The Peach Orchard is a section of Kurosawa’s film “Dreams”. In this section, a young boy follows a girl, which is actually a spirit of a peach tree. In Shinto everything is spiritual and there is continuity between humanity, nature, and spirits or gods. The spirit leads the boy to what used to be a peach tree orchard that his family cut down. The boy is then confronted by the spirits of the trees his family destroyed.
In Shinto, kami is the word for spirit or natural forces which is the basis for the Shinto faith. Not all nature is kami, it has to be something that is powerful or amazing. To this boy the peach orchard was kami, you can clearly see that it was powerful to him by his anger when he is speaking to the spirits.
When conversing with the boy a peach tree spirits says, “The vanished trees are weeping in their sorrows.” The peach trees had a spirit and they are upset about being cut down. This is evident because, as stated by Professor Rasnic in class, “The ancient Japanese did not divide matter and spirit. They believed they were inseparable.”
The boy tells the peach tree spirit, “I love this orchard and the peach trees which bloomed here, but they are not here anymore and that’s why I cried.” It even says he tried to stop them from cutting down the trees. This shows that the boy had a respect for peach trees that once grew in the orchard. This is why the peach trees in the orchard were kami to him, but they obviously were not to his parents.
In Shinto worship the rights are categorized according to size of the festivals. There are large and medium festivals as well as a few other types and prayer. I’m assuming that this would be a harvest festival for peaches which would make this a large festival. One of the peach tree spirits asks the boy how they are going to celebrate “Doll Day”, which is for peach blossoms. It would be hard to celebrate the harvesting of peaches having cut all of the trees down. By the family still celebrating, it is part of the reason for the spirits’ anger.
I also watched The Peach Orchard. I agree with what you said about how not all nature is kami, but to the boy he felt that the peach blossoms were powerful or amazing—making them kami.
ReplyDeleteI also watched "The Peach Orchard" for this assignment. I liked how you pointed out in the comment you left that something can be kami to one person but not to another. Its all in what they perceive as important and necessary in nature. I made the same connect as you to the Shinto lecture, everything being spiritual and the connection between humanity, nature, and the gods, or kami. The line for me that showed the boy had full respect for the blossoms and the peach orchard is "Peaches can be bought...But where can you buy a whole orchard in bloom?"
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