Spirited Away: Change for Good

One of my favorite movies of all time is "Spirited Away." It also happens to be my favorite Studio Ghibli film, well ahead of Howl's Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro (my 2nd and 3rd, respectively). I even wrote an essay on it for a Japanese class one semester and was convinced after watching it for the 50th time that there was some meaning to the food presented. This article from The Artifice reminded me of an essay I read to write my own essay. In this essay, Susan Napier states that the film is a reaction to globalization and its perceived threat to sustaining Japan's unique culture and national identity. And the imagery does show this. In the first few minutes, there are the cars, the roads, and the houses, all neat and modern. But the fictional world seems to be reminiscent of Japan from at least two hundred years ago, if not longer.

Muko-nage

I had some trouble figuring out what to write first, but I found this very interesting article on the Mainichi website. According to Mainichi, there is an annual festival in Niigata where bridegrooms are thrown off a five meter slope into the snow at the Matsunoyama Onsen resort. These men were newly married, and the purpose of this festival is to receive the "wild blessing of locals." If one wants to get thrown, you actually have to apply.