As the world's premier animation power, Japanese animation has gradually formed its own unique national cultural characteristics in the process of development, whether it is the ups and downs of the plot, the character with a distinct temperament, the beautiful and fresh painting style, have become Japan's unique cultural symbols.
Miyazaki is known as "Akira Kurosawa in the animation world", his works focus on using a fresh and natural painting style to show the daily life of life, from the subtle touches the audience's inner world, in his film masterpiece "Totoro", through the "paddy field", "Inari", "fox" these three elements to show the traditional Japanese Inari civilization.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > inari worship</h1>
The God of Inari, also known as the God of Uga's Imperial Soul, Mikura Ina's Soul Destiny, is known as the "God of the Three Foxes" in folklore, and is the god of grain and food in traditional Japanese mythology, who is mainly responsible for the harvest of Kuraya in Japan.
The "rice" of Inari Shrine refers to rice, while "lotus" refers to the load, load.
In Zhang Heng's "Tokyo Fu" of the Han Dynasty, there is such a sentence: "The heavy responsibility of the world under the lotus world"; in the "Liezi Tang Qing", there is also an explanation of "lotus with a staff".
It can be seen that people believe in the Inari Shrine, and more believe that it can bring people more harvests and "carry more rice" for people.
In Japan, many people engaged in farming believe in the god Inari, and according to incomplete statistics, there are more than 80,000 shrines in Japan alone, and there are 32,000 shrines about the god Inari.
One of the most famous is the Fukan Inari Shrine in Kyoto, Japan, where you can see a variety of fox sculptures, and every year there are various festivals such as the Inari Festival and the Year Dan Festival.
In the movie "Totoro", Xiaomei and Xiaoyue sisters stand on the station "Inari-mae" waiting for their father, and behind the tree is written "Inari Daimyō". The display of these details can give the audience a clearer understanding of the Japanese Inari faith.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Messenger of the God Ofari: Fox</h1>
The fox is the messenger of the god Inari and the god of agriculture worshiped by the Japanese.
Japan's Inari shrine tradition originated in China.
According to the "Customs and Customs", "Waxers, hunters also." Because of the hunting of the beast to sacrifice the ancestors, or the laches, the new old handover, the hunting of the great sacrifice to repay the merits also. ”
In the pre-Qin period in China, there was the belief in "wax sacrifice". The ancients hunted every lunar month, using the prey they caught to pay homage to their ancestors in order to obtain a good harvest in the coming year.
Unlike China, Japan belongs to the island country, volcanic earthquakes and other natural disasters occur frequently, there are few primitive animals, so after the Qin people crossed to Japan, when the Chinese "animal sacrifice" custom was brought to Japan, Japan chose the fox as the object of the agricultural god sacrifice and named it "agricultural god".
Whether it is China or Japan, fox belief is a basic part of farming culture, Japan as a rice country, the formation of many folk customs and culture has a natural connection with farming culture.
After World War II, in order to protect and promote the development of agriculture, Japan used supernatural phenomena such as "fox worship" to paint a layer of mythology on the farming culture, which was used to alleviate social instability and consolidate Japan's agricultural cultivation and development.
In the movie "Totoro", although the role of the fox does not appear, however, in many details, the element of the fox appears.
For example, behind the god Inari Daimyō, there are several sculptures of foxes, and the fox god is called Gozen Inari, symbolizing the belief in the gods of good fortune and prosperity in the coming year.
In addition to Totoro, in many Anime in Japan, there is adoration and display of the anthropomorphism of the fox.
For example, the cute seven treasures in "InuYasha", it is an anthropomorphic fox image, with a fox tail and feet, is a clever and eccentric little fox demon, vivid and cute, won the love of many viewers;
For example, the little fox in the anime "Natsume's Friend's Account", whose mother died, was often bullied by other yokai, and after being rescued by Natsume, it hid its ears and tail, which could transform into a human form, and gradually became stronger after going through training.
This anthropomorphic image of the fox represents a kind of "human" hope for foxes, and in many movies, they are no longer on top, but with the protagonists, growing up with the protagonists with their kindness and wisdom.
Such an emotional and attitude shift reflects the change of Japanese attitude towards fox worship and even Inari worship to a certain extent, and in today's increasingly entertaining atmosphere, diversified and complex fox images can meet the "entertainment needs" of the public to a greater extent.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > paddy field</h1>
"Totoro" takes place in the countryside of Showa 30 years in Japan.
In the movie "Totoro", there have been many scenes of people farming in the fields. Xiaoyue Xiaomei's mother fell ill and was hospitalized, and her father took them to live in the countryside.
In this dreamy field, the film appears many times in the scene of farming, or a close-up of a paddy field, or a farmer's cultivation.
Blue sky and white clouds, green grass and trees, under such natural scenery, a scene of rural vitality is presented in front of the audience.
In Japan's Shinto concept, it is similar to the Taoist thought of our country, paying attention to the harmonious coexistence of man and nature, paying attention to respecting the natural trajectory of things, and having animism.
Director Hayao Miyazaki used the paddy fields, a representative element of the farming season, to show people's deep-seated worship of inari.
When Dad took Xiaoyue and Xiaomei to express their gratitude to the camphor tree, the temples and stone tablets passed along the way, and the little sisters sacrificed the landlord on the residential land surrounded by paddy fields, and begged the otaku ginseng to allow them to "rest" again to avoid the rain.
The paddy fields represent Japan's farming culture, and the harvest of crops in the paddy fields is inseparable from the protection of the gods of nature, and it is precisely because of the blessing of the god inari that there is a good harvest in the coming year.
In order to harvest the barn, it is necessary to get the permission of the otaku god, and the symbol of the paddy field in the movie is both the farming culture and the people's ardent expectations for the abundance of grains, etc., reflecting the worship of inari.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > torii</h1>
The Torii Gate, an annex to a Japanese shrine, also represents the entrance to shinji.
In Japanese culture, torii gate resembles a "gate" and is similar to the word "kai", a Japanese-style building similar to a Chinese archway.
Torii Gate exists more to remind visitors that entering this place is equivalent to entering the God Domain, and their every move must be supervised by the gods.
In the Japanese anime "Totoro", the image of the fox that appears many times is scarlet, including the sculpture of the fox and the scarlet roof, so the traditional color is not Miyazaki's empty wind, but the traditional Japanese shrine culture that the director conveys to the audience.
For these farmers, what they are most looking forward to is that the wind and rain will be smooth and the warehouse will be full, including the scarlet torii gate that appears on the movie screen at the beginning of the movie, which can reflect the Inari belief in traditional Japanese culture.
It is worth mentioning that the torii gates of Inari Shrine are uniformly scarlet, and if the harvest is better, many people will dedicate a torii gate to the shrine, so the torii gate in front of the Inari Shrine that we often see is very eye-catching, showing the status quo of several rows or even dozens of rows, and even thousands of torii gates, from the foot of the mountain to the top of the spectacular scene.
Hayao Miyazaki's films mention Torii gate many times, and in Spirited Away, Chihiro and her family drive into the jungle and pass through a torii gate, which also means that they will leave the human realm and enter the "god realm", so there is a series of bizarre experiences that Chihiro later had.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks:</h1>
Images and elements such as paddy fields, torii gates, and foxes become the three main factors that make up the cult of Inari in the film.
While creating an idyllic picture of beautiful scenery for everyone, Miyazaki also presented the audience with the traditional beliefs of Japan, reflecting the cultural characteristics of this nation, and awakening the audience's deep awe of nature and ecology.