In Spirited Away, the emphasis is on the importance of collectivism for Spirited Away to achieve her goals - particularly through the varied interaction with the different characters , which animate this narrative plot. Such a method of storytelling thus expresses how fundamental the strength of community is to Japanese society. Chihiro's success in saving her parents depends on the help she receives and gives in the spirit world. In particular, Haku's emotional support allows Chihiro to survive in a world where she does not belong - Chihiro retains her sense of identity as a human instead of disappearing completely, and is reluctantly accepted into the bathhouse in finding a job. In this way, Chihiro is included in the collective consciousness of the group, propelling her goal of saving her parents. Likewise, the help Chihiro receives from the other characters derives primarily from positive collectivism and their empathy towards Chihiro's situation, in an effort to include her as part of the collective mind. Interestingly, these characters seem to be alienated from "mainstream society" in the operation of the bathhouse, with Kamaji as the "boiler room slave" and Rin as a lowly assistant who is constantly looked down upon - similarly to Chihiro is alienated from the spiritual world to which it does not belong. This could indicate that once Chihiro expresses her desire to remain within the collective structure, the characters, especially on the fringes of this "society", strive to help her in any way possible. Although he is not obligated to help her, Kamaji grants her a few tickets - first by vouching for her identity, then by helping her find a job and giving her the train ticket in search of Zeniiba to save Haku. At the same time, Chihiro becomes...... middle of paper ......g the past: Nihonjinron and the representation of Japanese society in Itami's The Funeral. Graduate Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, 1(1), 13-20.Prasol Alexander. Modern Japan: origins of the mind. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2010. Robertson, Alexander F. Greed: Intestines, Growth and History. Malden: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 2001. Schaefer Allen D., Hermans Charles M. and Parker, R. Stephen. “A Cross-cultural Exploration of Materialism inAdolescents,” International Journal of Consumer Studies, 28 (September 2004): 399. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2004.00395.x / summaryYamanaka, Hiroshi, 2008: The utopian “power of living”: the meaning of the Miyazaki phenomenon. (Ed.): Mark W. Macwilliams. IN: Japanese visual culture. Explorations in the world of manga and anime, pp. 237-255. M.E. Sharpe, Inc., Armonk.