One nuanced thing that connects Studio Ghibli films is the attention that the Studio’s two main writers and directors pay to the actual physical spaces that the characters move around in -- making landscapes and architecture characters in their own right. In this episode, we'll be talking about Studio Ghibli landscapes, from the vanishing scenery of My Neighbor Totoro, through Yakushima Forest that inspired Princess Mononoke, the exact building Spirited Away's bathhouse is based on, and how Studio Ghibli's focus on landscapes ties into Buddhist meditation practices.