Religious Worldview in Your Name (Kimi no na wa.): Exploring the Symbolism of “Musubi” (knotting) and “Sukui” (salvation)

Abstract

This study aims to elucidate the religious worldview in the globally acclaimed 2016 animated film Your Name. (君の名は。Kimi no na wa.). It focuses on the themes of “Musubi” (結び, knotting) and “Sukui” (救い, salvation) depicted in the work, analyzing them from the perspective of Japanese folklore and folk religion. While acknowledging the film's post-3.
11 (Great East Japan Earthquake) context, this research challenges critical views suggesting that the work implicitly reproduces assumptions of “men saving women” or “big cities saving rural areas.” The methodology adopts an interdisciplinary approach, treating the film as a cultural text and combining textual analysis with theories of Japanese folklore studies and narrative analysis. The study examines how “Musubi” (knotting) and “Sukui” (salvation) are established through narrative structures, character designs, and symbolic expressions, also considering connections to classical texts like the Kojiki (古事記, the oldest existing historical record) and the Manyoshu (万葉集, the oldest existing anthology of Japanese poetry).
The analysis reveals that the film skillfully establishes a complex network of “Musubi” (knotting) to achieve “Sukui” (salvation) through various elements including “Kotodama” (言霊, word spirit), mythological contexts, and rites of passage. Contrary to conventional interpretations, the findings indicate that “Musubi” (knotting) and “Sukui” (salvation) result from diverse forms of communication and connections based on overall harmony and cooperation grounded in a religious worldview. This research demonstrates how the film functions as a cultural text reflecting traditional knowledge of “Sukui” (salvation) for human crises in the modern context. It contributes to understanding how traditional Japanese concepts can respond to contemporary societal issues, opening new paths for exploring the dialogue between contemporary popular culture and traditional wisdom.