Chihiro is a shy, pessimistic girl. At the beginning of the movie, she and her parents are in the process of moving to a new town. When her father takes the wrong turn, they end up near what her father thinks is "an abandoned amusement park." In reality, it is a bathhouse for spirits that operates at night time. Her parents are turned into pigs after they eat the food of the spirits. She attempts to run away, but Haku advises her to work for Yubaba, until she can find a way to turn her parents back to normal.