Spirited Away Belonging

Chihiro’s Spiritual Pursuit, Turning Ashes to Stone

Without the protection of parents, Chihiro impresses every audience with her brave and strong mindset to save her parents and her friends, while being thrown in a magical and dangerous world. The director Miyazaki Hayao, cooperating with Japanese soundtrack master Joe Hisaishi, successfully links his “fairy tale” to the real world life in our modern society via a combination of music and the scene in the film. The music in Spirited Away significantly provides the audience with the inner world of the characters and the feelings of how the characters perceive their surroundings. The music in the scene “The Sixth Station” expresses a strong spiritual longing for home and love, which has often been
The solo piano’s melody, often used as a means to express one’s thoughts and emotions, reflects how Chihiro recognizes her growth in terms of both physical and mental. Without any lyrics, the smooth rhythm here portrays Chihiro’s loneliness that she feels deeply in her heart: she has much to say but there is no one she can talk with. What she needs then is something more than the care from her parents, but the feeling of identity and belonging. However, faced with all these unfortunate circumstances, this ten-year-old girl knows that tears and fears cannot help to do anything, but only the inner strength and peace can allow her to overcome her hardship and loneliness in her journey. During her meditation, the sound of piano is synthesized with arpeggio and tends to collapse over time. Eventually, it comes to a point where it slows down and becomes gentle. This transition in music implies Chihiro’s character development over time. This change is as dramatic as the change from ashes to stone; her will changes from childish to tenacious. According to Turan, a film critic of Los Angeles