Symbols, Religion, and Culture

A Letter to Momo is one of the best examples I've seen of how a culture interprets it's own religion. A lot of care was taken in being faithful to the symbols and visualization of the demons. It was very fascinating to see another cultures religion I found the bit about the rice boats to be particularly interesting. I think that christian film makers could learn a thing or two from this film especially in how it sticks to tradition in particular places and how it moves away from tradition in others. Christians tendency to either throw out our symbols completely or stick to them so stubbornly that they lose all sacredness, is a problem. This is also an excellent look at how the Japanese merge there religion and culture. Even though they may not necessarily be religious both Momo and her mother pray in front of the shrine to her father and husband. In japan it is very common for people to continue the practice of such things even if they themselves don't believe in it because their faith is such an integral part of their cultural identity.