Fuji at a bath-house
Comments: 14
Public baths traditionally have a mural on the wall above the baths, and that mural often depicts Fuji-san. This picture was taken at the bath-house that supposedly inspired the one that appeared in Hayao Miyazaki’s film “Spirited Away.”
The following versions now available for your desktop bathing pleasure:
- 1024 × 768 (216 KB JPEG)
- 1280 × 854 (320 KB JPEG)
- 1280 × 1024 (326 KB JPEG)
- 2560 × 1600 (868 KB JPEG)
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Posted to Photographs • 2005.02.10 (Thu) • 22:34
Comments
Posted by Siesta 2005.02.11, 04:33
Looks like a desktop! Any chance of a full-screen version to make it just that?
Posted by Marie 2005.02.11, 17:57
Yes, I was thinking that I would love to frame this and put it in my new UK bathroom… it is just so… techicolorful.
Posted by jh 2005.02.12, 01:16
A bathroom would definitely be the place for it. Let me see what I can do….
Posted by Marie 2005.02.12, 01:18
Oh sweet. That would be cool! Email if you need me to do/provide anything to help.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens (Texas) 2005.02.12, 12:18
Really? What bath-house is that? I always thought the bath-house in Spirited Away was inspired by the Dogo Onsen in Shikoku.
Posted by jh 2005.02.12, 13:24
M —- There was a long article on Miyazaki by Margaret Talbot in the January 17 issue of the New Yorker, and I thought I read it there. I just scanned through and can’t find any mention of it, so it was obviously elsewhere. I’ve read a few things on Miyazaki recently but haven’t kept track of links.
The line I had in mind said that he was inspired by an old bath-house in an open-air architectural museum not far from the studio. That could only be the Edo Tokyo Tatemono-en (you can see the sento in the top right of that main page) a little further out on the Chuo Line. The museum’s logo, by the way, is by Miyazaki.
I doubt there was a single source of inspiration, and Dogo is, well … Dogo. One of the greatest baths not just in the country but in the history of the country, which is saying something. It is the ur-bath, and how could one not think of it when designing a similar building?
I’ve yet to visit, but I hear it’s well worth the trip.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens (Texas) 2005.02.13, 01:47
Yeah, I read that article. I was surprised that no one made the connection between Miyazaki’s decision to put Howl’s Moving Castle on chicken feet with the fact that he read a lot of Russian fairy tales as a child.
At least the article got two of my husband’s stuffy older friends, who would never watch anime, to rent Totoro and Kiki. Haven’t heard their reaction yet. The blessing endowed by appearing in the pages of the New Yorker made Miyazaki respectable to them. Or at least made them curious.
Posted by Durf 2005.02.14, 14:38
Hey, that’s out in my neck of the woods. One of the buildings on the right-hand side of the lane leading up to the bathhouse has a staircase on the side of it that inspired the scene in Sen to Chihiro where she runs down that long set of stairs to get to the boiler room. The Ghibli studio is just northeast of Higashi Koganei station and the artists often take walks up to the park when they’re feeling out of creative juice.
Posted by Matthew Bartlett 2005.02.20, 12:30
I’m so chuffed you put the big versions up. Cheers.
Posted by Aecela Moore 2005.02.20, 19:29
Wonderful pictures. Thank you so much for putting them up. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi is one of my husband’s & my favorites.
Posted by jane boyden 2005.07.20, 17:07
I wondered if any knows if the “Fuji at a bath house” mural has been made into a print or poster. If so, where would I be able to purchase one. I currently live in Tokyo, Japan.
Many thanks!
Jane
Posted by j. 2006.02.08, 21:28
This picture was taken at the bath-house that supposedly inspired the one that appeared in Hayao Miyazaki’s film “Spirited Away.”
Could you please name the sento to which you are referring?
If you have its address, I’d love to know; I’m coming to Tokyo soon and would love to check it out.
Cheers
Posted by jh 2006.02.08, 22:40
It’s at the Edo-Tokyo Tatemono-En, Open-Air Architectural Museum (English page with contact and access details: scroll down). A little bit troublesome to get to but well worth a visit.
You’re going to have a great time in Tokyo: it’s a wonderful time of year to visit (still a little cool, but warming up day by day).
Posted by Tiffany 2007.04.27, 03:27
I love the pic it makes me feel so relaxed, I mostly love how well painted it is.
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