The Suwa Shrine can be traced back 500 years and is believed to be the ancient dwelling place of three kami spirits, the sacred gods of the Shinto faith.
So, this sudden, spontaneous moment when one's body ceases to be heavy, and one begins to float along with the wind like the seeds of a dandelion, is aligned with the Taoist idea of 'doing without doing' or 'non-action.'
In Taoist terminology, the 15th day of the 1st month is considered the birthday of a great Taoist Deity, and it was called Shang Yuan Festival meaning Upper Yuan Festival.
In the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, in the entry on Daoism, it says, " To act without wei is to remove the social, conceptual character from our behavior and act on 'natural' instinct or intuition."
More recently, communities have formed around Chinese Taoist masters who traveled westward to preach, as well as their onetime disciples who are now setting up local Taoist associations to facilitate the religion's spread.
Although the director is not a strict disciple of Shinto, influences from the Japanese religion can be seen throughout his cinematic universe — particularly in the form of spirits.
Blanc told me that she was familiar with the European Taoist Association, and that she believes exchanges between Western Taoist associations are important.