To Emily and Ethan

Dear Emily,

Thank you for breaking the ice! The wind blowing through the trees always reminded me of an animal's fur. The forest as a living organism and the trees as its skin. I am reading the Codex Regius (or the Vikings' mythological lore). There, they refer to Odin's beard as "cheek-forest".

We must remember that ancient religions in Japan were animistic...meaning that everything had a soul. For this reason the forest was fundamental in ancient religions. Miyasaki has mentioned that urbanization has had a great impact from an environmental point of view, but also in spiritual terms.

Dear Ethan,

I found your observations on sound, truly eloquent. Your description of the arrow is right on target (pun intended). Wind is a constant in Miyasaki's mythology. It plays a major aspect, as you might recall, in Totoro.