Spirited Away
MISASA, JAPAN, 2018. Today has been one of the best days of my life.
We are now in Misasa, a small town in Tottori Prefecture. Apparently, this place is Hayao Miyazaki’s go-to spot. Before coming here, we had no idea that it has any connection with Ghibli.
We visited the actual quirky ryokan where he stayed and which served as the inspiration for SPIRITED AWAY. I could imagine the susuwatari bouncing about on the floor as we explored the building.
On the cafe/ryokan’s logbook, he left a sketch of TOTORO 11 years before the film saw the light of day. Not too far away is a temple that is featured on PRINCESS MONONOKE.
While walking around town, a local invited us to his home, where his father had a chat with us over hot tea before briefly drawing a sketch of us for free.
All these happened after a boat cruise along the Tottori coast, an unforgettable bowl of gyukotsu ramen, and a tour of a town transformed by and paying tribute to Detective Conan.
The day ended in a relaxing bath in a private onsen.