The Tale of the Princess Kaguya: Studio Ghibli’s unseen message of free living

The following article contains spoilers for 'The Tale of the Princess Kaguya'.

‘Howl’s Moving Castle’, ‘My Neighbour Totoro’ and ‘Ponyo’ should be familiar names to all fans of Studio Ghibli around the world. From four wins of Japan’s Academy Prize for Animation to Best Japanese Film at the Golden Gross Awards it seems the studio has done it all in their signature whimsical yet immersive realism through visual storytelling.

However, in 2013, Studio Ghibli put out a 137-minute, historical-fantasy film that was mainly unseen by Western audiences, only generating a worldwide total of $27.02 million compared to My Neighbour Totoro which grossed more than $41 million. This film is ‘The Tale of the Princess Kaguya’, Isao Takahata’s adaptation of ‘The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter’, a 10th-century Japanese literary tale.

‘The Tale of Princess Kaguya’ tells the story of a bamboo cutter who finds a small girl from a glowing bamboo shoot who was affectionately nicknamed Takenoko or ‘Little Bamboo’ by the children in the village. The bamboo cutter stumbles across fine cloth and gold in the same way Takenoko was found and believing this to be a sign of her divine royalty, takes this opportunity to make her a noble princess.

Isao Takahata begins the movie with the simple countryside with the old bamboo cutter and his wife raising Takenoko faithfully in modest conditions, animated in watercolour and ink brushstrokes, straying from their usual bright colours and thin lineart that Studio Ghibli is most notably known for. The nature around them is plentiful, green, and vibrant and the music is simple, lively, and free, characterising her joy in this simple living with friends and family, most notably a young man named Sutemaru who is her closest childhood friend. I believe this created an environment where Kaguya’s character thrived, aptly mirroring her fluidity and grace throughout the film, mirroring her desire to be unchained which soon begins spiralling out of control.

This desire first begins when her father uses the money he had found to start a wealthy and noble life on the mainland with an estate fit to raise a princess of her believed status. We see the immediate parting from the countryside and a move into the capital. At first, Takenoko is delighted with the large estate, running around on the slick wooden floors and the large gardens, entangling herself in silks and satins dyed to pinks, reds, and purples, all the colours a noble should wear compared to her old, beige tunic. However, a stark difference we immediately notice is the lack of background noise. It is eerily silent when they enter the estate with no sounds of waterfalls, crickets, or leaves it leaves the viewer empty and although Kaguya is joyful, it isn’t the same as before, something is lacking.

An antagonist now appears before her, a noblewoman of high status named Lady Sagami arrives at the request of Takenoko’s father to be a mentor in the ways of high society. She’s dressed in lavish robes and is everything a noblewoman should be with teeth painted black, plucked eyebrows and lips painted rose red. She is the epitome of luxury and etiquette, following the social norms of Japanese women at the time.

Comparatively, Takenoko is plain and rough around the edges with thicker eyebrows and bright eyes and teeth, fast and lightweight without the burden of layers upon layers of fabric but she is still incredibly beautiful. Unlike the noble women in the capital, Takenoko’s face is not painted white and is a more lifelike pink which makes her expressive and alive whereas the other nobility feel restrained and blank. 

When Lady Sagami first introduces her to the way of noble women, Takenoko is extremely stubborn to her values, believing black teeth to be ‘weird’ and will not let the Lady pluck her eyebrows but she still complies with her studies. It is now painfully silent when Takenoko is in the estate with only the dialogue and slight ruffling of clothes cutting through the silence. The atmosphere is sharp and cold, emphasised with blank, bare backgrounds leaving us longing for the natural colours of the countryside that was left behind. Takenoko does not thrive in this environment as she’s agitated and stressed, she does not wish to turn into a princess but she naturally excels in the aspects to become one, allowing her to be bestowed the name ‘Kaguya’.

The first incident happens on the day of celebration, a night of lavish drinking, conversing, and gathering. It’s an ostentatious display of wealth with waves and waves of nobles, converging into the estate. Kaguya herself is kept away from the celebration, kept in a lavish box-like canopy to keep her away from the men outside while her attendant tends to her needs for a customary three days. Kaguya’s father mingles and drinks with the nobles but harsh words are thrown his way. Through the silk curtains of her box, she eavesdrops, hearing how they are calling her a ‘common woman’ and that because she is just a ‘common woman’ they should be allowed to see her. It is incredibly demeaning and Kaguya is filled to the brim with rage and sadness to see her be spoken of so lowly as if she were an object to be owned and conquered and she snaps the drinking dish in her hands, the porcelain shattering.

This sends her spiralling into a frenzied madness and she leaves the box and the estate, scrambling and pushing through paper doors, and runs down the roads of the city. She sheds multiple layers of clothing, running barefoot in turmoil. The animation style becomes choppy and the lines vary in width becoming looser and wilder. The background turns greyscale and her surroundings become wild and dark as she runs back to the mountain she longs to go. However, instead of the comforting greenery and the sun's light, the forest is illuminated by the harsh cold light of the moon and her surroundings are dark and intense, sketched with charcoal and wild strokes. She eventually comes back to the rice paddies and familiar bamboo landscape of her childhood but the mountain is ‘dead’ and lifeless during the cold winter. What once was her home filled with joy and laughter had succumbed to the bleak winter, a sight which does not comfort her in her moment of despair. Her clothes are torn into rags and she falls unconscious in a field of snow with the large, white moon shining down upon her.

This sequence of events can be taken quite literally or metaphorically as once she falls into the bed of snow, she is transported back to her box in the estate in the next scene, right before she left it in all of its glory. The jeers and laughs of the men outside can be heard and there is a moment of thought before the next scene. This is the first time we see Kaguya exploring rage and sadness, unable to stand the metaphorical confine of her new life symbolised by the box. She is kept hidden away from the public while they make comments on her while she is unable to move for three days. The noble life is stifling and Kaguya runs back to the only place she wishes she was, the countryside only to find it bleak and dead in the cold winter. This was not her home. After this great disappointment, Kaguya loses faith and her stubbornness fades, allowing her to succumb to her new noble life.

Kaguya now embraces the noble life, painting her teeth black, and her face white, and allowing her eyebrows to be plucked she is Japanese high society’s epitome of a graceful lady. She studies quietly and is finally accepted by the nobility. I would like to highlight an important scene when she is gifted a sparrow in a bamboo basket. It is delicate and beautiful but it is still a cage no matter how you look at it. Kaguya is kind and releases the sparrow gently and I believe this scene is extremely poetic, expressing her desire to be free but can only observe others, staying within the confines of her new life.

Kaguya’s beauty and grace have spread across society attracting many suitors from councillors to princes. Five of the best were selected and were presented in front of her to choose from, Lady Sagami guaranteeing her happiness if she were to be wedded. This repulses Kaguya but unwilling to upset her father, she meets them behind a screen. The men spout praises of her unparalleled beauty and glorify how she will be treated if she were to be their wife, comparing her to jewels and treasures such as cowrie shells, five-coloured gems, and Buddha’s bowl.

Their commentary is insensitive and one-dimensional but could they make it better? As Kaguya states herself, they have not met her much less seen her, and only desire for her through rumours of high society. Nonetheless, it completely objectifies her and whittles her entire being down to only her beauty and talent for music which cannot compare to her true, free-spirited self.

Kaguya then, in what I believe was a bold act of rebellion, asks these men to obtain these impossible treasures for her to prove their love. The men are shocked but blinded by her rumoured beauty and talent, and ponder on this. This angers both Lady Sagami and her father but she could not care less as in the next scene, makeup-less, Kaguya sets off with her attendant and mother back to the countryside.

Kaguya now is much noticeably happier, she has shed her formal self and laughs jovially as she runs through the fields of the new spring, buzzing with life and flora. She prances below the cherry trees as her clothes sway in the wind, she’s extremely content but she bumps into a young child. The child’s mother bows to her quickly and deeply, ushering her laughing children away in the face of nobility and Kaguya is yet again reminded that she is now different from what she used to be, she is now truly a princess. Although she has not changed mentally, she is now outwardly noble, dressed in the brightest pink robes with neat combed hair, tied gently with a ribbon, she cannot be mistaken for a common person anymore. Kaguya now realises this again and cannot but feel dejected again, her attempt of self freedom is futile and she puts herself back into the mental box of the noble life again, physically returning to the wagon which is encroached in darkness.

While on the wagon she spots her childhood friend, Sutemaru, and desperately calls out to him. I believe to Kaguya, Sutemaru is freedom, with him she was alive and content, relishing in their time together in the forest, rummaging through bushes for plump berries, catching pheasants and simply living life to what she believed was the fullest. To Kaguya, Sutemaru is the happiness she desires. Due to her changed appearance, Sutemaru pauses for a moment before calling out her name ‘Takenoko’ rather than ‘Kaguya’ yet again showing how Sutemaru only knew the old her before nobility. She is overjoyed seeing him but is held back from coming out of the wagon and instead rushes back behind the curtain hurriedly. This is what I interpreted to be a sign of fear, putting herself back into the box where although she cannot experience freedom, it is what is expected of her, especially with so many bystanders on the street. Sutemaru is then beaten by vendors on the street and she cannot do anything but watch on in horror as the wagon is pulled away. Kaguya is now noble, she cannot act rashly and cannot be friends with him anymore. Sutermaru is beaten till bruising and his body is left in the rain, watching the wagon move away. 

Throughout the movie, a character stands out from the rest, Kaguya’s mother. She is an older lady, full of maternal instinct, and from the first time she saw Kaguya, she deemed herself her mother, they were family. Whenever Kaguya is burdened, her mother is there to comfort her and is extremely kind. Much like Kaguya, she believes the noble life is frivolous, stating that she looks a little odd in noble dress, much preferring to stay in their humble abode in the countryside even though it makes her husband unhappy. She relishes nature in a more observant manner and allows Kaguya to be her person without restraints. However, although she is supportive, she does not have the status to make decisions herself. As a woman and a wife, her role is to support her husband and to be complacent. She has no power to let Kaguya live her life freely and the best she can do is comfort as it is the only thing she knows how to do. Although she is understanding, her mother cannot solve the problem at the root.

Returning to the capital, none of Kaguya’s suitors could provide her with the treasures promised. Some died and were injured in the procurement while others tried to swindle and lie their way through the process, presenting her with fakes and copies of the treasures. This makes it impossible for her to take a suitor which provides her with some comfort but is then notified that the Emperor is now instead taking her in as a consort. He disgusts her and she desperately tries to escape from his grasp but he is lavascious and crude, burning her image in his mind before she runs off desperately. The Emperor is the greatest restraint she has encountered, he who physically wrapped his arms around her, his large garments entrapping her smaller body she scrambles to escape shedding her outermost layer. When he embraced her, her heart screamed out to the moon to save her, praying desperately.

This was her breaking point as she cried into her mother’s arms, sobbing under a small lamplight with her father questioning her. She reveals that she is from the moon, realising this when the prince arrives and that she will be taken back on the 15th to return to where she was originally from. Kaguya spills out her sadness to her father about the burden she has borne in this life, the life he wished for her. It is now too late to stay on Earth and she must return to the moon, it is inevitable. 

In this scene, we learn that Kaguya was brought down to Earth to live, as she says ‘I was born to truly live!’. She breaks down, unwilling to leave her family on Earth and her father reminisces on when she was found, holding her and changing her, stating that he loves her immensely and will do anything to keep her here. 

My interpretation of this scene is that Kaguya is alike nature, unbound and uncontained. She was given to Earth to experience life to its fullest, breaking the rules that confined her to the moon to live as a human, to enjoy the pleasures of life. However, she was stifled and held back by the nobility that her father predestined for her. This led to a desperate cry to return to the moon as she was pushed past her breaking point. As stated, she doesn’t at all wish to return but she cannot stand it anymore, she must be free. She was born to live but what she was doing wasn’t living but rather going through the motions without any control. She was living like an object moved and determined by others and without her autonomy, she was stripped of the humanity she desired.

Kaguya’s father begins preparations to defend her from the celestial beings coming to take her by fortifying the mansion with barricades and warriors while she lives out the few days she has left with her mother while roaming in the forest where she meets with Sutemaru again. He now has a wife and child and his status cannot compare to Kaguya’s but they still converse happily like old friends. He still calls her Takenoko and although he is wary of her outward noble appearance, I believe he still sees her for who she is, the girl she was in the countryside when they were young. He loves her dearly and it is clear that she loves him too and he wishes to start a life. It is cruel and she realises this but she is also conflicted, stating in a fit that ‘no one will own me’. She has strengthened her resolve in her final days but it is futile as nothing can be changed now as her fate is set.

Sutemaru, the epitome of her freedom, lets her experience joy in one of her final moments on Earth, exclaiming that they should run away which delights Kaguya. She sheds her robes, a metaphor for her noble life, and runs with him barefoot through the fields. It mirrors the way they explored as children and they both cannot be happier. Takenoko now feels so free that she is presented as flying as Sutemaru holds her in his arms, they soar across the skies as she truly experiences the heavens and the Earth. The music is hopeful and the landscapes are green and bright for this is how she truly wanted to live, her final hurrah! 

This dream-like experience ends with the moon, large and overbearing as she begs it for time, unwilling to leave this perfect earth, the joy of living too enticing. She slips from Sutemaru’s arms and falls unconscious into the ocean before it cuts to a scene with just Sutemaru in the field alone. He calls out for Takenoko but like the first scene of madness, it is like she was never there and he realises the reality he is faced with before going back to his wife and child.

The final scene is solemn and tense with Kaguya and her family in the estate. The mansion is heavily guarded by soldiers who are loaded with bows and countless wooden barricades to keep out the celestial spirits but the materials of the mortal realm cannot touch these beings. They drift down on a glowing cloud with ceremonial music calling out for Kaguya. She’s afraid but it is inevitable as she drifts away, pulled by a supernatural force from the estate into the sky. The beings are simply beautiful, something that shouldn’t belong on this Earth dressed in light, airy clothes that seem to float off their bodies. The music is jovial and celebratory and it isn’t an abduction of Kaguya but rather a welcoming. 

Kaguya floats up to the cloud and is greeted by the Buddha and wears a lavish, ceremonial crown. She is seemingly emotionless but is suddenly pulled out of her trance with the cries of her parents who kneel and beg for her not to go, transcending the laws of the world and scrambling up to the cloud. She pleads for more time to the Buddha, throwing herself into her parents' arms while apologising but it simply isn’t enough to keep her here. The spirit advises her to come quickly to be purified in the ‘City of the Moon’, stating how the Earth is unclean and full of sorrow. Kaguya quickly retorts that it is because that the Earth is so flawed, people can live in all their different shades. There are birds, bugs, and beasts who are all unique in their rights and every being on the planet is beautiful. It is useless as the final robe is put on her body, signalling the loss of her memories of this Earth before the ceremonial music starts to play again. She stands beside the Buddha as they make their way back to the moon but on the way, she stares at the round Earth behind her which evokes a strange emotion inside of her. She sheds tears but eventually looks back at the moon for now she has no ties to the Earth, she is on her way home.

This ending is vicious and harrowing as even in her last moments, Kaguya fights. Throughout the movie, we see her rebel, struggle, and fight for her freedom at any chance she gets. She’s constantly restrained by society but like nature itself, she cannot do anything but long to be free, writhing and gnawing desperately at her shackles even at her own expense. She does not need material wealth or status but fiercely protects her ability to live in her way. Unlike Lady Sagami or the nobles, she is unprecedented and cannot be predetermined, straying from the ‘perfect’ path she was destined to live as a princess.  

Even though she suffers and struggles it is admirable how much hope she holds, admiring the beauty of life and even suffering around her. This hope is what I believe characterises Sutemaru as he lived the life she so desperately wanted. He was her hope and in a whirlwind of emotion, she finally felt that freedom in some of her last moments on Earth. It is cruel how quickly she was taken away, tasting a drop of happiness.

We can also ask ourselves, who was the main antagonist of the story? Three candidates come to mind with the first being Lady Sagami. She was Kaguya’s first oppressor and mentor. She embodies the social norms and values of nobility from her way of speech to her clothing which almost buries her, creating a sloping silhouette. We never get a glimpse of her true nature as she does not allow herself to step outside the boundaries of what’s acceptable in society. To us, she is simply a two-dimensional creature whom we feel no sympathy or pity for. Everything about her is sharp and precise, cold and unfeeling as she guides Kaguya on the perfect path of a princess and she is the first obstacle Kaguya conquered.

Another person who comes to mind is the emperor, a lecherous man who was the reason that Kaguya cried out to the moon. His outward appearance, like Lady Sagami, also reflects his character. The clothes he wears are grand and large and seem to swallow him whole while also being a brilliant bright yellow that we can also interpret as gold. The emperor’s role was to be the final obstacle to high society, a man of great importance that Kaguya herself could not deny due to his status. He is full of lust and greed, immediately embracing Kaguya when they first meet, and when she scrambles away, vows to catch her as her image is now implanted in his mind. Like Lady Sagami, he is two-dimensional at best and is never truly explored in much depth but his mere presence on screen creates discomfort. Unlike all the other nobles who courted her, he immediately is given the ability to own her as one of his consorts. He is the last obstacle that Kaguya conquered but at the cost of her mortality. 

The last character is arguably both an antagonist and a caring figure which is Kaguya’s father. His entire character is summed down to one word and that is ‘Belief’. By finding the treasures in the bamboo he is immediately enamoured with the idea that Kaguya is a princess, immediately leaving his past life in the countryside due to this unshakeable idea of giving Kaguya the environment a princess should thrive in. He never has bad intentions towards his daughter and can arguably be said to have loved her the most but he was blind to his own belief, never truly knowing what was best for her. His love came in many forms and I believe this was shown the most prominently in his sacrifice. An example I’d like to bring to light is when the drunk noblemen are accusing Kaguya of being a common woman, a fake princess. As a father, I believe that these words would have cut him deep as they insulted both their status as a family and his pride and achievements. Kaguya’s father was never truly in the wrong but in Kaguya’s story, he was a villain fueled by both societal and his desires.

This movie was both haunting and cruel but it was, much like its story, a beautiful experience. Even though I have watched this movie several times I can never get tired of the story. Isao Takahata is truly a genius in animation and direction and captures the spirit of the old Japanese tale effectively while introducing fresh elements of the new watercolour-like style. Out of any Ghibli movie, I believe this is the one which has the strongest message conveyed through an equally emotive script and I highly recommend it to everyone and anyone. With more time, I believe the movie could be analysed down to its tiniest details as everything seems to serve a purpose.

Princess Kaguya tells us the story of suffering and restraint but also shows us the beauty of life. It promotes key themes of feminism and family and most importantly, freedom and your choice in the way you live.