〈Research Note〉

The Effect of the Hybridity between Eastern and Western Culturesin Japanese Animations-From a Post-Colonial PerspectiveYuki Ohsawa

Abstract
The futuristic cities and mysterious towns in Japanese animations often catch our curiosity as well
as expand our imaginations. This paper analyzes two Japanese animated films: Spirited Away (2001), directedby Miyazaki Hayao; and Ghost in the shell 2 – Innocence (2004), directed by Oshii Mamoru. This researchargues that these directors use the effect of hybridity between Eastern and Western cultures to create acomplex commentary on contemporary Japan and its history. Through this analysis, based on a close
reading or close textual analysis of the structural and visual components of these films, this research
reveals the presence of both Orientalism and Occidentalism in Japanese animation. This paper also
exposes that the films both accept and critique Japan’s dual reality, of masquerading itself sometimes
as “Asia” to showcase its “exoticness,” and sometimes putting itself into the category of “the West”
to identify itself as a modernized country.
Keywords: Japanese animations, Fantasy, Futuristic Cities, Orientalism, Occidentalism, Hybridity

Introduction
The futuristic cities and mysterious towns which so often appear in Japanese animations greatly
attract our interest because of their power to spark our imaginations.i We can never realize these
fantastic visions with our current technology, but nonetheless, the animators encourage us to imagine
the shape that future cities may take. These mysterious towns and cities often have dignified buildings,
complex interactions of darkness and light, and feature hybrids of Eastern and Western cultures. The
directors of these animations invite us to explore their fantasy and/or futuristic cyborg worlds
vicariously, through their characters’ experiences, so that we may enjoy the experience and become
captives of the fantasy.
These unrealistic and mythic worlds have the power to help us unconsciously accept exotic things;
they help us suspend our disbelief and accept their stories and settings. However, we should think－ 33 －

about what kinds of elements make these towns and cities “mysterious” or “futuristic.” Are theseelements all new things, which we have never seen? In fact, one of the features of Japanese animation
which helps us accept the exotic elements is that we can after all find something similar to our real life
when we look closely at the cities or towns animated works present to us.
This paper analyzes two Japanese animated films: Spirited Away (2001), directed by Miyazaki
Hayao; and Ghost in the shell 2 – Innocence (2004), directed by Oshii Mamoru. This research argues
that these directors use the effect of hybridity between Eastern and Western cultures in order to create
a complex comment on contemporary Japan and its history. Through this analysis, based on a close
reading or close textual analysis of the structural and visual components of these films, this research
reveals the presence of both self-orientalism and orientalism in Japanese animation, as an intricate
reflection of the position of Japan in the world. Both films are very popular in Japan as well as in theWest.ii Thus, examining these films also makes us recognize how we share the idea of “mysterious
and futuristic cities” through Japanese animation. In this paper, I will argue that the films both accept
and critique Japan’s dual reality, of masquerading itself sometime as “Asia” to showcase its “exoticness,”and sometimes putting itself into the category of “the West” to identify itself as a modernized country.
Because Japan was intellectually and culturally colonized by the West in the early twentieth century,and then Japan physically, culturally, and mentally colonized Asia throughout the rest of that century,
Japan’s position in the world has been a source of self-questioning. Although it has variously tried to
be a part of the West or realign itself with East, it has always maintained itself, ultimately, as
belonging to both. Japanese animation accepts this dual reality, while critiquing the effects it can haveon daily life in Japan.
In order to see how Japanese animations illustrate and critique the position of Japan, we need totake a couple of steps. First, this paper analyzes Spirited Away to show how the film constructs its
mysterious town. What are the elements of the strange or destabilized world which the film
incorporates? I begin with an analysis of the bathhouse which, though based on traditional Japaneseelements, combines Chinese as well as Western elements. The key point of this analysis is to establish
a hierarchy of cultural powers and also the position of Japanese culture in the story. We will see
self-orientalism: a Japanese director shows pre-modern Japan as an orientalist, alienating element; andalso Occidentalism: arguing the supremacy of Western culture above Eastern culture. Secondly, it
examines Innocence to reveal the combination of Asian elements, especially Chinese-ness, andWestern culture; that is, Innocence also incorporates hybridity between eastern and western culture,
like Spirited Away does. However, cities in Ghost in the Shell 2 - Innocence are based on Chinese
cultural models, rather than Japanese: the film presents an exoticized stereotype of Chinatown. This
paper demonstrates the similarity and differences of usage of Asian culture between Spirited Away
and Innocence. This analysis supports my interpretation of these films and the relationship they
－ 34 －

present between Japanese, Chinese, and European cultural effects. I argue that the use of multiple
cultural points of view and effects insists on a particular view of Japan, which many Japanese people
share, that Japan itself is a hybrid nation.iii Through this point of view, the directors establish a power
structure between Japanese, Chinese, and European cultures in these films. Thus, this research pays
attention to the position of Japanese-ness in these films, in specific relationship to this power structure.

Definition and Problematics of the Word ‘Hybridity’
Throughout this paper, I use “hybridity” as a key word. Here at the outset, I set boundaries for its
use, and give my definition. When using the phrase, “hybrid between cultures,” we need to be aware
the two main issues of it: 1) combination of “pure” culture; 2) which cultures are involved. Kuan-Hsing
Chen critiques the usage of hybridity, in “The Decolonization Question.” He says thathybridity presupposes purity, something which is not hybrid. The counter of two ‘pure’cultures produces hybridity. Does that mean the uncontaminated, original culture has never been‘contaminated’ by and mixed with cultural forces coming from the ‘outside’? Which culture is
not then hybrid (24).
As Chen implies, every culture in the world has combined with other cultures. We hardly see pureculture. For example, Japanese culture has been influenced by Chinese and Korean culture for a longtime, and therefore is not “pure,” even though we often understand that Japanese culture is “unique;”that is, Japanese culture is different from Chinese, Korean and other cultures. Especially because of
the idea of the nation, the idea of unique or pure cultures is an attractive one, which contemporary
nations have used in order to unite their citizens.iv However, there are no longer pure cultures in thiscontemporary world. When using the term hybrid in this paper, I do not mean the mixture of ‘pure’cultures. In addition, Homi K Bhabha also argues about the hybrid. Bhabha insists that
Hybridity is a problematic of colonial representation and individuation that reverses the effects ofthe colonialists disavowal, so that other ‘denied’ knowledge enter upon the dominant discourse andestrange the basis its – its rules of recognition… (114)
As Bhabha mentions, only colonizers can make the effects of hybridity. Thus, this analysis pays
attention to the weight of each culture; how much each culture is shown in these animations when
they are mixed, and which culture is authoritatively illustrated. One thing I should mention is thatthese two films were produced by Japanese people, and so in many ways incorporate Japan-centeredideas.
As I pointed, “hybrid” is a problematic term, and we have to be aware of the issues around its use.
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However, Spirited Away and Innocence illustrate the hybridity of cultures and hybridity of human andothers as a key point. Thus, this research uses the term, hybridity, although it does not simply celebrate
the hybridity of cultures in this paper.
Before analyzing the two films, we will confirm their relevance. I chose these two films because 1)
they are well known among Japanese and North American fans; 2) The films illustrate mysterious andfuturistic towns and cities in different ways by using hybridity between Eastern and Western cultures;
3) The films do not have an extremely evil character, but rather a young female character is the key
person; 4) They both use “Asian taste” for creating an exotic atmosphere. This research shows thesesimilar elements between the two films, but this research shows that Miyazaki Hayao and Oshii
Mamoru present Japan’s position in their stories quite differently.

Analysis of Spirited Away
I start with an analysis of Spirited Away (2001), directed by Miyazaki Hayao. This film tells thestory of its young female protagonist, Chihiro, trapped in a mysterious new world of spirits, as shetries to help her parents return to the outside world. The main setting in this story is the huge, mythic,
solemn bathhouse, interestingly illustrated as a hybrid of cultures (Abe 140). I also focus on the town
in which the bathhouse is located, and in which Chihiro’s parents turn into pigs; and the countryside,in which Zeniba, the twin sister of Yubaba, the manager of the bathhouse, lives alone. In addition, thisresearch examines the relationship between Yubaba, whom I identify as representative of a western
witch, and her Asian employees, who are actually hybrids between humans and animals or insects.
The interpretation, growing from this analysis, focuses on the position of Japan in the world. This
interpretation helps us to understand the comment on the power structure between West and East
which Miyazaki incorporates in his work. The analysis will show that the director, Miyazaki, includes
a range of biases toward Japanese, Chinese, and European culture when examining these settings.
When Miyazaki created the buildings in this nostalgic world, he was inspired by the Edo-Tokyo
Open Air Architectural Museum, located near his office, Studio Ghibli (Making of Spirited Away –Nippon Special TV, 2001). This outdoor museum exhibits original buildings from the late 1700s to
the mid 1990s. Some of the buildings in the museum combine Western and Japanese architectural
styles, and some of them are traditional Japanese houses. The museum even includes a bathhouse,
which serves as the direct inspiration for Miyazaki’s work. We can find many similar buildings in themuseum and in the animation. Moreover, Miyazaki himself has indicated that the model of thebathhouse is based on several real bathhouses in Japan. One of these is Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama,
Ehime prefecture. We can see similarities in the decoration of Dogo Onsen and the bathhouse in thefilm. The bathhouse also has features of Kiyosu Castle in Aichi Prefecture. Thus, the bathhouse, the－ 36 －

restaurants and shops in the strange world are based on early modern Japanese architecture.
When Miyazaki described the strange world of the film, he emphasized pre-modern Japanesearchitecture because contemporary Japanese people are not familiar with this style buildings, and so
can feel their exoticness. Mayazaki often says that his target is Japanese audiences, especiallyJapanese children (Interview: Hayao Miyazaki in Conversation with Roland Kelts at UC Berkeley,2010). It is obvious that he pays attention to Japanese audiences’ point of view, and his proposal forelements which can create “strangeness” and “mysteriousness” is pre-modern Japanese culture.
Further, his work utilizes a hybrid between pre-modern Japanese culture and European culture, whichbegan in the Meiji period when Japan accepted modernity. That is why he illustrated pre-modern
architecture in order to design the strange but attractive world. This point of view is actually a form of
self-orientalism although it works well to produce the mysterious world for Japanese audiences.
In addition, Chinese culture is also illustrated in the film. For example, the night view of the town
from the other side of the river is like the night view of Hong Kong (Adachi 75). Moreover, therestaurants, where Chihiro’s parents ate the food without permission and turned into pigs, seem to be
Chinese in style, incorporating examples of Chinese cuisine. The structure of the restaurants also
incorporates Chinese building styles, even though the presentation itself is a hybrid between Japaneseand Chinese elements, with an emphasis on Chinese. For example, the counter seats are actually not a
standard feature of Chinese style restaurants, but Japanese people are familiar with the counter seatingin ramen shops, which are considered as Chinese food by the Japanese. As a result, the food and thestructure of the shops remind the Japanese audience that the town is like a bizarre Chinatown. The
point is that this Chinese-styled town is exotic and mysterious for Japanese audiences. Illustrating theshops in a Chinese style supports the creation of an exotic world in the story. In addition, therelationship between the bathhouse and this imaginary Chinatown shows a power structure. The
bathhouse, which is based on pre-modern Japanese architecture, is the main and the most importantsetting; the Chinese-styled town is a less-important setting and supports the production of an exotic,
mysterious, and somehow scary atmosphere in this story. Visually, the film presents Japan as stronger
and more central to the story, while China and the Chinese influence are weaker and play a supportingrole.
Furthermore, we can see specific reference to Chinese culture: food; the Chinese reading of kanji;
and dragons as “bad” things. Some of these explicitly Chinese references serve as a symbol of
uncleanness or impurity, and so I argue that the film presents a cultural hierarchy, with Chinese
cultural reference as an indication of something negative. The first example of this is that eating
Chinese food made Chihiro’s parents turn into pigs. When No Face (Kaonashi) became a monster, heconsumed much Chinese food. The presentation of Chinese food is richer and looks more delicious
than the presentation of Japanese food, such as rice balls, but the gorgeousness makes the characters－ 37 －

turn into animals or become evil. In fact, these foods are made by the normal cooks at the restaurant
and the bathhouse. On the other hand, simple Japanese food, such as rice balls and bitter dumpling(nigadango), made the characters well or purified. In fact, Haku, who gave Chihiro the rice balls, andthe Stink God, who gave her a bitter bumping, are both river gods. The important Japanese food in thestory is provided by Japanese gods. Thus, it is clear that Japanese food is described as an importantfood, while Chinese food makes trouble. Everything from the appearance of the food itself and its
presentation on various dishes (lined up side by side) highlight that the food which creates problems
for the characters is culturally Chinese.v
Secondly, the Chinese reading of kanji (onyomi) creates negative connotations for Japanese audiencesin specific instances. Yubaba, the owner of the bathhouse, took Chihiro’s name to give her the newname “Sen.” Sen is the Chinese reading of 千; she has to use this unfamiliar name, keeping her real
name, which is the Japanese reading of the kanji (kunyomi), a secret, in order to return to the outside
world. Keeping the Japanese-reading of kanji for her name is one of the most important keys which
permits Chihiro to escape from the world of the bathhouse; that is, the Japanese name here is shown asa significant thing. Moreover, the name of the bathhouse is yuya, 油屋 in Chinese characters. The
meaning of the character yu, 油, here is oil, which is often considered as opposite to water(Utsukibara 78). Ordinarily, in Japanese, the word for bathhouse is 湯屋. Although in Japanese thereading of the characters, 湯屋, sounds the same as 油屋 (yuya), the proper character for yu (湯) in
this case means ‘hot water’. Miyazaki utilizes a kanji character with the same sound, yu, but the
opposite meaning of water, oil. This gives a destabilizing effect, a weirdness. Miyazaki effectively
uses a tension between the Japanese and Chinese reading of kanji to create strangeness. The point here,
however, is that the strangeness is created precisely by the Chinese reading of kanji.
Thirdly, this paper focuses on the use of dragon imagery, which moved from China to Japan in the
pre-modern period. Here, it is a symbol of violence and impureness in this story; when Haku
transforms into a dragon, he carries out bad work for Yubaba, afterwards losing his memory of what
he had done. However, once the spell was broken, he returned to his human-like appearance as Haku.
Miyazaki’s illustration of the violent dragon implies a connotation to that image—that of something
nasty. This is consistent throughout the film; further, the dragon represents a creature acting underoutside influence, or in a state of having lost its self-control. Therefore, we can see the usage ofChinese culture to create a connotation of nasty and impure things in this story, in order to design amythic world. Reference to Chinese culture creates an uncomfortable destabilization in Miyazaki’s
work, while emphasizing a kind of Japanese cultural superiority. In the next section, this paper
examines how Western culture is shown in this story. Is it different from the usage of Japanese or
Chinese culture?
Western culture is also a key point for making a strange world. Examining the relationship between－ 38 －

Japanese culture and Western culture shows us another type of power structure: Occidentalism. Oneof the obvious examples of Occidentalism is the structure of the bathhouse. We may divide thebathhouse into three levels, each consisting of one or more floors: the lowest level of the houseconsists of the boiler, Kamaji’s work place, and the employees’ rooms, which are above Kamaji’sroom; in the middle part of the house there are baths and the above of the bath rooms there is banquet
halls for gods; and the top level of the house is Yubaba’s Western, luxuriously-decorated room. As I
mentioned earlier, the exterior of the bathhouse is in the style of early modern Japanese architecture.
In contrast the interior of the lowest to the middle of the house is traditional Japanese style rooms
while the top of the house is European style room, and there is much luxurious European furniture.
The structure shows a type of power relationship between Japan and the West. The strong employer,
Yubaba, lives in the Western-style room, which is located on the top of the house, and manages
employees physically and mentally by using magic. I argue that this arrangement strongly implies that
the West has been at the top of the hierarchy and has been controlling Japan since the 19th century.
Furthermore, the mysterious town where the bathhouse is located, is squalid, and each small andsomehow old building stands next to each other. On the other hand, Zeniba’s place looks like awestern countryside (Ustukibara 79) although the roof of her house is karabuki-yane, which is an
old-fashioned style of thatching for the roofs of Japanese houses. The interior of Zeniba’s house isalso in a Western style, and the inside of the house is tidy and clean. In addition, Yubaba’s room isalso clean: when it is not, she uses magic to organize it. We have here a strong, visual contradiction
between squalid and unorganized Asian places, such as the Japanese- style employees’ room and theChinese-style town, and the huge and clean Western places, such as Yubaba and Zeniba’s places—acontradiction which includes aspects of power. It is a stereotype of both cultures, showing implieddifferences between the two cultures. The emphasis here on Western culture, with its implied power,
becomes a form of Occidentalism.
Miyazaki’s use of this hybrid between Eastern and Western culture enhances the creation of a
strange and mysterious world, beyond what he could have achieved if he had used only Japanese
early-modern cultural styles to make the bathhouse. Inclusion of hybrid aspects removes what
otherwise might have been simply a historical reference. However, the way of illustrating different
cultures in different ways clearly shows a power structure between East and West. Then, why does
Miyazaki illustrate Western culture in the higher place of the hierarchy, or illustrate it powerfully atleast?
Especially, the settings of Miyazaki’s early animations are often European countries. He actually
explains why his fantasy worlds are often placed in, or borrow elements from, Europe. In interviews,
he has said that “we, Japanese illustrators, basically use the method learned from European painting
which revolves around lights and dimension” (Interview: Hayao Miyazaki and Moebius, 2008).
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Miyazaki admitted the influence of European painting, and he also mentioned in a different interview
that “my generation has more yearning for European countries and was more interested in European
culture than the young animators’ generation” (Interview:特別企画 宮崎監督が原作に惹かれた理

由#234, 2010). From these Miyazaki’s interview, he implies that he cannot avoid this yearning forEuropean culture, and it is not only him. Many Japanese people after modernization have had ayearning for Western culture and have tried to mimic it. As Miyazaki mentioned, generations younger
than his have become more familiar with Western culture; it has become much easier to experience
Western culture by traveling or via the Internet or other media. However, many of the younger
generations still have a yearning for Western culture. In other words, Japan has experienced a kind ofcultural colonization by the West especially after modernizing in the Meiji period and after the PacificWar. Moreover, his animations themselves influenced many young Japanese people and help create akind of bias for the West, but this bias has already been shared among Japanese people since Japan
accepted the process and definitions of modernization in Meiji.
In Spirited Away, Miyazaki creates a mysterious world by employing a hybridity of Eastern andWestern culture, which is a unique technique, although it contains specific elements of Occidentalism.
However, the hybridity between East and West works well to create mysteriousness in Spirited Away.
This paper demonstrates the creation of hybridity in another animated film, Ghost in the Shell 2Innocence, but the usage of hybridity and the emphasis of Chinese culture in Oshii Mamoru’s work
illustrates a different argument from that of Miyazaki’s work.

Analysis of Ghost in the Shell 2- Innocence
The story of Ghost in the Shell 2 describes a cyborg detective, Batou, and a mostly human detective,
Togusa, trying to unravel the reasons for a murderous robot revolt in the year 2032. The setting of thefilm is especially complex, as the main characters travel between a real world and a simulated world
as a result of their cyberbrains being hacked. Ghost in the Shell (1995) has strongly influenced many
film directors and animators. For example, Larry and Andy Wachowski who produced The Matrix
were influenced by Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell.vi Even now the animated film, Ghost in the Shell, has astrong influence, and has recently been adapted as a live action film, Ghost in the Shell (2017),
directed by Rupert Sanders. Ghost in the Shell 2 - Innocence provides a complex image of a simulated
world, which gives a new concept of the world through the development of computer science, and thereal world which is described through the creation of a hybridity of East and Western cultures. Thus,
the last half of this paper examines Ghost in the Shell 2 - Innocence to reveal the effect of thehybridity of cultures. The analysis shows different elements of hybridity from those of Spirited Away.
As I focus on the hybridity between Eastern and Western culture, this paper specifically focuses on－ 40 －

architecture, food, and languages in Innocence. I start my analysis with architecture in the animation.
Although the setting is Japan in 2032, we can hardly see Japanese elements in the film because many
places look like China. We see a clear example of this in the location of the first incident—in brief, agynoidvii killed her owner and two police officers, so Batou has been assigned to apprehend her; hekilled the gynoid. This series of murders occurs in a back alley in what appears to be a Chinese-styled
town. When looking at the row of houses and streets, from architectural and other details, it gives astrong resemblance to a Chinatown. Perhaps the audience may assume that Japan in 2032 will beoccupied by China; that is, the town has many Chinese features. For example, we can see that all thesignboards are written in traditional Chinese characters, which contemporary Japanese people do notuse, and all the shops have Chinese names. Secondly, many passers-by speak Chinese, either Mandarin
or Cantonese. According to Oshii, passers-by speak Chinese, Cantonese, Korean and Japanesealthough I can recognize only Chinese. Thus, the atmosphere is predominantly that of China. In
addition, the place where Batou often buys dog food for his dog, also looks like a Chinese corner store
though the shop sells diverse international products, such as Japanese baby snacks: Bisuko, Morinaga
milk, and Western foods, such as Quaker Oats’ products and so on. Thirdly, the office of a Japanese
Yakuza group appears to be located in a Chinese-styled building, too. There are only Chinesecharacters on the signs on the outside of the building, and the structure of the Yakuza’s room is in the
Chinese style, with a round, decorative opening in the wall. Although we can find a household Shinto
altar in the room, Chinese characters everywhere on the wall and the Chinese structure of the room
indicate that the place is different from a traditional Japanese Yakuza office. Furthermore, eating
Chinese food emphasize the Chinese-ness (Mastuda 145) in the scene, too. The locations where Batou
shot and killed the violent gynoid and yakuza are always in a Chinese-styled town. The image of thetown is dirty, darker, more dangerous, and more squalid than other locations in the film which haveless Chinese influence. This, too, participates in a typical and stereotypical view of Chinese cities,
which many Japanese and Western people have. This representation of the dangerous Chinatownemphasizes the exotic and abnormal life of the near-future. This is an orientalist vision, however,which Edward W. Said defined in his book, Orientalism. Said critiqued the West for producing power
structures between West and East in order to keep controlling the East in different ways in Orientalism.
Oshii utilizes bizarre towns to emphasize a particular aspect of the future, and incorporates elementswith a cultural hierarchy. In other words, Oshii illustrates Chinatown as a dystopia.
We can see a similar presentation in a different science fiction film. In the 1980s, futuristic andtechnological Japanese cities were used to illustrate a dystopia in Western films, such as Blade Runner.
Morley and Robins insisted in Space of Identity that－ 41 －

the West never see Japan directly. It is as if the Japanese were always destined to be seen throughthe fears and the fantasies of Europeans and Americans. Japan is the Orient, containing all theWest most lacks and everything it most fears. Against Japanese difference, the West fortifies anddefends what it sees as its superior culture and identity. And so the West’s imaginary Japanworks to consolidate old mystifications and stereotypes: ‘they’ are barbaric and ‘we’ arecivilized; ‘they’ are robots whiles ‘we’ remain human; and so on (172).
As Morley and Robins insisted, the West looked at Japan as a technologically advanced but fearfulplace, and Japanese people were considered as barbaric and/or robots because of their technologizedaspects. If we can agree with Morley and Robins, we can realize what Oshii did in Innocence. Oshii
replaces this Japanese position with China in his animation. Because since the early 2000s Chinese
technology and economic power have improved, Japan, in economic terms, has come to fear or at theleast be apprehensive of China, like the Western people were afraid of Japan in 1980s. In order toreplace Japan’s position with China, Oshii shifted a set of negative images onto China. Moreover,Oshii emphasizes Chinese culture in the northern city, Etorofu. Interestingly, in this setting in the film,
Oshii illustrates not only Chinese culture but also a hybrid between Easter and Western cultures.
Oshii created a new style of hybrid between Chinese-ness and European gothic, which is called“Chinese gothic” (Oshii and Ueno 69). The city has many high and modern towers with Chinese
statues on the top. Furthermore, some magnificent buildings resemble European gothic churches, butalso have Chinese style statues instead of European ones. This Chinese-gothic shows exactly thehybridity of Chinese and European culture, while destabilizing the expectations of the audience. In
addition, the festival in the city emphasizes the exoticness Asia. We can see many Chinese statues,
masks, a ship and traditional buildings. Oshii precisely took the images of the masks and the makeupof the dancers from a festival in Taiwan (The making of Ghost in the Shell 2). He uses the Taiwanesefestival to have a realistic element in his animation, and the reality of the Taiwanese festival gives asense of exoticness to the non-Chinese audience. Moreover, the scene of the festival uses slow motion
and spiritual Asian-like music, so the audience can deeply admire the scene; that is, the scene of thefestival stresses Asian exoticness. Oshii uses the effect of the exoticness to emphasize the mysterious
atmosphere although it leads the audience unconsciously to have a bias for Chinese culture.
The point of this exoticness is that once Japanese audiences step back from Asia, where they are
geographically and culturally located, and watch the emotional Chinese festival scene, they willconsider Chinese culture as part of a spiritual, legendary and pre-modern world. This Japanese pointof view takes part in Orientalism because Japanese audiences have the potential to objectify Chinese
culture as part of an uncivilized world.
Like Miyazaki, Oshii also illustrates western culture as a comparison of Chinese culture. Interestingly,－ 42 －

the main characters such as Batou and Togusa live in western homes although they often patrol in
Chinatown, where incidents always occur. Batou’s apartment seems to be located in Chinatown, but
inside of his apartment there is western furniture. In addition, Togusa lives in a western home in awesternized area, marked by a clearly organized and wide space. Because these main characters live
in westernized places, the Japanese audiences are positioned in the West in order to objectify the
Asian world, specifically the Chinese-styled world, as a chaotic place. Once the Japanese audiences
place themselves into this Western side, they do not have to conceptualize a personal threat, when thevarious battles in the film take place in an ostensibly “Asian” space.
Furthermore, we can see the representation of the west as a peaceful world. For example, we see
warm and bright lights from the opened front door of the Togusa’s home though we cannot see insideof the house. What does the warm light mean in this film? This emphasizes a binary opposite; one is adangerous Chinatown, which is dark and dirty; on the other hand, Togusa’s western home is clean andhas warm light (not just bright light like a laboratory), which illustrates a peaceful atmosphere. Oshii
describes Eastern culture and Western culture through a set of different images, which relate to
Orientalism. It is important to keep in our minds that the audiences usually see the world of the story
through the main characters’ eyes, so the main characters’ places are considered as a safe, relaxed, or
peaceful place in the story; that is, their Western homes emphasize a contrast with dangerous and dark
Chinatown.
Finally, this paper reveals how Oshii illustrates the incidents’ sites, where “bad” people are. As wesaw, the first incident site consists of the Yakuza office and the Chinese corner store set in gloomy
Chinatown. Furthermore, there is one more notable place, Kim’s house in Etorofu. It looks like awestern luxury house because of the European architecture and furniture. At a glance, there is no
Asian culture in the house. However, there are Confucian words in Chinese in the air when Kim talks.
The architecture and interior are western style, but once we see Chinese characters in the air, it leads
us to the Asian world in a matter of seconds. Again, the animation shows that the bad person is always
somehow related to Asia, especially Chinese culture as Japanese culture isn’t shown in the scene.
On the other hand, in the laboratory, where Batou and Motoko reunite and destroy many gynoids,
there is a true criminal. The principal is a little human girl, who made the gynoid, Hadaly, go out ofcontrol and kill Hadaly’s owners so that someone may recognize the problem and come to help her.
She was actually kidnapped and has been captured into a “ghost dubbing” machine by the gynoid
company LOCUS SOLUS. The evilest one is, of course, this company which kept dubbing thechildren’s ghosts into their product, gynoids, and sell them for profits. The end of the story reveals thishuman girl is the true criminal of the series of murder although she was a victim of the company.
The key of analyzing Innocence is how each character and place are related to either a Chinese-or
European style of representation, to reveal how this film perhaps unconsciously represents Asia as－ 43 －

dark, dangerous, and evil, while on the other hand, Western features are bright and safe. In fact, thefilm at the end does not illustrate Chinese-ness around the girl although she is the one who made thegynoid to kill its owner. In other words, the atmosphere without Chinese-ness implies that she is notreally evil. Even when she was rescued by Batou and Motoko, she gave them her excuse and said that
“I didn’t want to be a doll.” Her word makes the audiences sympathize with her although Batou
scolded her about what she has done.
Through my analysis, we have recognized that Oshii clearly distinguishes peaceful environments
and mysterious and dangerous environments by illustrating Western culture or Chinese culture. This isOrientalism from a Japanese person, who positions his work in line with the west to look down on
Asia. Oshii may not mean that using Chinese-ness describes “bad” things, but when we look at thestory closely, we can see that evilness is consistently related to Chinese culture. In addition, thisanalysis exposes that Oshii replaces the position which Japan held in American film, as a technologicaland barbaric world, with China in this animation. Morley and Robins criticized this aspect of someAmerican films, which illustrated the techno-oriental image of Japan in 1980s; however, now we areable to apply the same issues to a critique of Oshii’s work because he shifted this techno-oriental
image onto China and illustrated Chinatown as a fearful place.

Conclusion
In conclusion, both films, Spirited Away and Ghost in the Shell 2- Innocence demonstrate thehybridity between Eastern and Western culture to describe a mysterious world. Both of them illustrate
Western-styled spaces as wide, clean, or peaceful. On the other hand, Eastern images were illustrated
as dirty, chaotic and dangerous. However, this analysis of the two films uncovers that the position ofJapan in these films is both significantly different as well as similar. Miyazaki presented Japan asplaced below the West when he describes the hierarchy of the main setting, the bathhouse. Miyazaki
clearly shows Occidentalism; Japan cannot be equalized with the West, through the animation.
Although Yubaba’s room is illustrated as luxuriously western in style, and some furniture is flying
with magic in order to produce a stately and mysterious space, the room is located in the top of thebathhouse to show her power. Thus, it became clear that Western culture is set on the top of thehierarchy; this implies the elements of Occidentalism from a Japanese perspective. In the history,
Japan was “colonized” culturally by the West, and many Japanese people have admired the West.
Thus, the hierarchy may suggest the situation of Japan in international politics since Japan
modernized.
Although Yubaba, who represents the West, finally changes her mind and shows generosity to
Chihiro, her position in the bathhouse does not change—she maintains control over her employees.
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Even though Chihiro grows up during her time in the mysterious world, she could not pull Yubaba
down from the top, but tries to be accepted by Yubaba. This scene implies Japan’s position in theworld since Japan has modernized. At the same time, the film also demonstrates Orientalism. Because
Japan became modernized earlier than other Asian counties, Japan tended to look down on other
Asian countries, such as colonizing Asian countries and starting wars in the 20th century. Even in thefilm, Spirited Away, Japanese culture, especially Japanese food, plays a role of purifying and curing
the characters while Chinese food is illustrated with problems. This paper has shown how the anime
illustrates Chinese elements, which made the characters evil, and how Japanese elements are able tocure them. That is, it shows the power structure between Japan and China. Through analyzing howeach culture is illustrated and what they represent, the analysis of the film reveals the Occidentalism
and Orientalism through which the director and the audience unconsciously share their bias.
In contrast with Miyazaki, Oshii tried to diminish the presence of Japanese culture in his futuristic
cyborg world, and replaced a techno-oriental Japan with a techno-oriental China in Ghost in the Shell
2. That is, this film also shows Orientalism from a Japanese perspective, which has bias toward China.
In some ways Oshii participates in a political repositioning of Japan, as having joined the modern
West and looking down on the barbaric East. As this paper has revealed, the incidents are illustrated in
the Chinese-styled parts of town, which are dark, dirty, and dangerous. In the 1980s, we saw similar
scenes in Hollywood’s science fiction films, such as Blade Runner （ 1982 ） . At the time,
Japanese-styled towns were illustrated as futuristic but dark and dangerous. These works clearly
showed Orientalism from a Western perspective; however, twenty years later, a Japanese animator
illustrates Chinese styles and elements in a futuristic city. This represents a possible Japanese fear
toward China; that is, Oshii sees an imaginary China which includes economic and political fear
which Japanese people may have. At the same time, illustrating dark, dirty, and dangerous
Chinese-style towns means that Japan defends its own identity and superiority. That is Orientalism
from a Japanese perspective toward to China. In fact, the story illustrates that the Chinese-styled town
is not a clear and clean place like the Western-styled homes in the film. The film illustrates a new typeof problem; that is, the kidnapped girl and gynoids are wrongfully controlled by the company forprofits and by the owners for their pleasure. As a result, they seek revenge. This futuristic incident
happened in a Chinese-style town, exactly showing Orientalism. Furthermore, when the film creates
exoticness, it borrows the image of a real festival in Taiwan. At the festival scene, only the music
sounds like that of a Japanese folk song, which recalls ancient Japanese times. By using a Taiwanesefestival and the Japanese song together, the sense of exoticness was enhanced in the scene. It reveals
Orientalism and even self-Orientalism to demonstrate what the futuristic city looks like. Both films
illustrate hybridity of Western and Eastern elements to provide a mysterious or futuristic world;
however, the elements actually represent Orientalism and Occidentalism.
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Historically, Japan experienced both sides—considering, or being made to consider, itself as
Oriental/barbaric by the West, and then considering others as constituting the Orient to show Japan’s
superiority. It seems that the Japanese imagination still cannot fully remove the influence of theseexperiences from itself. That is why we can see Occidentalism and Orientalism in these most popular
Japanese animations. Analyzing these two films makes us recognize that we always have bias to othercultures in order to identify ourselves. It is difficult to remove the bias, but it is very important to keep
this clear in our minds; because we already have bias to other cultures, we should criticize whatever
we see, including our favorite popular culture.

Notes
i

Futuristic elements in Japanese SF anime have been widely analyzed, such as Full Metal Apache: Transactions
Between Cyberpunk Japan and Avant-Pop America by Takayuki Tastumi, Tokyo Cyberpunk: Posthumanism inJapanese Visual Culture (2016) by Steven T. Brown, and so on.

ii

Spirited Away is the most successful film in Japanese history, grossing about $300 million worldwide. It won
the Academy Award for Best Animated Film Feature at the 75th Academy Award, and also won Golden Bearat the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival.
Innocence was honored best sci-fi film at the 2004 Nihon SF Taisho Awards and was nominated at the 2004
Cannes Film Festival.

iii

It is obvious that Japanese culture is composed by Ainu, Yamato, and Ryukyu culture at least, and it has been
influenced by Chinese and Korean culture for a long time, and also by American and European culture since
20th century when Japan started modernized.

iv

One of the best examples is Nihonjin-ron, which have been discussed.

v

The traditional Japanese style of presenting food is that of each dish is placed on a small plate, or different
small plates, rather than in a large portion on a large plate.

vi

Hollywood is haunted by Ghost in the Shell Guardian in News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
First published on Mon 19 Oct 2009https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/oct/19/hollywood-ghost-in-the-shellvii

Gynoid is a “feminine” humainod robot, which has human-like artificial intelligence.

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