Numinous Nature and Vibrant Forests: Ecological Gender Imaginaries in the Films of Hayao Miyazaki and Naomi Kawase

This chapter examines the ecological and gender imaginaries in the films of Hayao Miyazaki and Naomi Kawase, focussing on how both directors reimagine human–nature relations through the recurring visual and narrative motif of the numinous forest. Engaging with concepts such as mono no aware, animism, and relational ontology, the analysis situates their work within the broader discourse of ecocinema. By departing from extractive-patriarchal and patriarchal-redemptive frameworks, which tend to represent nature either as a resource to be dominated or as an object of masculinised salvation, Miyazaki and Kawase construct alternative ecological narratives grounded in spirituality, care, and feminine agency. Their films are approached through an interdisciplinary perspective that includes ecocriticism, gender studies, and visual iconography, revealing how natural environments function not merely as passive backdrops but as sentient narrative forces. Ultimately, the chapter argues that their cinema cultivates a re-enchanted, affective ecology that challenges Western dualisms of culture versus nature, offering compelling cinematic visions of sustainability, interdependence, and resistance to anthropocentric paradigms.