Kihachiro Kawamoto
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese
puppet designer
and maker, independent
film director
, screenwriter
and animator
and president
of the Japan Animation Association from 1989, succeeding founder Osamu Tezuka
, until his own death. He is best-remembered in Japan as designer of the puppets for the long-running NHK
live action
television series
of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
in the early 1980s and The Tale of the Heike
in the 1990s but better-known internationally for his own animated short films, the majority of which are model animation
but which also include the cutout animation
Tabi and Shijin no Shōgai and mixed media
, French-language
Farce anthropo-cynique.
Since beginning his career in his early twenties as a production design
assistant under So Matsuyama
in the art department
of Toho
in 1946, he met Tadasu Iizawa and left the film studio in 1950 to collaborate with him on illustrating
children's literature
with Photograph
s of doll
s in diorama
s, many of which have been republished in English editions by such American publishers as Grosset & Dunlap
and Western Publishing
's Golden Books imprint, and trained in the art of stop motion filmmaking under Tadahito Mochinaga
and, later, Jiří Trnka
. He is also closely associated with Tadanari Okamoto
, another independent with whom he collaborated in booking private hall
s in which to show their films to the public as the "Puppet Animashow" in the 1970s and whose last film, was completed under Kawamoto following Okamoto's death during its production.
, he first became interested in stop motion puppet animation and during the '50s began working alongside Japan's first puppet animator, the legendary Tadahito Mochinaga
.
In 1958, he co-founded Shiba Productions to make commercial animation for television, but it was not until 1963, when he traveled to Prague
to study puppet animation under Jiří Trnka for a year, that he considered his puppets to have truly began to take on a life of their own. Trnka encouraged Kawamoto to draw on his own country's rich cultural heritage in his work, and so Kawamoto returned from Czechoslovakia
to make a series of highly individual, independently-produced artistic short works, beginning with Breaking of Branches is Forbidden (Hana-Ori) in 1968.
Heavily influence by the traditional aesthetics
of Nō
, Bunraku
-style puppetry
and kabuki
, since the '70s his haunting puppet animations such as The Demon (Oni, 1972), Dōjōji Temple (Dōjōji, 1976) and House of Flame (Kataku, 1979) have won numerous prizes internationally. He has also produced cut-out (kirigami) animations such as Travel (Tabi, 1973) and A Poet's Life (Shijin no Shogai, 1974). In 1990 he returned to Trnka's studios in Prague to make Briar Rose, or The Sleeping Beauty.
In Japan, he is best known for designing the puppets used in the long-running TV series based on the Chinese literary classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sangokushi, 1982–84), and later for The Tale of the Heike
(Heike Monogatari, 1993–94). In 2003, he was responsible for overseeing the Winter Days
(Fuyu no Hi) project, in which 35 of the world's top animators each worked on a two-minute segment inspired by the renka couplets of celebrated poet Matsuo Bashō
.
The Book of the Dead
(Shisha no Sho) is Kawamoto's only feature length animation, 1981's Rennyo and His Mother (Rennyo to Sono Haha) being a live-action puppet film. It had its world premiere as a part of a Special Retrospective Tribute at the 40th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
(July 1–9, 2005, Karlovy Vary
, Czech Republic
).
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
puppet designer
Puppet designer
A puppet designer is a person who designs and creates puppets for themselves or for other ventriloquists and puppeteers. Puppetry predates written history in many cultures, and seems to have evolved from the mask....
and maker, independent
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
and president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the Japan Animation Association from 1989, succeeding founder Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
, until his own death. He is best-remembered in Japan as designer of the puppets for the long-running NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
live action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in...
in the early 1980s and The Tale of the Heike
The Tale of the Heike
is an epic account of the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War...
in the 1990s but better-known internationally for his own animated short films, the majority of which are model animation
Model animation
Model animation is a form of stop motion animation designed to merge with live action footage to create the illusion of a real-world fantasy sequence.-Works:Model animation was pioneered by Willis O'Brien, and it was first used in The Lost World...
but which also include the cutout animation
Cutout animation
Cutout animation is a technique for producing animations using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or even photographs...
Tabi and Shijin no Shōgai and mixed media
Mixed media
Mixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed.There is an important distinction between "mixed-media" artworks and "multimedia art". Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct...
, French-language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
Farce anthropo-cynique.
Since beginning his career in his early twenties as a production design
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
assistant under So Matsuyama
So Matsuyama
, a.k.a. So Matsuda and So Matsuyama, was a Japanese production designer and art director. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction: the first time for his work in Rashomon , and the second time for his work in Seven Samurai .-External links:...
in the art department
Art department
Art department in movie terms means the section of a production's crew concerned with visual artistry. Working under the supervision of the production designer and/or art director, the art department is responsible for arranging the overall look of the film as desired by the film director...
of Toho
Toho
is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
in 1946, he met Tadasu Iizawa and left the film studio in 1950 to collaborate with him on illustrating
Illustration
An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
children's literature
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
with Photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s of doll
Doll
A doll is a model of a human being, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world, and traditional dolls made of materials like clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls...
s in diorama
Diorama
The word diorama can either refer to a nineteenth century mobile theatre device, or, in modern usage, a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum...
s, many of which have been republished in English editions by such American publishers as Grosset & Dunlap
Grosset & Dunlap
Grosset & Dunlap is a United States book publisher founded in 1898.The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of the British publishing conglomerate, Pearson PLC through its American subsidiary Penguin Group....
and Western Publishing
Western Publishing
Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company was a Racine, Wisconsin firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Western Publishing also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products as Golden Books Family Entertainment...
's Golden Books imprint, and trained in the art of stop motion filmmaking under Tadahito Mochinaga
Tadahito Mochinaga
, also known as Tad Mochinaga, was a pioneer Japanese stop-motion animator. Having done many stop motion films/shorts in Japan, he is also best known as the animator for Rankin/Bass' "Animagic" specials/movies in the 1960s....
and, later, Jiří Trnka
Jirí Trnka
Jiří Trnka was a Czech puppet maker, illustrator, motion-picture animator and film director. In addition to his extensive career as an illustrator, especially of children's books, he is best known for his work in animation with puppets, which began in 1946...
. He is also closely associated with Tadanari Okamoto
Tadanari Okamoto
was a Japanese independent animator. From 1965 until his death he completed at least 37 short subject films in a wide variety of mediums, eight of which have been awarded the Ōfuji Noburō Prize at the Mainichi Film Awards and his films have altogether earned at least 24 other awards internationally...
, another independent with whom he collaborated in booking private hall
Hall
In architecture, a hall is fundamentally a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age, a mead hall was such a simple building and was the residence of a lord and his retainers...
s in which to show their films to the public as the "Puppet Animashow" in the 1970s and whose last film, was completed under Kawamoto following Okamoto's death during its production.
Biography
Born in 1925, from an early age Kawamoto was captivated by the art of doll and puppet making. After seeing the works of maestro Czech animator Jiří TrnkaJirí Trnka
Jiří Trnka was a Czech puppet maker, illustrator, motion-picture animator and film director. In addition to his extensive career as an illustrator, especially of children's books, he is best known for his work in animation with puppets, which began in 1946...
, he first became interested in stop motion puppet animation and during the '50s began working alongside Japan's first puppet animator, the legendary Tadahito Mochinaga
Tadahito Mochinaga
, also known as Tad Mochinaga, was a pioneer Japanese stop-motion animator. Having done many stop motion films/shorts in Japan, he is also best known as the animator for Rankin/Bass' "Animagic" specials/movies in the 1960s....
.
In 1958, he co-founded Shiba Productions to make commercial animation for television, but it was not until 1963, when he traveled to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
to study puppet animation under Jiří Trnka for a year, that he considered his puppets to have truly began to take on a life of their own. Trnka encouraged Kawamoto to draw on his own country's rich cultural heritage in his work, and so Kawamoto returned from Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
to make a series of highly individual, independently-produced artistic short works, beginning with Breaking of Branches is Forbidden (Hana-Ori) in 1968.
Heavily influence by the traditional aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
of Nō
Noh
, or - derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent" - is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles. Traditionally, a Noh "performance day" lasts all day and...
, Bunraku
Bunraku
, also known as Ningyō jōruri , is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684.Three kinds of performers take part in a bunraku performance:* Ningyōtsukai or Ningyōzukai—puppeteers* Tayū—the chanters* Shamisen players...
-style puppetry
Puppetry
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance which involves the manipulation of puppets. It is very ancient, and is believed to have originated 30,000 years BC. Puppetry takes many forms but they all share the process of animating inanimate performing objects...
and kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
, since the '70s his haunting puppet animations such as The Demon (Oni, 1972), Dōjōji Temple (Dōjōji, 1976) and House of Flame (Kataku, 1979) have won numerous prizes internationally. He has also produced cut-out (kirigami) animations such as Travel (Tabi, 1973) and A Poet's Life (Shijin no Shogai, 1974). In 1990 he returned to Trnka's studios in Prague to make Briar Rose, or The Sleeping Beauty.
In Japan, he is best known for designing the puppets used in the long-running TV series based on the Chinese literary classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sangokushi, 1982–84), and later for The Tale of the Heike
The Tale of the Heike
is an epic account of the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War...
(Heike Monogatari, 1993–94). In 2003, he was responsible for overseeing the Winter Days
Winter Days
is a 2003 animated film, directed by Kihachirō Kawamoto. It is based on one of the renku in the 1684 collection of the same name by the 17th-century Japanese poet Bashō....
(Fuyu no Hi) project, in which 35 of the world's top animators each worked on a two-minute segment inspired by the renka couplets of celebrated poet Matsuo Bashō
Matsuo Basho
, born , then , was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as a master of brief and clear haiku...
.
The Book of the Dead
The Book of the Dead (film)
is a 2005 Japanese stop motion animation feature film directed by Kihachirō Kawamoto. It is his second feature film, the first being the Rennyo and His Mother and is based on the novel of the same name by Shinobu Orikuchi...
(Shisha no Sho) is Kawamoto's only feature length animation, 1981's Rennyo and His Mother (Rennyo to Sono Haha) being a live-action puppet film. It had its world premiere as a part of a Special Retrospective Tribute at the 40th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary , Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival gained worldwide recognition over the past years and has become one of Europe's major film events....
(July 1–9, 2005, Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary is a spa city situated in western Bohemia, Czech Republic, on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá, approximately west of Prague . It is named after King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, who founded the city in 1370...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
).
Short films
- Anthropo-Cynical Farce (Farce anthropo-cynique, 1970, 8 min., from a story by Riichi Yokomitsu)
Short films
| Title | Format | Region | Distributor | Series | Date | Catalogue # | Subtitles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NTSC | All | Pioneer Corporation Pioneer Corporation is a multinational corporation that specializes in digital entertainment products, based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. The company was founded in 1938 in Tokyo as a radio and speaker repair shop... |
New Animation Animation | 2002.7.10 | PIBA-3032 | English, Japanese | |
| NTSC | All | Geneon Geneon is a Japanese music, anime and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Geneon has been involved in the production and distribution of several anime in Japan... |
New Animation Animation | 2007.1.25 | GNBA-3034 | English, Japanese | |
| The Exquisite Short Films of Kihachiro Kawamoto | NTSC | 1 | Kino International | The KimStim Collection | 2008.4.22 | KV623DVD | English |
The Book of the Dead
| Title | Format | Region | Distributor | Series | Date | Catalogue # | Subtitles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NTSC | 2 | Geneon | New Animation Animation | 2007.10.24 | GNBA-3062 | None | |
| The Book of the Dead | NTSC | 1 | Kino International | The KimStim Collection | 2008.4.22 | KV613DVD | English |
External links
- Interview with Kihachirō Kawamoto at Web site Midnight Eye
- Biography at Nishikata Film Review
- Kawamoto: The Puppet Master, a season centred around Kawamoto's films which toured the United Kingdom in 2008
- Iida City Kawamoto Kihachirō Puppet Museum official Web site
- Japan Animation Association official Web site