What is the Japanese title of the film 'Howl's Moving Castle'?

What is the Japanese title of the film Howl’s Moving Castle? The answer is Hauru no Ugoku Shiro. Written in Japanese as ハウルの動く城, the title literally translates as “Howl’s Moving Castle,” with Hauru representing Howl and shiro meaning castle.

The title describes the extraordinary home at the center of Hayao Miyazaki’s 2004 film: a huge, mechanical-looking structure that walks on legs and can travel between different locations through a magical door. Its movement comes from Calcifer, a fire demon bound by a contract to the wizard Howl.

The film follows Sophie, a young hat-maker cursed by the Witch of the Waste. After entering the castle, Sophie meets Howl, Calcifer, and Howl’s apprentice Markl. The story combines fantasy romance with an anti-war narrative, contrasting the castle’s imaginative machinery with the destruction caused by bombing and military conflict.

Howl’s Moving Castle was adapted from Diana Wynne Jones’s 1986 novel, though Miyazaki changed its themes and plot substantially. The Japanese title is often written in romanized form without macrons, as “Hauru no Ugoku Shiro,” while the Japanese script remains the definitive title form.