Princess Mononoke: What Did Ashitaka Mean by “The Forest Spirit Can’t Die. It Is Life Itself”?

“Princess Mononoke(Official Studio Ghibli Website)” is a theatrical animated film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, released in 1997.

This time, I want to explore the meaning of the words Ashitaka says to San at the end of the story: “The Forest Spirit can’t die. It is life itself. It possesses both life and death.“

Through Hayao Miyazaki’s unique direction, we are made to feel, “I kind of get it, but I don’t decisively understand it, but… I feel like that’s okay!” and we stop thinking about Ashitaka’s words.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing to stop thinking, but this time, I want to push forward without stopping.

One crucial point seems to be that when Lady Eboshi and her group approached the Forest Spirit, for some reason, the Forest Spirit did not stop its transformation into the Night-Walker.

Didn’t you also think this when you first saw “Princess Mononoke”? “It could have dealt with Eboshi and the others first, and then slowly transformed into the Night-Walker.“

Personally, I believe this sense of incongruity is a hint to understanding Ashitaka’s final line.

In this article, I will first present an “interpretation of the Forest Spirit’s change in nature” using the “incongruity” mentioned above as a hook, and then I will discuss a completely different interpretation. I have not been able to confirm any depictions or materials that definitively determine the meaning of Ashitaka’s words, so both interpretations are equally plausible to me, and it is also possible to think that both meanings are simultaneously intended.

First, to consider the “interpretation of the Forest Spirit’s change in nature,” let’s look back at director Hayao Miyazaki’s testimony.

*This article is an English translation of the original Japanese article, “【もののけ姫】「シシ神は死なないよ、命そのものだから」とはどういう意味だったのか？“.

Meaning of Ashitaka’s Words ①: An Interpretation of the Forest Spirit’s “Change in Divine Nature”

Hayao Miyazaki’s Testimony Regarding the “Forest Spirit”

In a dialogue with Takeshi Umehara (philosopher) included in “Orikaeshiten: 1997-2008 (折り返し点: 1997~2008, in Japanese)”, Miyazaki answers the very direct question, “What is the Forest Spirit?” as follows:

Well, it was a desperate measure. It’s ‘night,’ you see. It walks around, nurturing the forest. During the day, it vanishes and exists there as a single creature. It’s a rather haphazard thing, with the antlers of a deer, the face of a human, the feet of a bird, and the body of a goat… Actually, I depicted this Forest Spirit as a very low-ranking god. I couldn’t draw anything beyond that, so in the end, I just made it the ‘God of the Forest.’ All the while thinking there must be higher-ranking gods.

(Original Text in Japanese)
いや、苦し紛れなんです。『夜』なんですけどね。歩き回って森を育てている。昼間は消えて、一つの生き物としてそこにいるんです。鹿の角をはやした、人面と鳥の足と山羊の身体を持ったような、いい加減なものです。・・・実はこのシシ神も、うんと下級の神様として描いたんです。それ以上はもう描けなくて、結局それを最終的に『森の神』ということにしてしまった。もう少し上級神がいるんだろうと思いながら。

The “Forest Spirit,” which causes grass to grow from its footsteps, absorbs life, and transforms into the Night-Walker, is, in fact, a “low-ranking god.”

Ultimately, the purpose of this article is to explore the meaning of Miyazaki’s term “low-ranking god,” but to understand this statement, I will quote another one.

In “Forty-Four Questions for Director Hayao Miyazaki about ‘Princess Mononoke’ by Foreign Reporters,” included in “Ghibli no Kyokasho 10 Mononoke Hime (ジブリの教科書10 もののけ姫, in Japanese)”, he answers the question, “I’d like to ask about animism. What are your thoughts on religion?” as follows:

There is a sentiment that remains strong as a religious spirit within many Japanese people even today. It is the belief that deep in the furthest reaches of our own country, there is a very pure place where people must not tread, a place from which abundant water flows and protects the deep forest. I strongly hold the religious sense that it is most wonderful for humans to return to such a place of purity. There is no bible, nor are there saints. Therefore, on a global religious level, it may not be recognized as a religion, but for the Japanese people, it is a very certain religious spirit.

(Original Text in Japanese)
今でも多くの日本人の中に宗教心として強く残っている感情があります。それは自分たちの国の一番奥に、人が足を踏み入れてはいけない非常に清浄なところがあって、そこには豊かな水が流れ出て、深い森を守っているのだと信じている心です。そういう一種の清浄感があるところに人間は戻っていくのが一番素晴らしいんだという宗教感覚を、僕は激しく持っています。それには聖書もなければ、聖人もいないんです。ですから世界の宗教レベルでは、宗教として認められないけれども、日本人にとっては、非常に確かな宗教心なんです。

With these statements as hints, I will now consider the meaning of Ashitaka’s line.

The Forest Spirit Cannot Stop Becoming the Night-Walker—A God as Part of Nature

To understand the meaning of Ashitaka’s words, let’s first think about the sense of incongruity many people felt about the Forest Spirit.

Why didn’t the Forest Spirit stop transforming into the Night-Walker when it was surrounded by people aiming for its head? In fact, because it didn’t stop, its head was shot off and stolen by Eboshi.

If we reconsider this incongruity with the hint of it being a “low-ranking god,” wouldn’t it be natural to see it as “the Forest Spirit is incapable of not becoming the Night-Walker“?

For the Forest Spirit, the “transformation into the Night-Walker” is like sleep for us, an irresistible natural phenomenon (physiological phenomenon) that it cannot control by its own power.

Thinking this way, the Forest Spirit and we humans seem to be quite continuous beings. Of course, the Forest Spirit has transcendent powers and is a different existence from us, but it seems more appropriate to see it as “part of nature like us” rather than a “supernatural being (or a being that rules over nature)”.

This is likely what Miyazaki meant by a “low-ranking god.”

The “Higher God” as a Formless, Pure “Something”—What Miyazaki Couldn’t Embody

If the Forest Spirit being a “low-ranking god” is as described above, what kind of existence was the “higher god” that Miyazaki envisioned?

In the quoted dialogue, there is the expression, “it was a desperate measure. It’s ‘night,’ you see.” I think this means, “I originally wanted to draw a ‘higher god,’ but I couldn’t, so it became the Forest Spirit as a desperate measure.”

And if that’s the case, although it was a “desperate measure,” there must be hints of the “higher god” in its form.

What seems noteworthy is the statement, “It’s ‘night,’ you see.” In the documentary “‘How Princess Mononoke Was Born (『もののけ姫』はこうして生まれた。, in Japanese),” the Night-Walker is also mentioned as symbolizing “the darkness of night itself.”

Come to think of it, I think many people have had the experience of sensing “something” in the darkness or feeling an inexplicable fear of the night’s darkness.

Of course, it’s natural to see this as the “wild instinct to protect oneself from external enemies” remaining within us, but isn’t it also a fact that the “fear” felt in the dark night gives birth to a certain kind of faith?

And that, in the end, is continuous with the “awe” of “nature” that arises from threats like “earthquakes,” “typhoons,” and “floods,” and I think it gives birth to a simple “nature worship.” And it’s important that “nature” as the object of such “awe” does not have a clear, distinct form.

In modern times, we have some understanding of the principles behind phenomena like “earthquakes,” “typhoons,” and “floods,” but isn’t “nature worship” more of a faith in the “something” that hides behind them and causes these phenomena, rather than “awe” for the specific phenomena themselves?

Thinking this way, it seems that Miyazaki tried to depict such an invisible “something.”

However, he didn’t want to give that “something” an easily understandable human form. I think this is also apparent in the statement from the interview I quoted earlier: “There is no bible, nor are there saints.” Giving it a human form would contradict that.

Moreover, it’s clear that what Miyazaki wanted to eliminate was not just the image of a “Western god” or a “Christian god.” Since gods in our country’s mythology also have human forms, it means Miyazaki wanted to deny that as well.

And after much effort, he created the “Forest Spirit,” but he himself was dissatisfied with it (since it was a “desperate measure”). However, for an ordinary person like me, the design of that “Forest Spirit” is sufficiently wonderful and not something to be described as a “desperate measure.”

In the end, the “higher god” Miyazaki envisioned is the “something” felt by the “belief that deep in the furthest reaches of our own country, there is a very pure place where people must not tread, a place from which abundant water flows and protects the deep forest,” and because he couldn’t fully express it, he described the Forest Spirit as a “low-ranking god.”

So, what could it mean for that Forest Spirit to disappear in the state it was in at the end of “Princess Mononoke”?

The Meaning of Ashitaka’s Words—The Vanished Forest Spirit Became a “Higher God”

From here, I will finally consider the meaning of Ashitaka’s words, but I need to assume a fact that is not explicitly depicted in the main story of “Princess Mononoke,” so I will make that clear. That assumption is:

This isn’t really an “assumption,” as it’s a given, but I’ve framed it as an “assumption” for emphasis.

Now, what happened to the forest where the Forest Spirit disappeared? In the movie, it only showed a slight recovery, but it is believed that over a long period, it became a dense forest again.

However, wouldn’t it be natural to think that the “legend of the Forest Spirit” remained in such a forest?

The place was originally called the “Forest of the Forest Spirit,” and since a tremendous incident experienced by many people occurred there, it wouldn’t be strange to think that the fact was passed down through generations.

However, people can never see the form of the Forest Spirit. An existence that was certainly present in the movie, which could even be damaged by stone-and-fire arrows, is now never seen by people. But the “legend of the Forest Spirit” remains. Perhaps only the name “Forest of the Forest Spirit” remained.

And if they feel “something’s” presence in the forest, they might perceive it as the presence of the Forest Spirit. If some inexplicable event occurs in or near the forest, it might be called the curse of the Forest Spirit. If a “typhoon,” “earthquake,” or “flood” occurs, it might be attributed to the Forest Spirit. Furthermore, even during peaceful days when nothing happens, they might think it is “the will of the Forest Spirit.”

But people will never see the form of the Forest Spirit.

Can’t this be considered as it becoming the very “something” that hides behind various disasters and causes those phenomena, and can’t it be said that it has become a symbol of the “very pure place where people must not tread”?

In other words, can’t the meaning of Ashitaka’s words be interpreted as follows?

Next, I will consider a completely different interpretation.

Meaning of Ashitaka’s Words ②: An Interpretation as Words of Hope for San and Himself

The “Forest of the Forest Spirit” as San’s Reason to Live

In the considerations so far, there is a perspective that has been completely overlooked. That is the perspective of “to whom did Ashitaka say those words?“

Of course, it was San, but recognizing that, what’s important is the fact that the forest was lost due to the influence of the headless Forest Spirit (Night-Walker).

That means San lost what she had lived for.

Abandoned by her parents as a baby, San, despite looking undeniably human, calls herself a “wolf.” The strong will to “protect the Forest of the Forest Spirit” was what fundamentally supported her contradictory situation of “living as a wolf while being human.”

For San, who had lost that, or at least felt she had lost it, weren’t the only words Ashitaka could say at that moment “The Forest Spirit can’t die”? In other words, the meaning of Ashitaka’s words in this context is:

Now, we could basically end here, but let’s think a little further.

The Forest Spirit’s Existence Was Also a Hope for Ashitaka

Finally, let’s turn our attention to Ashitaka himself.

“Princess Mononoke” is a story that begins with Ashitaka’s aimless journey to the west after receiving an unjust curse. Guided by Jigo, he finds hope in the “Forest Spirit,” only to face the despair that it will not heal his curse. He then finds a new meaning in life through San and ultimately discovers a new land in Irontown.

And in the end, Ashitaka’s curse (the scar) never completely disappeared (though it faded considerably).

At the end, Ashitaka seems to have regained a sense of health, as if a weight has been lifted, but he will have to continue living with the fact that the scar has not vanished.

It’s possible to see it as him accepting that scar, or curse, as part of himself, but it’s also quite possible that something will continue to bother him somewhere in his heart, and personally, I think that possibility is higher.

On the other hand, the only transcendent being with the potential to completely remove Ashitaka’s curse is, after all, the Forest Spirit.

Considering the meaning of Ashitaka’s words in this context, wouldn’t it be as follows?

This is what should be called a cry from the soul, and what a painful thought it is. It’s a bit sad to think that he was thinking this at the end of the story, but considering that “injustice” and “unsolvable problems” are one of the themes of “Princess Mononoke,” it’s not that strange. It’s not a story where “Yes! Everything is solved!”

Now, I have considered three possibilities for Ashitaka’s words, but they are not particularly contradictory. Rather, I think it’s natural to consider that his words contained a combination of these things.

What do you think is the meaning of Ashitaka’s words, “The Forest Spirit can’t die. It is life itself. It possesses both life and death”?

The images used in this article are from the “Studio Ghibli Still Images” collection.