Art in Spirited Away country, driving me dotty, what to do? take a bath?

March 24, 2018 8:30 AM

Inspiration for Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し), and at 3000 years old, supposedly the oldest hot spring in Japan, Dogo Onsen resort is having another art festival, decorating hotel rooms and public spaces alike. Starting in 2014 with some dotty hotel rooms, courtesy Yayoi Kusama, Dogo Art this year features Shin Sobue's work of decorating a hotel room with the text of the novel Bocchan, by local boy done good, Natsume Soseki.
posted by Juso No Thankyou (3 comments total)

We visited Dogo Onsen last February. The weather was mild. They play up the Bocchan connection, including the arrival of the "Bocchan ressha" (steam locomotive). I believe the main bath house is scheduled for reconstruction this year.
posted by oheso at 5:10 AM on March 25, 2018

Dogo Onsen is not the
posted by Metacircular at 8:35 AM on March 25, 2018

Dogo Onsen is not the only bath house claiming to be inspiration for the bath house in Spirited Away. The Taiwan town Jiufen also bares a striking resemblance to both the anime onsen and the town surrounding it. Pictures from Jiufen make a rather convincing argument that it was used as a source.
Among other features the Jiufen onsen has a huge smokestack and it is much more ornate then Dogo, with many dragons on the roof reminiscent of Haku in his dragon form. And the town has many food stalls with a great variety of foodstuff.
Even though it is in Taiwan, Juiufen has a real Japanese connection from the period when Japan took over the island from 1895 to 1945. Taiwan was the first country occupied by the Japanese Empire. There was a lot of Japanese influence from that period, and it can still be found today. The historical connection makes the connection to Spirited Away seem very plausible.
posted by Metacircular at 9:31 AM on March 25, 2018