Shuna’s Journey by Miyazaki Hayao

Beautiful world building from the start. Shuna is a boy set to inherit being King of his ancient, small kingdom in an ancient valley by mountain glaciers. This place was so secluded visitors were rare so when people showed up they were treated with respect. Shuna found a man collapsed and helps him to a medicine woman. The man was on his death bed and tells Shuna he was a prince from a small country where the people were always suffering from starvation.

He shows Shuna a small bag tired around his neck and tells him he had met a lone traveler when he was young like Shuna. The medicine woman tells Shuna the man will probably be released from his suffering by the setting moon. Shuna asks the man after seeing the seeds in the bag, identifying them as Hiwabie seeds, if he could have them. The man agrees, but saying they wouldn’t bear grain, he wanting to discover the golden grain so he could relieve his people’s suffering and set out on a journey to find these golden seeds, but he was old now and his strength gone.

Shuna hadn’t seen seeds like these before, the man stating the seeds had been given to him by the traveler, and those who possessed the grain would be able to be prosperous and live without fear of starvation. Far to the west where the earth ends, there were waving fields of the golden plants. The traveler passes away and this experience has Shuna captured and gazing periodically to the west. His father and the elders were worried and attempted to change his mind, admitting they were poor but it’s their fate and right to be buried there in this earth.

Yet the time would come to leave and no one could hold Shuna back, the elders sadly sighing. The women watched Shuna prepare more bullets than normal for when he would hunt and realized he’s made up his mind. When the new moon was up and people were sleeping, Shuna broke the law of the kingdom and saddled his yakul. During his journey he’d reached a desert where rust-stained water which smelled unpleasantly and for days Shuna traveled west without seeing another living creature.

He makes camp among a line of large statues kneeling and wearing strange helmets. After a month of travel Shuna sees in the distance smoke rising on the horizon. He sees a large ship which probably never set sail. Shuna is sitting below a glowing light, someone looking down at him.

Shuna identifies he’s a traveler and whether they could help him with food and shelter for the night. Shuna follows where the woman pointed and discovered an opening which looked like an entrance. Shuna gets spooked so leaps on the yakul to the woman shouting behind him. When Shuna makes a fire, he ponders whether he had felt man-eating ghouls he’d heard about.

When he’d gone through the entrance he realized he was walking over human bones. There were signs of the bones being baked and snapped open, with the marrow sucked out. Large people with poncho rags over them, including faces approached. The yakul sensed them, but Shuna doesn’t notice til many rope lassoes go over his head.

He’s dragged across the dirt toward them as he uses his sword to cut himself loose. Shuna stands at the ready with a short rifle pointed at them. The group leaves as quickly as they arrived, quietly running off. Shuna is still holding his gun, and hears muffled crying.

A woman is kneeling in front of an amputated hand up to before the elbow. The weeping dies away among the dunes, and Shuna was killing to eat, shooting at lizards. When he’d run out of the supplies he’d brought from the valley, the yakul and he went hungry. Time lost meaning since he couldn’t tell how long he’d been traveling by this point.

He then started encountering village after village abandoned, Shuna wondering where they’d gone. Shuna continues to journey and asks a large wagon with guards where the road led, but they only laughed at his old rifle and ignored his question. Shuna is shocked with a strange smell and sees the back of the wagon packed with people. Shuna wonders what had happened, and passed more vehicles like this as he approached a town appearing on the empty plain.

A constant stream of people and vehicles went through the large city gates. The main commodity traded here was humans, there being no way the seeds would be found in a place like this. Best to only get some food and leave, which the manner of a merchant changed when he noticed a jewel in his sword hilt. Shuna sees seeds, but they were threshed, so he asks the seller where to get live seeds, and he’s pointed to the slavers knowing, for having brought the grain to exchange for people.

Shuna couldn’t find anyone to tell him, and so sits with his yakul until approached by a child with a shackle around her neck. He approaches to give the 2 girls food. The slaver then barters a deal with Shuna for them who wanted to help them, so trades his rifle, even though the slaver said the yakul would be more equal. The older girl stands and tells Shuna not to trade his weapon since he could become enslaved if he wasn’t careful.

The slaver reprimands the girl as other guards show up next to Shuna, preventing him defending her. The slaver dismisses him unless he wanted to hear her shriek more, and so Shuna leaves. He cried as he rode his yakul out of the city and makes camp, and builds a fire, when an old man asks to join him for being frozen. When he sits down he jovially declares how good luck comes to those who are kind to the elderly and would he share some of his bread, laughing.

Shuna shares his disappointment so far in his journey and the old man asks why he doesn’t just give up and go home if he can’t find the golden seeds. Shuna starts to question if the old man knew how he could find the seeds, the response being he might, but first another bread roll. He then directs Shuna to where he knows the gold seeds were, at the world’s end, and beyond the land of the god-folk, who have the grain, and people sold humans to buy dead seeds from the god-folk. They didn’t like when people came close, and no one has ever returned from their land.

After saying this, he goes to sleep, and states whether Shuna decides to go is his own decision. By morning, Shuna woke and saw the man was gone and so he sets off. He first goes back to the town, the gate closed, but finding his way in to where he last saw the girls, but only the shackles remained. He locates the slaver and points his sword and rifle at him asking where he sent the sisters.

The slave merchant had sold them to slave traders heading south. Shuna hadn’t hesitated to use force to get the truth out of the stubborn slave merchant. His ferocious energy went through him and the yakul went after them, speeding south like the wind. He spots the slave traders’ vehicle, and Shuna gets in front of it and blasted fire at point-blank range.

The attach catches them off guard, and Shuna keeps firing with wicked composure, like when he hunted snow leopards. By the time he’d ran around the vehicle, he’d shot them all down. Shuna locates the keys and opens the iron door telling everyone to come out if they desire freedom, even if it means they’ll be spending their lives on the run. Only the 2 sisters emerged, everyone else scared of being reprimanded.

Shuna states this freedom wasn’t bought since he’d sworn by his sword he’d fight for their honor, and they’re free. When he said this, pursuers from the town appeared on the horizon, so Shuna urges they leave, lifting the girls onto the saddle. They sped off westward on the yakul but Shuna noted the pursuers were making sure not to chase too fast, so knew they were skilled. Two evenings after they reached the edge of the world, the ground dropping off, the pursuers waiting for the yakul to tire, Shuna sensing their presence at all times.

They slept while running and ran while eating. The yakul was now slumping down and foaming at the mouth. If he ran any longer with 3 on his back he’d die. Shuna decides and states to the girls the yakul can keep running if it’s only the 2 of them, so he’d stay there and stop the pursuers.

The older girl replies they’d stay, but Shuna assures once he was done with the pursuers he’ll go on to the land of the god-folk. When the girl realized the purpose of Shuna’s journey, she looks down and when looking up tells him if he makes it back, please head north and keep going. They’ll wait for him there however long it takes, and her name is Thea. Shuna divided the food and water in half and when the time came to leave, Thea and her sister wave once, then without looking back, hurried northward and out of sight.

Shuna digs a hold in the sand and hides himself, waiting in silence. He remembers how he’d trap goats when hunting in the valley. Shuna encloses a space around the cliff edge by gathering stones into small mounds and laying shells inside. The pursuers approach and as soon as the last pursuer is among the mounds, Shuna rises.

One after another his bullets found the carefully laid shells and set them off with a boom and a flash. The beasts panicked and bolted toward the cliff. The animals and men fall over the cliff, and then Shuna is bathed in a blue-white light like the glow of a hundred moons. It was a giant, shining face — a moon streaking across the sky with great speed.

It fades into the distance trailing a long tail of light. For an instant the far shore was silhouetted amid the darkness. This was the land of the god-folk, where the old man had said the moon is born and returned to die. Surely he’d find the golden seeds there.

By daytime, the air was thick with dust, concealing the far shore, and dense clouds blanketed the valley floor. Steeling himself, Shuna started climbing down the vertical cliff face. He soon realized the countless gods faces were carved into the cliff as he descended, abandoned there, their names long since forgotten, as he barely gripped the handholds the sculpted effigies provided. Shuna makes it below the clouds and saw the world was in darkness, so visibility plummeted and the gods vanished from view.

Shuna made his way down along the dragons protruding skeletons from the rock face, and spent his first night perched on a bone. The next afternoon, sunlight momentarily came through the clouds, and revealed the bottom of the gorge for the first time, and Shuna spots a beach. He makes it to the beach and wonders what to do next, deciding to wash his face, hands, and feet in the painfully cold water. On the other side of the sea, the god-folk’s land lay.

Shuna crouches down on the spot and feels his strength leave him, and sinks into a deep sleep. He wakes noticing he’d been sleeping in warm calm water, not knowing the tide had come in. The world was differently calm and bright, he able to see sandbars as he walked across the shallows toward the island. He saw the sea was full of creatures thought to have been extinct long ago, and lived still here.

The island also brimmed with signs of life, and at last Shuna sets foot in the land of the god-folk. The island was covered by dense woodland which no human feet had disturbed before, Shuna pushing on, and going deeper into the forest. Shuna finds some fruit to eat and sits among woodland creatures thinking what a lush, peaceful world this was. Nothing there was dangerous, and nothing in danger, Shuna filled with a sense of profound calm.

Then Shuna notices someone, and the old man’s words went through his mind, how the god-folk didn’t like when humans came. He sees a green giant walking silently and a little unsteadily, a throng of beasts and insects following. Shuna had trouble watching what next happened, as a pack of small animals covered the giant and started eating it. When it reaches the clearing of the forest it stops and slowly topples over.

Nothing was left, and after awhile the animals left. Shuna starts down the path the giant had taken, and runs into another one. This one ignores him and walks past with a serene expression, it having been wounded and Shuna whispers to himself of it having gone to die, shuddering. Many more pass him as he leaves, like people going off to rest together, they faded into the depths of the forest, quivering faintly as they went.

Soon the trees thinned, and some kind of mysterious building towered over open farmland. The well-plowed fields were crisscrossed with what seemed to be canals. When he was starting into a tunnel he noticed a sweet scent from the pitch black, and Shuna then felt all his hair stand up and seized with dread, running back to the forest, almost tumbling over as he left. The outside of the structure felt elastic not like metal or stone.

Shuna knew it wasn’t a building it was alive and definitely breathing. In the middle of the night, the moon returned and halted right above the structure. Things started pouring out from where the moon’s mouth was, humans falling into the structure. The old man was telling the truth, these people being those collected from slave traders by the god-folk.

When it had swallowed all the people, structure started rocking slowly and time passed. When the moon’s light dimmed, and calm returned, phosphorescent water came flowing out from the holes in the structure and started to fill the canals around the fields. This is when Shuna saw them, countless figures rising up from the water, newly born green giants. Shuna didn’t know if the people after being swallowed were reborn as the giants or turned into the water which irrigated the land.

The giants spread out across the fields, swaying slightly, and started scattering the golden seeds from their mouths. The giants worked tirelessly, scooping water up and sprinkling it on the fields, and as the sun rose, the first seedlings appeared. By midday, ears of grain were appearing, Shuna then looking at his rifle beside him and his breath catches. In the space of half a day, it had turned rusty, as well as his sword and clothes becoming worn.

The ears of grain hard already started taking color, and this wasn’t a place to linger, time flowing differently. Shuna crosses the canal, and as he’s about to touch a wheat stalk, it looked like the moon shoots at a giant, since they stop and start writhing and crying out, weeping or crying. Something in Shuna was telling him to stop, but he plucked some ears anyways. He grits his teeth and clutches the grain, running, but at once his body convulses with a terrible shock, and sharp pain piercing his heart.

He runs in a frenzy, emerging from the forest and finds the sea now raging, he reeling from the pain, but leaps into the dark water. Nearly a year passed since Thea and her little sister fled to this poor village in the north. They were now staying with an old woman who lived alone and no one left to support her. Since there were always things to be done, the sisters worked hard, and the yakul was a strong helper.

The woman was stingy and mean, but she wasn’t a bad person, and Thea knew unhappy people have a tendency to nag. The villagers also were rough in their ways, but they’d welcomed the sisters warmly due to hating the slave traders and loved those who worked hard like they did. The 2 girls were always hungry, but then so was almost everyone in this village. Suddenly, Thea thought she could hear Shuna calling for help and at night, she felt particularly unsettled.

The yakul was restless as well, his nose twitching eagerly. She wondered what had become of Shuna, Thea smart and knowing there was nothing to do but wait patiently. When she worried about Shuna though, her heart felt like it might break. Thea was a young, strong woman, complaining to no one, but when the busy day was done, she’d be seized by an overwhelming yearning.

She called Shuna’s name, and he slowly turned, his eyes vacant. Thea got on the yakul, not even pausing to saddle him, and took the road going south. When she came to the edge of the village she saw a ghostly figure walking ahead, down the dead road which led to the gully. Thea leads Shuna to the storeroom where she lived with her sister.

Shuna had lost everything, his memory, speech, name, and even his feelings. Scared of the fire, he cowered where it was dark and devoured his food. Thea peeked inside the pouch Shuna carried protectively around his neck. The sight brings a lump to her throat and tears to her eyes, looking at the golden grain.

Thea knew one thing, it was her turn to help, so she threaded a needle and starts sewing clothes for Shuna out of cloth she had lying around. She couldn’t guess what he’d been through. Winter arrives, and Shuna huddles in his corner, sleeping through the long season, waking only to eat. Thea didn’t mention him to the old woman or any of the villagers.

Spring arrives late, and early one morning, Thea takes Shuna outside. Thea plows a patch of wasteland far from the village and creates a small plot. She then digs up rocks and pile them to make a hideout for Shuna. Every day as the village slept, she brought him food and water, the old woman grumbling of supplies vanishing quickly, but Thea continuing bringing Shuna food, even when it meant she giving some of her own share.

Shuna clutches his pouch, reluctant to sow the seeds, but Thea slowly and patiently shows him how to do it. After planting the seeds, Shuna would dig them back up during the night and return them to his pouch. When the housework was done, Thea wove yarn into cloth until late at night, she working harder than ever, since she had to think of Shuna’s food. Her sister was in charge of collecting a little wood every day to light the fire outside of Shuna’s hideout, so no matter how exhausted she was, the sight of the small light up on the mountain always warmed her heart.

One morning Shuna had crawled out on his own and was staring at the plot of land, the golden seeds had all sprouted at once. From this moment, a faint smile returned to Shuna’s face, seeing the green seedlings, and Thea’s little sister letting out a joyous laugh. The girl hadn’t laughed once since the manhunters had set her homeland ablaze, but now she twirled about. One day, as the midsummer festival approached, the old woman called Thea over and says she’d come of age and she wanted a strong worker.

She tells Thea to pick a husband from among the young men of the village since if she doesn’t want to, she can leave. Thea said it was too soon, but her words went unheeded. On the eve of the festival, Thea finished sewing Shuna’s clothes from her woven cloth. When the day came, the whole village gathered to watch Thea choose her groom.

Thea says, she’ll marry the man who is able to ride their yakul. The old woman had decked Thea out in the finery the woman had worn in her own youth, and the sight of Thea caused quite a stir among the young men. The proud yakul deftly used his horns to throw each rider off in turn. The whole village resounded with laughter until the last suitor had failed.

Thea’s little sister stepped forward, leading an unfamiliar young man by the hand. He wore clothes woven from the yakul’s fur. The villagers understood at once, this was the master of the trusty steed, Shuna nimbly mounting the yakul, and leaping over the ring of villagers, running off. The old woman was bitterly disappointed, but the villagers went home satisfied.

One clear day, as Thea is out cutting the grass of a far meadow, a chill wind whips past, and dark clouds roll in from the mountains. The brief northern summer came around and as the small plot of land grew thick with green, life gradually returned to Shuna’s face, as well. Thea ran and ice and rain were soon falling in slanting sheets while the sky thundered. As she spread a sheet to protect the plot of land, Thea reassured Shuna with words of encouragement.

Large hailstones pummeled them and flattened the grass, the night turned pitch-black as the storm roared and raged. The two managed to keep the plot safe and when the storm passed and a blue sky returned, Thea heard her name called. Shuna had said her name, the two hugging, Shuna having recovered his speech. She bursts into tears, not having cried since her village had been burned down.

As the crops slowly took color and ripened, Shuna continued to recover. Autumn comes, and the day comes at last, Thea opens the door when she hears a knock. Shuna stood holding a sheaf of grain he had reaped, looking like someone who had returned from a long journey. They sat next to each other filled with a deep, peaceful happiness since it was over.

At this moment the moon was crossing the sky, and manhunters were prowling the land, but the two knew their worries were behind them for now. When it was time to leave, there were enough golden seeds Shuna was able to leave half to the village. The villagers were sad to see them leave, even the old woman, still regretting she hadn’t found a son-in-law, so gave Thea her late husband’s rifle. Before Shuna could return to his valley, he spent another year in this land.

He fought alongside the villagers against the raiding manhunters, sometimes even beating them back to the desert. The plot of the land grew into a whole field of grain during this time, and the second harvest dwarfed the first. Shuna’s journey isn’t over yet, the road to the valley being long, and his troubles far from done, but this is for another time.

Afterward Hayao Miyazaki mentions this story is based not the Tibetan folktale The Prince Who Turned into a Dog. In the tale, the prince is concerned his people live in poverty with no cereals to grow. At the end of a journey full of hardship, he steals grains from the Serpent King and due to this, is magically turned into a dog. He’s saved by the love of a young woman and eventually brings the cereal back to his country.

Today, barley is a staple in Tibet, but the crop originated in West Asia and spread from there worldwide. So the prince journeying west stays true to the history, but this folktale shouldn’t be viewed as a portrayal of actual events so much as an sublime story which arose from the Tibetan people’s gratitude toward their crops. The translator mentions the tale mythologizes Tibet’s first encounter with barley, its staple crop to this day. Thea is cousin to Sophie in Howl’s Moving Castle, San in Princess Mononoke, and Nausicaa.

Shuna differs in most questing Miyazaki heroes, who face some kind of acute threat, and are encouraged by those closest to them. By leaving, Shuna actually defies his father and the community’s elders. He continues to defy those around him, and only once he shows humility be relearning to work the land is he saved. Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea series also had a similar storyline, and Earthsea’s final novel was published after Miyazaki’s book.

Shuna’s Journey is Nausicaa’s opposite, the former spare, terse, and luminscent, the latter is densely drawn and plotted, and laden with dialogue.

It was worth the read, I’ve been pretty thorough with Studio Ghibli, even running into a tv show called Ronia the Robber’s Daughter the book written by Astrid Lindgren who also wrote Pippi Longstocking. The art was beautiful and drew me in as usual, so I’ll continue to follow Miyazaki’s work.