Please sing up for our newsletter to receive updates. In the next post, we will discuss ambiguity and Japanese traditional architecture exhibited in “My Neighbor Totoro,” and how it shaped the way people interacted with nature. My Neighbor Totoro / Tonari no Totoro ABOUT FILM: Professor Tatsuo Kusakabe and his two daughters, Satsuki and Mei, move into an old house to be closer to. (by the way, all of those examples appear in “My Neighbor Totoro”)Įxistences like Totoro is more than just imaginary or superstitions they were the mediators who could tell people where the fine lines were in order to avoid disturbing nature, or to what extent they could reap its blessings. Shrines were surrounded by thick wood, rice fields were “protected” by small gods made of stone, and houses could be inhibited by some sort of ghosts or spirits. Old architecture would make sure to leave some room for such ambiguities. They belong to this ambiguous area in-between nature and humans’ world, and play subtle but critical roles to connect the two. We became selective.īoth cat-bus and Totoro could be a representation of the devices or channels old Japanese used to place in-between them and nature, to better communicate with it. We have become smart enough to extract only good things, while aggressively eliminating bad things, so we don’t have to deal with them. To their surprise, they soon discover that they share this home with some rather unusual creatures and even stranger neighbours. With a variety of powerful architecture, humans managed to develop ways to separate blessings and threats. Two young girls, Satsuki and Mei, have moved with their father into a new home in the country, while their mother recovers from illness in a nearby hospital. “Architecture” included buildings and infrastructure, but could also include any system that fundamentally changed how we relate with nature – such as agriculture or language/science.

Our ancestors loved and dreaded nature at the same time – it was so powerful and overwhelming in many ways that they had to worship it.īut as humans became civilized and modernized, they invented effective “architecture” to place between nature and humans, to “tame” nature and alter the power balance between the two.

While it is beautiful and a blessing, nature can suddenly become the cruelest beast with deadly fangs. Nature is something that gives us good things and bad things at the same time. My Neighbor Totoro is something unique in the world of children's movies or maybe it just takes.

Humans live and survive surrounded by nature, first by reaping what it provides, and then by protecting themselves from the threats it poses. Things Only Adults Notice In My Neighbor Totoro.

My neighbor totoro mei