My Neighbor Totoro-The God of Death (死神)?

Day 2 of Miyazaki Week

First off, I would like to start this post with a Happy Birthday to Hayao Miyazaki!!

In honor of Miyazaki's birthday today, I have decided to talk about my favorite Ghibli film of all time- My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ)(1988) ! If you have never seen this beloved film, let me give you a quick run down of it. In My Neighbor Totoro, a professor and his two daughters, Satsuki and Mei, move to the countryside to be closer to their ill-mother and the hospital she resides at. Soon after they move in, the youngest daughter, Mei, meets Totoro. Instead of just talking about the film, I want to share a dark theory I once heard about this film. 

BACKGROUND STORY
Many audiences know of Totoro as the big, cute, fluffy forest spirt, that can fly through the sky on a spinning top, and hands out little gift bags of various kinda of seeds and nuts to children. However, there may be a more than meets the eye when it comes to this beloved creature.  First, lets begin with a background story that will help explain where this theory is going. 


Back in May of 1963, there was a murder case called the Sayama incident. In this case, a man had kidnapped a 16-year old girl and delivered a ransom note to the family's house asking for money. The older girl's sister brought fake money to the location requested in the note. Cops surrounded the place, and though a man came to pick up the ransom, he fled before anyone could capture him. A few days later, the kidnapped girl's body was found and grief stricken, the older sister committed suicide. 

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MAY
The first bit of evidence that could link this movie to the real-life incident is in the girl's names. The Sayama incident occurred in May, Satsuki is the Japanese word for May (month), and Mei is the english pronunciation. OoO Creepy. 


THE LOCATION OF THE FILM

While the girl's are moving into their new house, Granny, one of the next door neighbor's comes over to help. As you can seen in this scene, the box behind her is labeled 狭山茶, Sayama Tea. This could be argued as to say that the new house is located in Sayama. It also said that the hospital in the film bears great resemblance to the hospital actually located in Sayama. In My Neighbor Totoro, the hospital is named Shichikoku byouin (七国病院), while the real hospital is named Hachikoku byouin (八国病院). If you do not know Japanese, let me explain what the deal is with the hospital names. 七 is the number 7 in kanji while 八 is the number 8. It is quite strange how the fabricated hospital's name bears such a close resemblance. The only difference is it is one number off. 

SEEING DUST BUNNIES
Depending on which version of the film you have seen, you may recall the dust bunnies or soot sprites. Though these cute little balls of dust seem to play a harmless role in the film, they too have a much darker side in Japanese folklore. In folklore, these dustballs are called Susuwatari (煤渡り) and are said to only be seen by those who will soon die. As soon as the family moves into the new house, Satsuki and Mei both see them. Though the family rids them of the house by bringing laughter and joy to its empty halls, the Susuwatari appear once more in the film when Satsuki calls out for Totoro. Read below. 

TOTORO THE DEATH GOD?
Now here comes the interesting part. The theory goes to say that the cute forest spirit Totoro is actually a Death god or a Shinigami (死神) and that only those close to death can see him. But why? Well at the beginning of the film, the youngest daughter, Mei, is the first to see Totoro. Later in the film, Mei goes missing while trying to visit her mother in the hospital. After searching hours for the missing girl, a shoe is found in a pond (many argue that this means Mei actually drowned) and when Satsuki is asked if it is hers, she cannot face the truth that it is and runs off, only to beg for Totoro's help. It is at this time that the Soot sprites appear again as she runs down the tunnel searching for Totoro, hinting she is close to death. At this moment, one could say that Satsuki is opening the doors of the death - remember the older sister in the Sayama incident who committed suicide? Almost immediately, Totoro comes to the rescue and calls for the Cat bus (ねこのバス).   
                           

THE CAT BUS

When the Cat bus arrives, one of the stops on the destination panel flashes 墓道, which happens to mean Grave Road, before quickly changing to Mei. Grave road might be a real nice place to go, but it doesn't help argue against the death god theory. Some even believe the cat bus is actually the mode of transportation one takes from the human world to the underworld, and in this case Satsuki is taking it to "find" her sister. 

THE OJIZOU STATUES

Another recurring symbol throughout the film is the Ojizou statues, who in Japanese culture is the deity that protects the souls of deceased children. Near the beginning of the film, Mei and Satsuki get stuck in the rain on their way home from school. As they take shelter, an Ojizou statue stands behind them. It isn't until later in the film, that we see the statues again. As seen in the photo, a group of the Ojizou statues stand perched behind a lost Mei. 

ARE THEY DEAD?

The ending of the film is what gets a lot of people, and even I always wondered what it meant. However, after Satsuki finds Mei with the help of Totoro and the Catbus, the two girls go to visit their mother in the hospital. Instead of going in, the girl's perch in a tree by the window. Inside, the girl's mother and father sit talking when their mother says, "I think i just heard Satsuki and Mei laughing just now". Since the father did not see or hear them, does that mean they are dead? Does it mean their mother is close to death as well since she could hear them?

In the end, this is all a theory. You may laugh it off and think it is stupid, you might find it very interesting. However, Studio Ghibli has commented on this subject matter stating, “No need to be alarmed. There is absolutely no truth or configuration that Totoros are the Gods of Death or that Mei is dead in My neighbor Totoro.” Either way, it is quite interesting to see how many things in the film could lead one to the think this child friendly film could have such dark undertones. I myself, find it very interesting and in the end Totoro will still be my favorite. 

CHECK OUT THE TRAILER FOR MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO BELOW 

Let me know what you think about this theory in the comments below. Check back tomorrow for another Ghibli themed post and please subscribe here

Thanks!
W