A cyborg detective hunts for a malfunctioning sex doll that turns itself into a killing machine. A Heian-era Taoist slays evil spirits with magic spells from yin-yang philosophy. A young mortician carefully prepares bodies for their journey to the afterlife. A teenage girl drinks a cup of life-giving sake, not knowing its irreversible transformative power. These are scenes from the visually enticing, spiritually eclectic media of Japanese movies and anime. The narratives of courageous heroes and heroines and the myths and legends of deities and their abodes are not just recurring motifs of the cinematic fantasy world. They are pop culture’s representations of sacred subtexts in Japan. Japanese Mythology in Film takes a semiotic approach to uncovering such religious and folkloric tropes and subtexts embedded in popular Japanese movies and anime.
Author(s): Yoshiko Okuyama
Publisher: Lexington Books
Year: 2015
Language: English
Pages: 262
Tags: Japanese cinema, Anime, Semiotics, Japanese Mythology
Contents......Page 8
Preface......Page 10
Acknowledgments......Page 16
Conventions......Page 18
Part I. SEMIOTICS FOR FILM ANALYSIS......Page 20
Chapter 1. Introduction: What Is Semiotics?......Page 22
Chapter 2. Reading Film: The Nature of Interpretation......Page 32
Chapter 3. Mythology in Film: Why Study Mythology in Popular Film and Anime?......Page 44
Chapter 4. Storytelling: What Is in the Story?......Page 54
Chapter 5. Visual Literacy: What Do We Get from Watching Film?......Page 66
Part II. APPLICATION......Page 76
Chapter 6. Taoism and Shinto Symbolism in Onmyoji (2001) and Onmyo¯ji II (2003)......Page 78
Chapter 7. Folklore Motifs in Spirited Away (2001) and Princess Mononoke (2000)......Page 116
Chapter 8. Motifs of Buddhism and Folklore in Dororo (2007) and Departures (2008)......Page 148
Chapter 9. Eclectic Myths in Mushi-shi (2006) and Cyborg Mythology of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)......Page 186
Chapter 10. Conclusion. Social Usage of Mythology......Page 228
Bibliography......Page 234
Index......Page 248
About the Author......Page 262
