Ghibli and Nature: The Environmental Vision at the Heart of Every Film

Among the many things that distinguish Studio Ghibli from other animation studios, perhaps the most fundamental is its relationship to the natural world. In Miyazaki's films above all, nature is not backdrop or scenery. It is a living presence, a force with its own intelligence and its own claims on the world that humanity shares.

The Animist Tradition

Miyazaki's environmental vision draws on Japan's indigenous shinto tradition of animism: the belief that spirits inhabit natural places, trees, rivers, mountains and ancient forests. This is made explicit in My Neighbor Totoro (the Totoro spirits are creatures of the ancient forest) and Princess Mononoke (the great boar gods, wolf gods and forest spirit all express nature's spiritual presence), but it is implicit throughout his work.

Even Spirited Away's bathhouse, a place of spiritual cleansing for exhausted gods, is an expression of this worldview: the world is populated by presences that deserve attention and respect, and the human failure to offer that attention and respect leads to catastrophe.

Environmental Catastrophe as the Background of History

In Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, the Toxic Jungle is the direct result of a thousand years of human industry. In Princess Mononoke, the forest is being destroyed by the iron industry, and both sides of the conflict have legitimate claims. In Pom Poko, the tanuki's forest home is demolished by Tokyo's suburban expansion. In each case, the environmental catastrophe is presented as the consequence of human activity, not natural disaster.

Miyazaki does not offer simple solutions. His films acknowledge that human industry creates things of genuine value (Irontown liberates outcasts; Lady Eboshi's town is a community of the dispossessed) while also destroying things of irreplaceable value. The tension between these truths is the productive centre of his environmental vision.

The Healing Power of Nature in Ghibli Films

In My Neighbor Totoro, the forest spirits are associated with life, renewal and the healing of Satsuki and Mei's anxiety about their mother. The great camphor tree beneath which Totoro sleeps is a symbol of enduring, ancient life. In Spirited Away, the polluted river spirit is purified through the removal of the human rubbish that has been dumped into his home.

Nature in Ghibli Merchandise

This environmental vision is reflected in the Ghibli merchandise we carry. The forest greens of our My Neighbor Totoro collection, the oceanic blues of our Ponyo collection and the wild, earthy palette of our Princess Mononoke collection all carry traces of the natural world as Miyazaki sees it.

Also read our Princess Mononoke guide, our Nausicaa guide and our Hayao Miyazaki biography.