In the 2001 film *Spirited Away*, secrets are a central narrative and thematic element, often revolving around the power of names, hidden identities, and moral dualities.
### **1. Haku (Nigihayami Kohakunushi)**
* **The Secret of His Name:** Haku’s greatest secret is one he has forgotten himself: his true identity as the **Kohaku River spirit** (*Nigihayami Kohakunushi*). Because humans paved over his river to build apartments, he lost his home and his name, allowing Yubaba to enslave him.
* **Double Identity:** Haku leads a double life in the bathhouse. Publicly, he is Yubaba's "stooge"—a cold, steely, and feared apprentice. Secretly, he is Chihiro's greatest ally, providing her with food, hiding her from the staff, and coaching her on how to survive.
* **The Stolen Seal:** Under Yubaba’s orders, Haku secretly stole a powerful golden seal from her twin sister, Zeniba. This act nearly killed him, as the seal was protected by a lethal curse.
### **2. Yubaba and the Magic of Names**
* **Enslavement via Identity:** Yubaba’s primary "secret" is her method of control: she "steals" the names of her employees. By taking part of Chihiro’s name and renaming her "Sen," Yubaba ensures that if Chihiro forgets her old life, she will never be able to leave.
* **The Black Slug:** Yubaba kept a secret curse—a small, black slug—inside Haku’s body to control his will and track his movements.
* **The Overprotective Mother:** Yubaba keeps her giant son, **Boh**, a secret from the world, locking him in a padded room and lying to him that the outside air is filled with germs that will make him sick.
### **3. Kamaji (The Boiler Man)**
* **The Granddaughter Lie:** When Chihiro is first discovered in the boiler room by the worker Lin, Kamaji immediately lies and claims Chihiro is his **granddaughter**. This deception protects Chihiro from being reported to Yubaba as an intruder.
* **The 40-Year-Old Tickets:** Kamaji keeps a secret stash of train tickets he has held onto for 40 years. These tickets are a remnant of a past life or a dream of escape that he never fulfilled, which he eventually gives to Chihiro.
### **4. No-Face (Kaonashi)**
* **The Faceless Mirror:** No-Face’s secret is that he has **no personality of his own**. He is a "mirror spirit" who takes on the traits of those he consumes. In the greedy environment of the bathhouse, he becomes a gluttonous monster; in the peaceful company of Zeniba, he becomes a helpful knitter.
* **Hidden Intentions:** He enters the bathhouse by stealth after Chihiro leaves a door open for him. He masks his loneliness with a "secret" ability to manifest gold, using it to buy the affection and attention he craves.
### **5. The Twin Sisters (Yubaba and Zeniba)**
* **Two Sides of One Coin:** Director Hayao Miyazaki has noted that Yubaba and Zeniba represent the **duality of a single person**. They are identical twins who represent the "work self" (the greedy, stressed Yubaba) and the "home self" (the kind, grandmotherly Zeniba). Their "secret" is their shared identity, punctuated by the fact that they are never seen on screen together.
### **6. The Stink Spirit**
* **The Polluted God:** When a "Stink Spirit" arrives at the bathhouse, the staff treats it as a disgusting intruder. The "secret" revealed by Chihiro’s cleaning is that he is actually a **Great River Spirit**. His foul form was a mask created by human pollution, including a discarded bicycle and tons of trash that Chihiro pulls out of him.
### **7. Symbolic "Secrets" (Thematic Commentary)**
* **The Sex Industry:** A widely discussed "secret" layer of the film is that the bathhouse is a metaphor for the **Edo-period sex industry**. In that era, bathhouses often functioned as brothels where the women (called *Yujo* or "play women") had their names changed by the "Yubaba" (bathhouse matron) to detach them from their pasts and families.
* **The Bubble Economy:** The reason Chihiro’s parents are turned into pigs is a secret critique of the **Japanese bubble economy of the 1980s**. Their transformation symbolizes a generation that Miyazaki felt had become "pigs"—consuming everything in sight without regard for the spiritual or environmental cost.