Japan has a Parliamentary Government with a Constitutional Monarchy. Meaning that it has a monarch that serves as more of a symbol of the country, signs laws, and mainly reports to the legislative branch – the Diet. Even in current times, people are not entirely clear on the emperor’s specific responsibilities because the constitution does provide them. The most recent emperor, Emperor Akihito, looked back on his place and recognized his stress on getting involved in civilian level concerns; he felt that “he positioned those public acts as a major pillar of his activities as ‘emperor as the symbol’ in order to proactively stand by victims of disasters and other misfortunes, listen to them, and care for them”. He positioned those public acts as a major pillar of his activities as “emperor as the symbol” in order to proactively stand by victims of disasters and other misfortunes, listen to them and care for them. The Diet has most the power as it “is responsible for making laws, approving the annual national budget, and initiating the drafting of constitutional amendments. The house of councilors is the higher house and can delay the adoption of a budget or treaty.” Japan also has local government as the nation has 47 different prefectures with their own governor and mayor, both of whom are elected into office. Local prefectures have their own police force like in the U.S. and deal with matters concerning helping civilians in times of natural disasters as well as smaller disturbances.  These can include burglaries, assault cases, etc. The police force even has a cute mascot which is vastly different than what Americans would expect for a police mascot. In America, one would expect the force to pick a strong or intimidating animal, but Japan’s most commonly known police mascot is a mouse called Pipo-kun. They even go as far as have real officers in Pipo-kun costumes occasionally. Imagining that kind of thing in America is so surreal that it is hard to picture. America’s police force seems to need a high level of respect and is expected to have an edge of fierceness (two qualities a cute mouse mascot could not provide). It is interesting that Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Back on the topic of the emperor, they usually stay in their position until unfit to do so but recently Japan’s previous emperor, Emperor Akihito, has recently stepped down. It has been over 200 years since an emperor voluntarily stepped down the throne, the last one to do so was Emperor Kokaku in 1817. Emperor Akihito’s son, Naruhito, recently became the new emperor on May 1st. Prior to his official crowning, the Japanese government announced that the new emperor’s reign will be an era of ‘reiwa’ which includes the character for harmony.  The balances between political power in Japan are notably different than America. Japan is also ranked to be one of the safest countries in the world, so it is evident that their governmental functioning is doing something effective to achieve these results.

I watched Spirited Away for my movie report. It is one of Japan’s biggest films and exhibits several aspects of Japanese culture.

It is based within the World of Kami which is an element of the Shinto religion. Shinto is a traditional religion of Japan and it has a focus on the constant connection between spirits and the world that everyone knows. The film explains that spirits come to the bathhouse to be relieved of their stress and one clear example of that was when the river spirit was cleansed. It initially entered as a horrifically disgusting monster that the movie emphasized but once completing its bath, the being is revealed as a powerful and massive spirit. It was interesting that the garbage that was removed from the spirit was a reference to the amount of pollution that it receives over time from humanity. Another small detail exhibiting Japanese culture occurs when Chihiro steps on the black slug in the bathhouse boiler room and Kamaji then ‘cuts the line’ to protect her from bad luck. 

Haku being a dragon is another aspect that demonstrates the amount of Japanese culture in the film. Dragons are ancient beings in Japanese culture, and their appearance is heavily influenced by the Chinese dragon. Typically, Japanese dragons are associated with rain or bodies of water – which the film also portrays. At the end of the movie, it is discovered that Haku is actually the spirit from the Kohaku river. Dragons also tend to be portrayed as very strong entities and the film constantly shows Haku’s powers in the world from the instant he meets Chihiro. He is able to use magic similar to Yubaba’s (by opening doors and unlocking Chihiro’s legs from a spell) as well as enchanting food to help give the protagonist strength.

I found it a bit strange that the parents had such a small presence in the story, but the way they were trapped in the spirit world was a clever way to shift the focus to Chihiro. The movie’s plot, getting stuck in the World of Kami, is additionally very interesting to me. I was able to learn about the seriousness of mannerisms between superiors and subordinates through the roles in the bathhouse. It was also refreshing that Chihiro had no special powers and was just a normal girl who was able to escape the world her parents essentially trapped themselves in. Learning about the characters and their significance in Japanese culture was very interesting and worth the research. I liked that the spirits had pretty defined personalities and I loved the soot workers that help operate the boiler room, they were one of many cute touches in the world.

I really was taken away by how beautiful and detailed the movie was. The characters were all so unique and I really enjoyed it overall. I felt like it really contributed to showing aspects of Japanese culture. I will probably watch this movie more than once and hopefully understand more Japanese in it later on.