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The movie Spirited Away has the title in Japanese as 千と千尋の神隠し, which means Sen and Chihiro Spiriting Away. This movie is about the Chihiro), a ten-year-old girl who enters the spirit world while moving to new house and try to find a way to free herself and her parents from this spirit world.

How does this movie justify its title, Sen and Chihiro Spiriting Away?

A J
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    Like this: “Hi, I’m Hayao Miyazaki, and I can give my movie any title I want, thanks for asking.” – Paul D. Waite Apr 07 '17 at 11:09
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    it doesn't need to "justify" it. movies can be titled anything the director/producers want ... – user428517 Apr 07 '17 at 17:05
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    It does not mean Sen and Chihiro Spiriting Away. A closer rendition would be "The disappearance of Sen and Chihiro". – James K Apr 07 '17 at 20:57
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    @JamesK is right. “Sen and Chihiro Spiriting Away” would be something like 神隠している千と千尋。 – David Moles Apr 07 '17 at 22:40
  • @JamesK, so "The spiriting away of Sen and Chihiro"? – HorusKol Apr 10 '17 at 01:05
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    Congratulations, this question is the winner of the corresponding topic challenge. – Napoleon Wilson Apr 10 '17 at 01:57
  • I would just like to say that the meaning of the title in Japanese is completely different to what these answers say. I am not going to answer, as it seems people are asking about the English name. The English title was very poorly translated. – KyloRen Apr 10 '17 at 12:31
  • @KyloRen I don't know Japanese and I was asking how does movie justify its title Sen and Chihiro Spiriting Away which is translation of its Japanese title as suggested by Wiki, not English title. You're always welcome to add your answer. – A J Apr 10 '17 at 12:39
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    @AJ Probably too late now, but for factual reference, I might put something together. – KyloRen Apr 10 '17 at 12:41
  • @KyloRen That'd be nice. – A J Apr 10 '17 at 12:43
  • Can you clarify what you mean by justify, and what in particular about the title you are questioning. Justify normally implies that there is something wrong or not warranted in general practice, and which requires an explanation to defend why it is justified. Your specific mention of a singular ten year old girl who is spirited away makes me think the question might be about why her two names are treated as two separate persons in the title. However all answers given so far are as if you had asked "what is meant by the words 'spirited away' in the title". Is that the question you are asking? – Steve Pemberton Nov 04 '23 at 14:33

4 Answers4

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From Merriam-Webster, spirit means

the immaterial intelligent or sentient part of a person

and

to carry off usually secretly or mysteriously

Spirited Away is a clever play on words, referencing how Chihiro enters the spirit world. She gets carried off her own world, and she becomes a spirit.

For reference, Spirited Away is not a literal translation. Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi literally means hiding in the spirit world or hidden by the gods, and in other languages, the movie was distributed with other titles, such as Chihiro's Journey.

Oh, and also, if you're wondering about the Sen and Chihiro references, check out my other question!

BlueMoon93
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    I think 神隠し literally means "hidden by the gods", or "hiding with the gods", where gods would have the nuance of animistic spirits. "hidden by/hiding in the spirit world" also fits. – Darren Cook Apr 07 '17 at 12:17
  • Disclaimer: I don't know japanese at all! I'm just quoting what the wikipedia page said in portuguese – BlueMoon93 Apr 07 '17 at 13:01
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    It's called Le Voyage de Chihiro (Chihiro's Journey) in French too. – Matthieu M. Apr 07 '17 at 13:40
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    WWWJDIC gives “mysterious disappearance; being spirited away” for 【神隠し】. – David Moles Apr 07 '17 at 22:39
  • It seems you gave four possible answers and it's not clear which one or more of these is the answer. 1. "She gets carried off her own world", is "carried off" implied in the film as opposed to entering? 2. "and she becomes a spirit", does the film specify that she became a spirit when she was "carried off", maybe her already existing spirit (intelligent or sentient part) entered the spirit world? 3. "hiding in the spirit world", does the film indicate that she was hiding? 4. "or hidden by the gods" does the film indicate she was hidden by the gods? Is she both hiding and being hidden? – Steve Pemberton Nov 04 '23 at 14:26
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If something is "spirited away" it means that it has been removed without anybody noticing. This is exactly what happens to Chihiro in the film after she is separated from her parents. At the same time, the place she is "spirited away" too is the land of spirits, giving the title a double-meaning of sorts.

As for the "Sen and Chihiro" part, these are the names that Chihiro is referred to over the course of the film. Chihiro is her real name and Sen is the name given to her by Yubaba.

So, Spirited Away (or Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away) is a film about a young girl who is spirited away to the land of spirits and is referred to by two different names throughout, and the title reflects that.

Dr R Dizzle
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    So, I thought that spirited away means that they move from spirited world back to human world. – A J Apr 07 '17 at 09:05
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    @AJ, ...ahh. Speaking as a native English speaker, I'm accustomed to the meaning described in this answer. – Charles Duffy Apr 07 '17 at 20:22
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To spirit away means to mysteriously disappear.

The term apparently comes from older times. When a person's disappearance went unexplained, people would attribute it to being taken away to the spirit-world by spirits/gods/whatever.

In the movie, Chihiro is literally "spirited away" to the spirit world.

By the way, 神隠し "kamikakushi" does not mean "kidnapping", as stated in the top answer.

It is the combination of

  • 神 "kami" = "god(s)"
  • The nominalized (noun) form of 隠す "kakusu" = "to hide"

A good translation is "disappearance (due to unnatural/unknown causes)" or "(a person's) spiriting away"

BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
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One further detail: my mother told me that 神隠し was a term used to describe what happens when a child vanished or died unexpectedly (particularly in the past when child mortality was so much higher). They're said to have been taken by the kami, much like Germanic folklore speaks of the Erlking stealing children.

Source: my mother. Which means that it's at least a thing some people say.

Necarion
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    As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Community Nov 02 '23 at 08:27
  • @StevePemberton Ah, I hadn't noticed that; thanks for pointing it out! I removed my comment. – Joachim Nov 02 '23 at 15:04
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    This answer seems clearly written and in my opinion does contribute to the answer. The definitive answer would come from Hayao Miyazaki or someone else directly involved in the naming of the original film or its international releases. All of the answers provided so far seem to be different interpretations, translations, and meanings of the title(s), none of the answers quote any film production sources. This answer provides another data point that seems to add to the other answers. Especially if it can be determined that this was at least a somewhat common meaning of the phrase in Japan. – Steve Pemberton Nov 02 '23 at 15:07
  • @StevePemberton - I was thinking that. If it's a common idiom, there should be other examples of it in literature, in the same way that people refer to a stillborn child as 'born asleep' or whatever – Valorum Nov 02 '23 at 16:01
  • @Valorum - I agree an appearance in literature would be a confirmation, and also increase the possibility of its influence on the film's title. Although it's also possible that while perhaps somewhat common, the usage didn't make it into any well known literature, which would make it harder to track down other than perhaps by a linguist. But that would also probably decrease the chances that this particular usage influenced the film title. But it's still a somewhat intriguing possibility. – Steve Pemberton Nov 02 '23 at 16:11
  • @StevePemberton - If it's idiomatic, it'll be recorded somewhere – Valorum Nov 02 '23 at 16:49
  • @Valorum - yes I think so which is why I mentioned linguists. It could also have been local and didn't get recorded anywhere other than through verbal recounting like in this example. But in that case that would move it even further way from the likelihood of it being an influence on the film name. But I'm not sure if anyone here is in a position to know for sure whether or not it is mentioned in literature or anywhere else. Miyazaki is 81 years old, in theory he may have heard this usage mentioned when he was growing up. How likely? I have no idea. But again it's an intriguing possibility. – Steve Pemberton Nov 02 '23 at 17:53
  • This answer would be improved if it were [edit]ed to relate this description of the term to the film. As it is currently phrased, it does not seem to answer the question. – galacticninja Nov 03 '23 at 11:51
  • @galacticninja - did any of the other answers? I didn't see any answers that quoted film production sources, just different interpretations and opinions of the English words that were used in the title, and different opinions on the meaning of 神隠し. This answer provides an additional interpretation of 神隠し from a Japanese source (I'm making an assumption that their mother is or was Japanese.) – Steve Pemberton Nov 03 '23 at 14:03
  • @StevePemberton What I'm saying is that to improve this answer, it would be better if it were [edit]ed/rephrased to relate that interpretation/description of that term to the film and the question. "One further detail: my mother told me that …" does not answer "How does the movie Spirited Away justify its title?" As to the other answers, they seem to be phrased appropriately to answer the question. – galacticninja Nov 03 '23 at 14:20
  • I interpret the question as "why does the title speak of Sen and Chihiro spiriting away when only Chihiro is spirited away?" (her name later changes to Sen only after she is spirited away). I think the OP's use of the word "justify" helps confirm this interpretation of the question. I don't see any answers to that question, instead I see definitions of the English term spirited away, various interpretations into English of 神隠し, and some (not all) speculate on how their interpretation might relate to the film. With no sources cited other than Merriam-Webster. This answer seems just as valid. – Steve Pemberton Nov 03 '23 at 19:37
  • @StevePemberton I think there's a valid answer in this post. But it would be better if it were rephrased to address the question rather than as a "one further detail..." type of post, because it seems like it's a reply to another answer here rather than an answer to the question. For example, how does this interpretation relate to the movie's plot? – galacticninja Nov 04 '23 at 00:43
  • The OP's question is unclear, asking "how can this title be justified" without specifying the area of concern. The OP then accepted an answer which made three not fully related points: 1. the dictionary definition of spirit 2. their opinion that spirited away in the film means both entering the spirit world and becoming a spirit (even though the film never specifies whether her existing spirit entered or if she became a spirit at that time) 3. translation of 神隠し as either hiding in the spirit world or hidden by the gods (with no explanation which of the two interpretations applies to the film) – Steve Pemberton Nov 04 '23 at 02:46
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – galacticninja Nov 04 '23 at 04:35