Dissertation Research and the Role of Shinto in Shinkai Makoto’s ‘Kimi no Na Wa.’, ‘Tenki no Ko’ and ‘Suzume no Tojimari’.

© 2016-2022 ComixWave

For the rest of my cohort, it’s now officially the end of the taught course and the start of the intensive self-study period of dissertation crafting. They’ve got from now until August 30th and, having already done one MA, I feel for them. However, while mine might not be due until August 2023, it doesn’t mean I’m planning on sitting on my backside for four months until September. At least three of those should see me facing Malenia, (Blade of Miquella), without Let Me Solo Her.

But it also means, just as they’ve got blog posts to finish, presentations to craft and the tying of loose ends, so have I. Hence this blogpost.

©2019 ComixWave

My specific interests lie firmly in anime and Shinto so I’m planning on making case studies of Shinkai Makoto’s two most recent works (2016’s Your Name/Kimi no Na Wa and 2019’s Tenki no Ko/Weathering with You), as well as the upcoming Suzume no Tojimari (English title: TBC). I’ve chosen these case studies not just because they are gorgeous but also because connection, natural and liminal spaces play vital roles in the story, as well as an emphasis on shinto and the more mystical properties in an otherwise accurate recreation of modern Japan (primarily sections of Tokyo such as Shinjuku, Shibuya and Odaiba, Itomori—a fictional town in Hida prefecture—and locations on the island of Kyūshū).

My personal archive.

One of the big discussions this week as been on archives and mine is, for now, basically my personal library that I’ve been growing since I first decided to do this MA back in 2019. This includes primary sources like the films themselves in Blu-Ray form, the storyboards, novels and manga but also a range of digital papers, articles, interviews and theses.

I’m just finishing up my proposal for the dissertation I’ve tentitavelly titled: ‘Liminality, Nature and Connection: Shinto as a Narrative Force in the 2016-2022 Films of Shinkai Makoto and its Growing Popularity Outside of Japan’. The dissertation will answer the question: How Shinkai’s works introduce Shinto ideas and concepts of reality to audiences outside of Japan? Additionally, has it helped with the familiarity of Shinto with non-Japanese audiences?

© 2022 ComixWave

One nice thing I’ve noticed is how detailed my tutors are being. Earlier in the semester, Watanabe-sensei spent two hours walking us through the Perfect Dissertation Format™ and this week was a similar discussion/overview of what a good dissertation for IJS should look like. I like stuff like this as The OU basically left it to us, with little advice when it came the minutae of how to format this monster of a dissertation. CJS/SISJAC is much more organised and that makes little autistic me very happy.

©2016 ComixWave

My PH.d focus is going to be on the promotion of Shinto via Japanese multimedia (I dipped my toes in with my Ghost of Tsushima cultural heritage essay which ended up examining mid- and post-pandemic tourism in Japan as a result of the game’s success). My dissertation simply has a narrower focus, looking at Shinto as a character (or a narrative force) within the previously listed films but also commenting on how the popularity of Shinto outside of Japan is directly related to the success of these particular movies.

The interesting part for me is, particularly in Your Name/Kimi no Na Wa and Tenki no Ko/Weathering with You, is the connection between people but also nature and the spaces between them. Mitsuha and Taki are linked by Tiamat, the comet which destroys Itomori in the original timeline, while Hodoka and Hina are linked by the rain and sun, respectively, and just as Mitsuha makes her wish in the liminal space under a torii gate, so passing through also activates Hina’s connection with the world in the clouds and her power as the Sunshine Girl.

Suzume no Tojimari appears to continue this environmental theme with doors appearing in places where human habitation has turned once lived in spaces to ruins. I’m hoping to be in Japan to watch it but for now the trailer itself suggests a continuing melding between the modern world, Shinto and a supernatural element which really excites me. I can’t wait to get properly started on this dissertation!