From steaming bowls of ramen to carefully packed lunchboxes, Studio Ghibli’s animated meals are central to its storytelling. The studio’s attention to culinary detail reflects director Hayao Miyazaki’s practice of preparing and tasting dishes before drawing them.
Founded in 1985 by Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki, Studio Ghibli has built a global following with films including My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and The Boy and the Heron. Its work has crossed generations and borders, with Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron winning Academy Awards for best animated feature.
Food is one of the studio’s most distinctive visual signatures. Its meals are rendered with such care that viewers can almost imagine the aroma of a simmering broth or the crispness of freshly cooked bacon. The dishes draw on Japanese and Western culinary traditions, featuring ingredients ranging from rice, seaweed and red bean paste to tomatoes, herbs and pancetta.
According to Suzuki, as recounted in Susan Napier’s book Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art, Miyazaki prepares and tastes the food he intends to animate. A meal might take half an hour to cook, an hour to draw and a year to bring to life on screen. The attention extends beyond the dishes themselves to the steam rising from a pot, the ingredients on a kitchen counter and the bustle of a market.
Food as a language of care
In Kiki’s Delivery Service, everyday food preparation becomes part of the story when Kiki helps an older woman bake a herring-and-pumpkin pie for her granddaughter. The film also features a meticulously detailed supermarket, filled with household goods and food products that make its animated world feel tangible.
In My Neighbor Totoro, one of the most memorable examples of food as an expression of affection is the bento lunchbox prepared by the eldest daughter for her younger sister and father while their mother is in hospital. The carefully arranged meal evokes the Japanese tradition of treating packed lunches as a form of edible art.
Food takes on a more complex role in Spirited Away. After Chihiro’s parents transform into pigs following a feast, eating becomes a symbol of greed and excessive consumption. Yet food also offers comfort and sustenance: Haku gives Chihiro an onigiri rice ball to help her regain her strength and composure.
Across these films, meals are more than a practical necessity. They create connections between characters, communicate affection and provide moments of calm amid uncertainty.
From ramen to rice porridge
Food also serves as a means of survival and recovery. In Princess Mononoke, a monk prepares okayu, a Japanese rice porridge that can be enriched with ingredients such as eggs, sesame seeds, pickled plums and tofu. The simple dish reflects the restorative role food can play in times of hardship.
In Howl’s Moving Castle, a breakfast of fried eggs and bacon, accompanied by bread and cheese, becomes a way for the protagonist to demonstrate determination and care for those around her.
Miyazaki’s films also weave culinary traditions into their historical settings. Porco Rosso, set in 1920s Italy, features women who repair aircraft and prepare meals, including spaghetti all’amatriciana. In The Wind Rises, the Japanese sweet Siberia — sponge cake filled with red bean paste — offers another example of how food carries cultural history across borders.
From the screen to the kitchen
The studio’s food imagery has inspired cookbooks dedicated to recreating its fictional meals, including The Recipes of Studio Ghibli Films and The Illustrated Enchanted Kitchen: Recipes Taken From All of Hayao Miyazaki’s Films.
The influence also extends to real-world businesses. Near Tokyo’s Ghibli Museum, visitors can find cream puffs inspired by Totoro, while specialist bakeries continue to make castella, the sponge cake introduced to Japan by Portuguese traders in the 16th century.
For Ghibli, food connects imagination with everyday life. Whether it is a carefully packed lunch, a steaming bowl of noodles or a simple breakfast shared among friends, each meal helps tell a story about identity, memory, affection and survival.
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