
of nature and these ideals profoundly shape his artistic expression. In comparison
to the other variations of the sublime presented in this paper, this model of the sublime is
primarily concerned with the spiritual as mediated through the material, natural realm.
The understanding of nature within traditional Romantic discourse is quite broad in
scope but Miyazaki’s draws specifically on sentiments of spirituality and nostalgia
(McKusick 414). Nature existed as a manifestation of the divine (whatever form this
may take) in Romanticism, with the sublime encapsulating this essence. The relationship
between humanity and nature therefore emerged as a deeply spiritual union in the
Romantic tradition. Miyazaki presents nature as a divinely inspired realm, intrinsically
linked with the spiritual origins of humanity and the magical sublime. The treatment of
creative thought in the films of Studio Ghibli is often framed through Miyazaki’s
environmental ideals – humanity’s connection with nature depicted as the source of
artistic and creative inspiration. Miyazaki’s naturalism is heavily influenced by the
historical ecological narrative of Sasuke Nishio, who hypothesized that the dense evergreen
oak forests of the Jomon period were sustainable enough for humans and animals
to co-exist in relative peace (Mayumi et al. 2). To Miyazaki, these forests are a buried
archetypal memory for the Japanese, an ancient spiritual force intertwined with the
national psyche (Napier, “Confronting Master Narratives” 484–5). This notion of peaceful
co-existence with nature is one of the most prominent legacies of the Romantic period
and it is significant that it remains as a central pillar of Miyazaki’s worldview.
The presentation of the Romantic sublime in Miyazaki’s natural landscapes is also
shaped by notions of magical realism. Like Romanticism, magical realism is also a term
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: EAST & WEST 185
that is difficult to define. It primarily denotes a “realistic” world where strange and
magical phenomenon manifest. The Romantic sublime has a central place within magical
realism in that it presents the natural realm as the appropriate location of transcendence
(Sasser 54–55). Natural landscapes can thus be identified as gateways to the supernatural,
the point where the boundary between the materialistic and spiritual realm becomes
blurred. It is through the magical reality of Miyazaki’s worlds that the sublime is filtered.
Miyazaki’s animated worlds emerge from the dissolution of one another, with many of
his films using this transition as a metaphor for personal journeys or acts of transformation
(Napier, Anime from Akira 156). Each of Miyazaki’s films are able to make the
fantastical seem plausible, presenting landscapes that emerge fully formed through
a combination of imaginative constructions and careful attention to verisimilitude: the
“immediate area between in which the fictional and imaginary combine” (Nemoianu
298). Andrew Osmond, using animation historian Giannalberto Bendazzi’s distinction,
asserts that Miyazaki’s work tends to copy reality rather than existing as plausible
impossibility (Osmond 59; Bendazzi 65). Many of Miyazaki’s worlds are therefore
recognizable as an amalgamation of many real-world contexts, blended with the fantastical
so as to create a unique setting. In Miyazaki’s filmography, Kiki and Totoro are the
most pertinent examples of magical realism. With these two films, the boundary between
realism and magic is decisively blurred, creating tension and allowing Miyazaki to
creatively address real world issues and highly conceptualized philosophical notions.
While these films are set against a fantastical backdrop, they remain grounded in reality
as the ordeals that the characters face are representative of the many challenges that
humans face in their lifetime.
To this effect, the films of Studio Ghibli demonstrate an uncanny ability to encapsulate
the magic and small moments of wonder in everyday life. These films are renowned for
these particular moments which stand out from the conventional milieu of Japanese and
Western animations. These quiet periods in which the characters are seemingly just
standing around and taking in the scenery, accompanied only by natural sounds or
minimal scoring, allows the audience to imagine their selves in the context of the film.
Carbullido interprets these scenes through the esthetic concept of “aware”: a meeting point
where Japanese spirituality and esthetics converge, enabling communion between the
human world and the world of the divine (65). This concept maps closely to how the
sublime has been characterized in this paper. When Mei and Satsuki are exploring the
forest beyond their new house in the early stages of My Neighbor Totoro, the scene settles
on the serene image of a softly flowing brook. This scene does not advance the plot, but it
forces the audience to simply enjoy the innate beauty of the moment on its own. In
instances like these, Miyazaki seems to be explicitly drawing our attention to the magic of
everyday life and the fleeting moments of transcendence that emerges from said occurrences.
This in itself is blurring the conventional conflict between reality and fantasy,
encouraging viewers to embrace the beauty present all around them (Cavallaro, The Anime
Art of Hayao Miyazaki 6). Kant would consider this moment “beautiful” rather than the
sublime, “the sublime touches, the beautiful charms,” but Miyazaki seems to conflate these
two categories into a broader understanding of this concept (16). As has been illustrated
throughout this paper, Miyazaki’s interpretation and use of Romantic concepts encompasses
a number of different English and German variations, filtered through the lens of his
postwar Japanese context.
186 B. C. WALSH
This Japanese context is fundamental to the spirituality of Studio Ghibli films. The
Romantic sublime was explicitly shaped by religious and spiritual notions and this is
echoed in Miyazaki’s own creative philosophy (Nemoianu 393). Even though Miyazaki’s
films are constructs of both Eastern and Western culture, traditional elements of Japanese
culture are firmly ingrained within all Studio Ghibli productions. The presentation of
Japanese spirituality in Miyazaki’s films is exemplified in his visual and thematic depiction
of kami. Within Shintoism, kami refers to spirits or divine beings that are personifications
of nature or the dead. Every sentient and non-sentient being embodies kami,
linking humans and the spiritual realm with one another. From the bizarre array of
minor deities in Spirited Away, to the playful totoro of My Neighbor Totoro, and with the
powerful forest spirits of Mononoke-hime (Princess Mononoke), Miyazaki’s full creative
talents are on display in bringing these divine beings into motion. There are indeed
striking similarities in how Miyazaki frames kami and the Romantic sublime. For
instance, the expression kannagara no michi (way of the gods) means to be in harmony
with the spiritual world and this is a philosophy deeply rooted within European
Romanticism. In drawing from the Romantic sublime, Miyazaki also infuses it with
understandings of Shintoism, thereby creating a composite of both. Bigelow asserts that
this a belief system that “is reclaimed by Miyazaki as a kind of metaphysics of historical
materialism that enables him to articulate a morality of respect for the Other, both
human and non-human, without being bound by dogmatic or culturally specific moral
absolutes” (57). Therefore, Miyazaki’s depiction of kami underlines his interpretation of
the Romantic sublime.
Princess Mononoke stands as the definitive example of kami and Japanese spirituality
within Miyazaki’s films. Here, Miyazaki presents a revisionist national mythology for
the Japanese people as shaped by traditional Shinto beliefs. The semantic meaning
behind this film’s title alone highlights Miyazaki’s engagement with spirituality.
Mononoke, as a term, is an expression of the primordial untamed energy existing in
the world, and thus has strong parallels with the Romantic sublime (Papp 40).
Furthermore, Mononoke-hime can also be directly translated to “possessed princess,”
referring to the deep spiritual connection between the character San and the spirit
world (Whitley 12). In particular, the thematic aspects of Princess Mononoke conveys
Miyazaki’s engagement with naturalism and spirituality. This film carries a powerful
warning about humanity’s retreat from their naturalized and spiritual origins, establishing
a dichotomy between the expanding human cities of the late Muromachi period
and the kami of the forests. By encroaching on the natural landscape with their iron
structures and firearms, humans are depicted as abandoning their own connection with
nature. In this sense, the destruction of nature is also the destruction of the human soul
(Bigelow 89). The forests of this film are depicted as flourishing with spiritual life, such
as the enigmatic tree-dwelling kodami and the awe-inspiring Shishigami (Great Forest
Spirit). One of the key scenes of Princess Mononoke focuses on the Great Forest Spirit
striding slowly through the forest, flowers blooming under its feet with each step before
dying away just as quickly. In this one scene, the animation perfectly encapsulates the
beauty and deeply spiritual power of nature as articulated in this creature: a literal
incarnation of the natural. As such, the kami of Miyazaki’s films can be read as explicit
metaphoric and visual expressions of his Romantic ideals concerning spirituality,
nature, and the sublime.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: EAST & WEST 187
Miyazaki’s spiritual engagement with the natural world can also be seen in Nausicaä of
the Valley of the Wind. Nausicaä is among one of Studio Ghibli’s most visually distinctive
productions, perhaps the most striking depiction of the sublime within a natural landscape.
In Nausicaä, Miyazaki effectively creates a natural world that is simultaneously
strange and familiar, and this unique environment is continually placed in focus. For
instance, the first five minutes of the film are almost purely esthetic with only a few lines
of dialogue spoken; the protagonist’s face almost totally concealed by a breathing apparatus.
Here, the audience shares the awe of this solitary figure traversing through the
depths of an immense, otherworldly forest (Osmond 65). At many points during this
scene the figure pauses to take in the beauty of her surroundings, another example of
what Sherri Carbullido (2013) would describe as the “aware” moment. More so, this
environment is the very embodiment of the Romantic conception of a magical natural
landscape. The forests of this world teem with otherworldly life and vibrant poisonous
plants that are animated with such intricate detail, depicting a seemingly alien yet
perfectly natural ecological system. However, despite this initial impression of strangeness,
the plant and animal life present in the film move in a realistic fashion and are
firmly grounded in the natural world (McCarthy 77). Thus, in Nausicaä, Miyazaki creates
a landscape that transcends the materialistic world, existing as a location where the
magical wonder of the sublime is able to be accessed and experienced.
Like Princess Mononoke, Nausicaä is primarily focused on the breakdown of relations
between humanity and nature. What is different in this film is that Nausicaä highlights the
dire spiritual and ecological consequences of this breakdown. Outside of the pockets of
wondrous and densely populated toxic forests, the landscape of Nausicaä is largely barren
and desolate. This is a post-apocalyptic world, affirming the central Romantic fear of the
natural landscape disappearing into, and subsequently being destroyed by, a new world of
industrialization and urbanization. Blake and Wordsmith, to name just a few Romantic
figures, wrote extensively on this theme. Both “first generation” English Romantics rallied
against the onslaught of technical innovation and urbanization taking place in Britain
during the late 18th century. Blake’s poem “London” in Songs of Innocence and Experience
depicts a manmade landscape full of dreariness, where even the natural flow of the Thames
is “charter’d” (2). Wordsworth‘s “The Tables Turned” presents a similar sentiment,
bemoaning the corruption of the natural at the hands of humanity: “Our Meddling
intellect/Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:-/We murder to dissect” (26–28).
Miyazaki echoes these sentiments, with Nausicaä presenting human civilization as having
destroyed itself and nature through their mistreatment of technology. However, the film
does conclude on an idealistic note, with Nausicaä becoming a messiah figure of sorts:
bridging the gap between humanity and nature. In this instance, Miyazaki elevates
Nausicaä from a Romantic hero to a Romantic savior figure; one who is capable of
reaffirming the balance between humans and nature. With Nausicaä, Miyazaki’s engagement
with spirituality and the natural is at its most idealistic, articulating many of the core
elements of Miyazaki’s creative philosophy and his interpretation of Romantic traditions.
6. Conclusion
As this paper has illustrated, Hayao Miyazaki’s creative philosophy has been profoundly
shaped by the literary, philosophical, and artistic traditions of European
188 B. C. WALSH
Romanticism. Specifically, Miyazaki’s engagement with Romanticism can be characterized
by his interpretation of the Romantic sublime, a concept inherently linked to the
Romantic traditions of the Romantic hero, the magical imagination, and the natural
realm. This paper has committed to no single definition of the sublime, instead
presenting it as a product of artistic and philosophical exchanges across different
cultures and time periods. This approach has been necessary as Miyazaki does not
commit to a single definition. Rather, he embodies the spirit of the Romantic sublime.
His filmography draws upon prominent aspects of both the English and German
Romantic movements, while also being shaped by the cultural conditions of his own
time. The films discussed in this paper all provide insight into how Miyazaki has
articulated these Romantic traditions within his own creative philosophy. In studying
these films through a conceptual framework of the Romantic sublime, it has been
possible to more accurately reflect upon this creative philosophy and how Miyazaki
conceptualizes the act of artistic expression.
What has also become apparent in this paper is that Miyazaki is a Romantic figure in
his own right. His understanding of nature and creative expression are strikingly similar
to the underlying philosophies of English and German Romanticism and, either consciously
or not, Romantic themes continue to characterize his work. Through his films,
the Romantic incarnation of the sublime continues to resonate and provide meaning to
the pressing issues of modernity. From his nearly three-decade role as the creative and
artistic director of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki has developed a filmography that
projects a fully developed creative philosophy. It is entirely fitting that through the
medium of animation – perhaps the ultimate form of unbridled creative expression –
that Miyazaki chose to dedicate his life to; his accomplishments in this arena ensuring
that he will be remembered as one of the greats of world cinema.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Dr. Brendan C. Walsh is an intellectual historian based at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the
Humanities, within the University of Queensland, Australia. His research interests are largely
concerned with early modern English demonology, focusing on demonic possession, exorcism,
witchcraft, spiritual healing, and the controversial Puritan figure John Darrell.
ORCID
Brendan C. Walsh http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9371-3007
Filmography
Kaze no Tani no Naushika [Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind]. Hayao Miyazaki. Tokyo: Toei
Company. 1984.
Tonari no Totoro [My Neighbour Totoro]. Hayao Miyazaki. Tokyo: Studio Ghibli. 1988.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: EAST & WEST 189
Majo no Takkyūbin [Kiki’s Delivery Service]. Hayao Miyazaki. Tokyo: Studio Ghibli. 1989. Studio
Ghibli.
Mononoke-hime [Princess Mononoke]. Hayao Miyazaki. Tokyo: Studio Ghibli. 1997. Studio Ghibli.
Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi [Spirited Away]. Hayao Miyazaki. Tokyo: Studio Ghibli. 2001.
Hauru no Ugoku Shiro [Howl’s Moving Castle]. Hayao Miyazaki. Tokyo: Studio Ghibli. 2005.
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