A famous scene in the 1997 Studio Ghibli film Princess Mononoke, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, is based on true events. The screenwriter, animator and manga artist confirmed the disease that the social outcasts in the factory in Irontown suffer, called "gyobyo" in the Japanese film (and translates as "incurable disease" in English) is in fact leprosy at the International Symposium on Leprosy/Hansen's Disease History.
At the three-day conference held in Japan in honor of raising awareness about Hansen's (leprosy's official medical name), Miyazki also recounted the inspiration behind his artistic decision: a visit he took to the National Hansen's Disease Sanatorium Tama Zenshoen in Tokyo's Higashi-Murayama. There, Miyazaki saw firsthand the devastating effects of the disease (which include disfiguring pale-colored sores, nerve damage and muscle weakness), and described his impression of the institution as "a place where deep suffering has accumulated."
"I wanted to portray people who were living with what was said to be an incurable disease caused by bad karma," Miyazaki said at the podium, as reported by the Japanese publication the Ashami Shimbun.
The "incurable disease" depicted in the movie and based on true events became one of the major thematic tenets of the movie — disability — along with the other themes of environmentalism, sexuality, industrialization and (of course) institutionalization.
"While making Princess Mononoke, I thought I had to depict people who are ill with what's clearly called an incurable disease, but who are living as best they can," Miyazaki also said recently, according to Kotaku.
Miyazaki's statement confirms a long-held fan theory that the disease in the scene is based on leprosy, with stirring implications and backstory to boot.
Source: The Ashami Shimbun
