There is an internal logic to the spirit world, and for all its wonders, it seems materially grounded. Workers in the bathhouse beg for tips; the trains require expensive tickets; everything has rules and regulations that must be obeyed, even above the miracles of magic. Everything fits; everything has purpose and meaning.
...Chihiro might also represent Japan itself, or more precisely, the modern, cynical Japan that has come to ignore its traditions. The bathhouse, as a gathering place for gods, satirizes the commercialization of Japanese traditions. All the spirits of the past visit in order to be worshipped, but only as a customer is worshipped based on how much cash he has.
...The most conspicuous figure in this reading is No Face, the embodiment of Japan's burst economic bubble. He is pure consumption, eating everything in sight (like Chihiro's own piggish parents) and offering gold by the ton. Of course, everyone in the bathhouse grovels at his feet, except Chihiro, who is too busy trying to help her friends to be seduced by No Face's supposed generosity. And of course, No Face quickly turns into a dangerous monster, and his gold turns worthless. It is curious that at the same time No Face is dispensing his illusory largess to the crowd, Haku (transformed into a dragon, the very embodiment of Asian power) is being attacked by pieces of blank paper, signs of empty credit...No Face has no clear identity, half spectral and eager to please whomever treats him kindly.
...Chihiro's name (which means "a thousand fathoms," suggesting her potential depth and fitting nicely with her consistent connection to water in the film) is transformed into Sen, or "a thousand," suggesting her immersion in the faceless masses of workers, like the shadow commuters on the train late in the film (watch the shadow girl on the train platform, perhaps another Chihiro that did not make it out). In this sense, Chihiro's altruism, her willingness to help others, is disruptive to the system.
...suggested by at least one other critic that Chihiro might also represent the exploitation of women, perhaps prostitution itself. She does, after all, work in a bathhouse servicing odious customers and has her name stolen by the local "madam." ...