Princess Mononoke: A window into the Soul of Japan

This is one of the presentations I did at Cornerstone Festival in June. "Princess Monoke" is an outstanding anime movie produced by Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. My perspective is that the Mononoke story is rooted in Japanese mythology/beliefs and therefore reveals "the soul of Japan."

I don't know if this video, actually a slide show, "works" or not. There is no audio so it is just an outline, but it does include some photos. There are also a couple of technical glitches I know not how to fix. So, it is as it is. If you have seen "Pincess Mononoke you will get something out of this. If you haven't seen it, you probably won't get a thing out of it. If you think it is lame, let me know and I will delete it (two votes for "delete" will probably be enough to get it off this blog). On the other hand, if you think its good, let me know that too.

Reflections on Cornerstone Festival 07 by Nancy Nethercott

Cornerstone is big, it is also eclectic, which makes it difficult to imagine it unless you experience it. There are a large number of venues/stages where all kinds of concerts, workshops and other events are taking place simultaneously, all day, and late into the night.
Two of those venues are called Flickerings (primarily a place to show movies) and Imaginarium (mostly for workshops). It was these two venues that featured Japanese pop culture.

Nancy’s Cornerstone Festival experience: I went into the week wondering what I would get out of an event like this and was thrilled with what I found there. For starters, Paul's workshops targeted American youth and adults who are fans of Japanese "anime." Paul did a great job of presenting on the relationship of anime and Japanese history, culture, and religion. Paul also presented a videotaped interview that he produced of a young man who had been "hikikomori" ("a modern, Japanese hermit”) and talked about pop culture in Japan.

I attended a seminar by a Wheaton professor analyzing the theological writings of N.T. Wright - helping people sort through what is theologically sound and what is questionable. I attended a workshop on creative use of the arts in worship, another on contextualization of the gospel for missions AND in the US.

I also attended a lovely evening worship service led by a group from a Lutheran church. I walked through a well-done and meaningful art gallery focused on Christ and His work in our world. I had great conversations with a Presbyterian pastor, another Wheaton professor, TEAM MKs, TEAM staff, Asbury seminary students, a Baptist church youth group, Christian punk rock band members, EV Free Church people, etc. Naomi (nine year old daughter) was happily engaged in two areas - one a typical VBS program and the other "Art Rageous" where kids could be creative and make a mess!

Anyway, while I may not have "liked" all the music that there was at Cornerstone, the atmosphere and direction/theological soundness of the conference was not a concern. It was a place where people of all kinds could come and explore their relationship with the Lord in a safe place without being the "weird" ones (like they might be in some church settings) but with plenty of godly people there to steer them in the right direction.



Information on Cornerstone: Wikipedia

Cornerstone Photos:

1. The Nethercotts in a golf cart we borrowed from Imaginarium/Flickerings.

2. Daughter Naomi in front of Imaginarium tent -- made up to look like a fall-out shelter.

3. Paul standing beside cut out of "Totoro" a character from the movie "My Neighbor Totoro." This movie was produced by Hayao Miyazaki -- on of the most well-known creaters of Japanese anime.

Anime: Revealing the Soul of Japan

Japanese religious beliefs "show up" in anime to a degree that is surprising. Shinto and Liminality in Anime, a post on John Morehead's blog, includes links to two scholarly articles that articulate the role of Shintoism in Hayao Miyazaki's animated films, Spirited Away & Princess Mononoke.
Note: Miyazaki is an award winning creator of both anime movies and manga (comic books). Due to the exceptional quality of his productions, Miyazaki has gained an international audience. Ghibli Studios, co-founded by Miyazaki, has been called "the Japanese version of Disney." Spirited Away & Princess Mononoke are two of the highest-grossing films in the history of Japanese cinema. They also accurately depict the traditional, animistic Japanese world view (which has not changed that much since ancient times).

The photo above is an advertisement for the feature length anime, Spirited Away. The large building is a bath house where the 100 million gods of Japan go to get cleaned up.

The photo below is a screen capture from Princess Mononoke. The little white figures are forest gods called Kodama. According to Wikipedia: "A kodama is a spirit from Japanese folklore, which is believed to live in certain trees (similar to the Hamadryad of Greek myth). Cutting down a tree which houses a kodama is thought to bring misfortune, and such trees are often marked with shimenawa rope.

"J-Pop in Context" -- preparing for Cornerstone workshop

It has come to pass that I am doing a workshop called "J-Pop in Context" at Cornerstone Festival. Cornerstone is an annual event that takes place in some out of the way place in Illinois (USA). I am really looking forward to being there as it will be an opportunity to meet people and experience great music, films and other art.

Here is a draft of what I will present:

For "J-Pop in Context" which will take place in the "Imaginarium" I plan to use two or three anime (Japanese animated films) as "conversation starters." In particular I have prepared screen shots from two of Miyazaki's fine works (Spirited Away & Princess Mononoke).

Here are the tentative titles for the three workshops at the Imaginarium:

1. Myths, Mysteries & Mayhem: how Japan came to be the way it is, an historical/cultural overview.

2. Sin, Shame and Salvation: if Japan is so "secular" why is anime so spiritual? A focus on the worldview of Japanese as revealed in anime.

3. Hikikomori: Modern Japanese Hermits
Why are large numbers of “lost” Japanese hiding out in their rooms?

I will also do one session at the "Flickerings" venue where I will show a short video taped interview of a young man named Taku and discuss it. I have known Taku for several years but I didn't realize until this week that he spent about three years as a hikikomori. Here is what Taku wrote to me:

Sure (I will do the interview) But I don't really know if I'm the one that you are looking for though.

I mean, I was kind of "active" one.
I don't know if I can call myself "hikikomori".
I used to be a high school drop-out, but that was loooong time ago.

I said I become kind of "hikikomori" for a short time, even sometimes now. But serious ones are not even
going outside for years + years.

It promises to be an interesting interview! As far as I know, this will be the first interview with a hikikomori person that shows the person's real identity. I may post it on youtube.com, we will see.