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Spirited Away borrows a lot of its side characters from various Japanese
legends, although many are also original. One of the most mysterious such
characters is No Face, who is perhaps slightly antagonistic, and comes off as
a spirit of greed or something to that effect. The concept for No Face is very
unique with a collection of strange powers that I don't know of in any other
mythological spirit, suggesting to me that he might be a unique creation of
Miyazaki.

Are there any comments by Miyazaki on the origin of No Face? Barring that, is
there a clear origin in some Japanese mythology, or is he an original
creation?


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spirited-away
Is No Face from Spirited Away based on any traditional Japanese legends?


This interview was originally in the French movie magazine "POSITIF" (April
2002 volume). It was [translated into Japanese by a Japanese
blogger](http://cyberbloom.seesaa.net/article/104250571.html), and I've
translated relevant parts into English. Some things may have been lost in the
double translation, but hopefully the main points are the same.

> Interviewer: By the way, where did Kaonashi, the creature who swallows
> everything, come from? Also, I noticed in this movie that Kaonashi, Boh, and
> Chihiro's parents are all obsessed with overeating.
>
> Miyazaki Hayao: That's true. These characters' personalities are full of
> faults. I made this movie for my friend's two daughters. Like Chihiro, they
> are also 10 years old. I didn't want to show them something like "the
> struggle between good and evil." I wanted to show them the truth about the
> world. If young girls don't really see "good and evil" as something as
> simple as dualism, then it's something they must discover for themselves in
> the world. Regarding the overeating, in the past I saw "[Babette's
> Feast](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babette%27s_Feast)". It's a very
> beautiful and enjoyable movie. In that movie, the characters also eat a lot.

Even when directly asked, he didn't give a very specific answer it seems.
Though I suppose Babette's Feast was an important inspiration.

> "Kaonashi is inside of everyone." Those are Miyazaki Hayao's own words.
> Kaonashi can't buy people's attention with money. In addition, he doesn't
> know how to hold on to people's hearts. Kaonashi is irritated by Chihiro's
> lack of desires and tells her to want. This is also a necessity of
> capitalism. There is a contrast those who swarm around Kaonashi when he
> gives out money and Chihiro's enlightened lack of desire for gold or food.
> Her resolution in this is so strong that it can even seem cold. There was no
> reasoning behind saving Haku. He clearly says to Kaonashi, "I won't give you
> what I want."


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From my opinion, I suppose that No Face might someway originated from Japanese
Theatre Ritual called "No" or "Noh" as the character, Shite, a supernatural
character like ghost or god is wearing a similar white mask as No Face in
Spirited Away. You can google "Noh Drama" for more info. xx


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2014-09-24T15:36:49.653
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I thought that No-Face was a newly formed Spirit of Empathy, with no control
over his abilities or understanding of the Spirit's Bath House, he took on the
characteristics of the strongest emotions around him.


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2014-12-20T08:37:14.097
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You can actually also relate the character of No-face (kaonashi) to a similar
supernatural entity from Inu Yasha (S1 EP. 11). There was an episode where a
demon Noh Mask was featured. This entity ate all the people it encountered;
even though it's goal was to search for "a body that will not rot away, the
concept is very similar to the character of No-face from Spirited Away. I
guess they're based from a certain concept then manipulated to suit the
storyline - :p


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