Five real-life locations that inspired Hayao Miyazaki’s films
Hayao Miyazaki is an enigma, an auteur animator, and a teller of tales beyond our wildest fantasies. He founded the acclaimed Studio Ghibli in 1985 and made some of the greatest animated films of all time at the studio.
The legendary animator has drawn respect from all corners of the globe and is partially responsible for the widespread popularity of anime in the Western world. Amongst his most remarkable works are Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro and Princess Mononoke, all of which have left an indelible mark on both animation and cinema as a whole.
While those films have garnered swathes of fans over the year for their emotional storytelling, innovative animation and unique art direction, their actual settings are perhaps what helped to create worlds that are all too easy to get lost in and believe are real.
The truth is that several of Miyazaki’s films’ settings have been inspired by various real-life locations, from the luscious forests outside Tokyo to the sub-tropical islands of Japan, via the cities of Sweden, so let’s take a closer look at five of them now.
Five real-life locations that inspired Hayao Miyazaki’s films:
Sayama Hills – My Neighbour Totoro
One of Miyazaki’s most beloved films is 1988’s My Neighbour Totoro, which tells of an academic’s two young daughters and their interactions with the amiable kami woodland spirits in the Japanese countryside after the end of World War II.
The film is set in an idyllic rural setting, and Miyazaki was inspired by the Sayama Hills, a beautiful vista of greenery in the Saitama prefecture of Tokyo. The forest park now contains a life-sized Totoro to greet visitors to the park, as well as a gift shop. Simply beautiful.
Dogo Onsen – Spirited Away
It would be hard to argue that 2001’s Spirited Away is not the quintessential Studio Ghibli film. Miyazaki’s masterpiece concerns a young girl Chihiro who ventures into the world of Shinto folklore spirits when her parents are turned into pigs for their display of greed.
Chihiro ends up taking a job in a bathhouse, one of the most iconic of Miyazaki’s cinematic settings. The bathhouse took inspiration from its real-life counterpart – the Dogo Onsen in Matsumaya, a beautiful building that frequently housed a high order of clientele, including the Japanese Imperial family.
Yakushima – Princess Mononoke
The film with arguably the most significant cultural impact would likely be Princess Mononoke, released in 1997. Although the film is set in the Muromachi period of Japan’s history (1335 – 1573 AD), it also includes several references to Japanese mythology and fantasy.
The film examines the consequences of not respecting the natural world and takes inspiration from a beautiful island just off the southernmost point of Japan. Yakushima contains one of the oldest evergreen forests in the world and is revered for its mythological and divine beauty. A perfect setting for Miyazaki’s cautionary tale.
Gotland – Kiki’s Delivery Service
Where most of Miyazaki’s films explore Japanese culture and motifs, 1989’s Kiki’s Delivery Service favoured a more European outlook. The film was based on a novel by Eiko Kadono, set in a non-specific Northern European city, hence the Western look to the film.
In order to prepare for the production of the film, Miyazaki and his co-animators took a research trip to Stockholm and the island of Gotland in Sweden. The research paid dividends, and Kiki’s Delivery Service is lent the weight of providing a truly unique visual experience.
Kamikochi Imperial Hotel – The Wind Rises
Miyazaki was supposed to retire with 2013’s The Wind Rises (he can’t seem to stop creating beautiful works of art, it seems), which tells of the designer of a fighter aircraft used by the Japanese Armed Forces in World War II.
Two vital scenes of the film occur at a fictional hotel inspired by a real-life luxury lodging named the Kamikochi Imperial Hotel, found near the Japanese Alps. The inspiration is evident, from the beautiful design, right down to the fact that both hotels opened in 1933.
