Rumi

Rumi
Species	Human
Age	(Around 10 years)
Gender	Female
First Appearance	Spirited Away
Role	Supporting character

I'll miss you, Chihiro. Your best friend, Rumi.

—Rumi's goodbye card to Chihiro

Rumi (ルミ) is the best friend of Chihiro Ogino.

Story

Rumi is not exactly seen in the film, but Chihiro Ogino had to leave her when she and her parents (Akio Ogino and Yuko Ogino) moved to a new town. The film starts out with Chihiro sulkily reading Rumi's goodbye card aloud as it rests on the bouquet that served as Chihiro's goodbye present. The card is decorated with drawings of flowers and hearts, and what is, presumably, a facial doodle of Rumi herself.

Etymology

• The name Rumi is written in katakana (ルミ), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (留美, 瑠美 or 流美), it could possibly mean:
  • 留美 - "detain, fasten, halt, stop" (留) (ru) and "beautiful" (美) (mi).
  • 瑠美 - "lapis lazuli" (瑠) (ru) and "beautiful" (美) (mi).
  • 流美 - "flow, style, manner, method" (流) (ru) and "beautiful" (美) (mi).

Trivia

• Rumi's name is likely derived from Rumi Hiiragi, who provided Chihiro's voice in the original Japanese version.