Shiratani Unsuikyo, the Forest that Inspired ‘Princess Mononoke’
Yakushima Island in southern Japan is a visual delight for lovers of nature and Studio Ghibli. Registered as a UNESCO world heritage site since 1993, the island has a rare ecosystem with sacred trees which have been preserved for over 7000 years. Visitors to the island are likely to encounter many animals roaming free, such as macaques and deer.
According to an old island proverb, it rains 35 days a month in Yakushima. The natural environment owes its lush beauty to this humid and rainy climate. It was on this very plot of land that Miyazaki and his production team, beguiled by this somewhat idiosyncratic weather system, came to seek inspiration for the film Princess Mononoke. The place has since been nicknamed ‘Mononoke-hime no mori’, Japanese for ‘Princess Mononoke’s forest’. Anxious to preserve this unspoilt natural setting, Miyazaki has obstinately refused to let any museum be built there. He believes that the peace and quiet of this area must not be tarnished, because man is simply passing through, unlike nature, which has taken root.
TRENDING
-
The Sources and Secrets of Japanese Tattooing
During their journey through tattooing across the world, the French authors met one of the last tebori masters in Japan.
-
The Portrait of an Island: BULL SUMO
Among the Amami Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture is an island with a long history of bullfighting that’s expected to become a world heritage site.
3:12 -
Les larmes du Levant, the New French Sake Produced as it Should Be
After a trip to Japan, Grégoire Bœuf set himself the challenge of creating a company dedicated to sake in France.
-
Love, Loss, Rebellion, and Solitude
Now Japan-based, French filmmaker and photographer Julien Levy worked previously in New York and Paris for luxury brands such as Chanel, Miu Miu, and Harper’s Bazaar.
-
Paris, Tokyo: Nobuyuki Nakajima
In the last episode in the series Paris, Tokyo, we meet pianist, arranger and composer Nobuyuki Nakajima, who now works in Paris with singer Jane Birkin.
