Spirited Away 千と千尋の神隠し

(Hiragana Times article edited to be reader friendly)

Strange Experience of a Girl Lost in a Wondrous World

異次元の世界に迷い込んだ少女の不思議体験

Spirited Away (directed by Hayao Miyazaki )
千と千尋の神隠し（宮崎駿監督）
Spirited Away a big hit by director Hayao Miyazaki, a master of Japanese animation.
日本のアニメ映画の巨匠、宮崎駿監督の大ヒット作品。
To date the film has been seen by over 23 million people and has made 30.4 billion yen, making it the most successful Japanese film in history.
観客動員数2,300万人、興行収益304億円は、2008年現在日本の映画史上でトップだ。
Spirited Away is the story of a girl named Chihiro who was spirited away to a weird town where she experiences many things at a bath house where Japanese gods come to relax.
神隠し にあった少女、千尋が不気味な町に迷い込んでしまう。そして、日本の神々が休息にやってくる湯屋で繰り広げられる不思議な体験を描いた物語だ。
Chihiro was moving to a new home with her parents by car, but they missed their way and wandered onto a forest road.
両親と車で新しい家へ引っ越す途中、道を間違え山道に入ってしまう。
The road came to a dead end and they got out of the car, whereupon they found a tunnel.
道路は行き止まりとなり、車を降りると、そこにはトンネルがあった。
Passing through the tunnel a strange uninhabited town that resembled a theme park appeared.
トンネルを抜ける とかつてテーマパークだったような、人のいない不気味な町並が現れる。
They found their way to a restaurant where there were many different kinds of food on the counter.
そこで、カウンターにいろいろな料理が並べてある食堂を見つける。
Chihiro’s parents started to eat their favorite food, saying that they would pay when the staff came back.
千尋の両親は、店 員が戻ったときに金を払うと言いながら好きな料理を食べ始める。
Chihiro left the restaurant and walked around the town, and found a bath house like a castle.
千尋は食堂を出て町を探索していると、お城のような湯屋を見つける。
As she was crossing the bridge to the bath house, a handsome boy called Haku appeared and told her not to cross.
湯屋への橋を渡り始めるとハクという美少年が現れ、橋を渡るなという。
She returned the the restaurant where she found her parents had turned into pigs.
千尋が食堂に戻 ると、両親は豚になっている。
Haku appeared again and took the confused Chihiro to the bath house.
ハクが再び現れ、取り乱した千尋を湯屋へ連れて行く。
Haku told her to tell the witch Yubaba that she wanted to work there and said this was how she could save her parents. Haku then left.　
ハクは魔法使いの湯婆婆に働かせて欲しいと頼むことが、両親を救う道だ と教えて去る。
Many Japanese gods were staying as guests at the bath house, where many wondrous figures and animals were working.
湯屋には、たくさんの日本の神々が客として滞在している。そこでは不思議な人物や動物が働いている。
Finally she was allowed to work at the bath house and was given the name “Sen” by the witch.
やっとのことで湯婆婆から働くことを許され、千尋は 「千」という名に変えられる。
In the house lots of unique characters such as unwanted guests and a mysterious man called “faceless” appear.
湯屋には従業員が嫌がる客や、カオナシと呼ばれる謎の男など、たくさんの個性的なキャラクターが現れる。
Chihiro has many different experiences and solves difficult problems, before returning to the real world at the place where she left her parents.
千尋はここでさまざ まなことを体験し、難問を解決。やがて両親と別れた現実の世界の場所へ戻る。
Many Miyazaki works such as “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind,” “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Raputa: Castle in the Sky” have a clear message and story, but with this film viewers rate and interpret the film quite differently.
宮崎作品には、「風の谷のナウシカ」や「となりのトトロ」、「天空の城ラピュタ」など、メッセージ性やストーリーが明快なものも少なくないが、この作品 は、見る人によりその評価も解釈も大きく異なる。
Some say Chihiro is a typical Japanese girl who is spoiled and this film teaches children important life lessons.
千尋が甘やかされて育てられた日本の平凡な少女で、生きていくのに必要なことを教えていると解説する人も いる。
Certainly, it seems the film teaches children they can overcome the succession of hardships they will face in life with wisdom, bravery and love.
確かに、次々とやってくる人生の荒波を知恵や勇気、愛で乗り越えていくことを子供たちに教えているようでもある。
Some people think it expresses the selfishness and ugliness of human beings by portraying Chihiro’s parents as pigs.
また、人間の身勝手さ、醜さを両親を豚に することで表現しているとの見方をする人もいる。
This film was the first animated work to receive the Golden Bear Prize (Best Award) at the Berlin International Film Festival.
ベルリン国際映画祭で、アニメーションとして初の金熊賞（最高賞）を受賞。
Many other awards including the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature were also given to Spirited Away.
また、アカデミー賞長編アニメ 賞など数々の賞を獲得した。