Spirited Away
Author Angela Hui reflects on a moment in Hayao Miyazaki’s film ‘Spirited Away’ that makes her laugh out loud. From 2025.
In this series of The Essay, five leading cultural voices choose a great work of art and talk about a small, under-appreciated aspect of the piece that carries great meaning for them.
In this edition, we hear from Welsh journalist and author Angela Hui. Her memoir is called ‘Takeaway: Stories from a Childhood Behind the Counter’, and in this essay she draws our attention to a moment in a movie which others might have seen hundreds of times before but may have missed.
For Angela, there’s a small uneventful scene in Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Spirited Away’ where No Face, one of the spirits in the film, is politely drinking tea and eating a slice of cake that makes her laugh out loud and warms her heart to the core.
Producer: Emma Betteridge
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2025.
Broadcast on Radio 4 Extra in August 2026 as part of our season 'The Stories Of Studio Ghibli'
On radio
Broadcasts
Wed 12 Mar 202521:45BBC Radio 3- Next Tuesday10:45BBC Radio 4 Extra
- Next Tuesday16:45BBC Radio 4 Extra
- Next Wednesday00:45BBC Radio 4 Extra
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