Miyazaki had wanted to make a movie set around a sentō (communal bathhouse) since visiting them as a child, but for the fantastical setting of Spirited Away, he needed something a little bit larger than life, and he found it in the Amei Teahouse of Jiufen, Taiwan. Jiufen was a goldrush town and jewel in the crown of the bourgeoning Japanese empire in the late 19th century, and these days does a nifty trade as an eye-popping tourist destination, thanks in no small part to the Miyazaki connection.