Gender and Japanese Cultural Analysis of “Reading the Air” in Spirited Away: “Miburi- teburi” Expression as Nonverbal Expression of Japanese Women

Yovinza Bethvine Sopaheluwakan
Japanese Language Education Study Program, Surabaya State University

Rusmiyati
Japanese Language Education Study Program, Surabaya State University

Joko Prasetyo
Japanese Language Education Study Program, Surabaya State University

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the expressions of mi buri–teburi (body movements and hand gestures) as a form of nonverbal language used by Japanese women in Hayao Miyazaki’s film Spirited Away, using a gender and Japanese cultural approach centered on the concept of kuuki wo yomu—the ability to read social situations and adjust one’s behavior harmoniously. Through semiotic analysis and nonverbal communication theory, this study examines how the main female characters—Chihiro, Lin, and Yubaba—represent the dynamics of gender identity, social relations, and Japanese cultural values. The film reflects the evolution of Japanese female representation from submission to traditional norms toward a form of independence that maintains cultural sensitivity to the “social atmosphere” (kuuki). Furthermore, this study links this phenomenon to changes in communication patterns in the Japanese-Indonesian digital era, where nonverbal expressions are gradually being replaced by virtual forms of communication such as emojis, stickers, and avatars. This analysis shows that understanding miburi–teburi and kuuki wo yomu remains relevant in maintaining harmony in cross-cultural communication amid global digital transformation.

Keywords: Miburi–teburi, nonverbal communication, Japanese gender, kuuki wo yomu, Spirited
Away, digitization, Japan–Indonesia relations