Kihachiro Kawamoto: Japan’s Master Puppeteer

“Kawamoto has been quietly and persistently making puppet animations for over half a century now…. he has amassed a body of short films that demonstrates a keen artistic vision.” – Dean Bowman, Midnight Eye

Animator Kihachiro Kawamoto is a legend of Japanese animation. His short films, many of which feature painstakingly detailed stop-motion puppet animation, have been showcased in exhibitions around the globe, and he has been honoured with his own museum, The Kihachiro Kawamoto Puppet Museum, in Iida City, Nagano Prefecture, which houses 200 of his handmade puppets. The Shinsedai Cinema Festival is proud to present a programme of Kawamoto’s films specially curated by Jasper Sharp. The programme includes:

The Demon (Oni)
1970, 8 mins

Inspired by a ghost story from the eleventh-century anthology of Japanese myths and legends Konjaku monogatari, The Demon tells the story of two hunters who live with their aged mother. With its plain black backdrops and minimalist designs, it draws upon the pared-down style of traditional Bunraku puppet presentations and the masked Noh theatre, to chilling effect.

The Trip (Tabi)
1973, 12 mins

Surreal cutout (kiri-gami) animation following a young girl’s spiritual journey to an anonymous Western city, a bizarre dreamscape cluttered with elements from works by Salvador Dali, René Magritte, Giorgio de Chirico and MC Escher. The citations of Chinese poet Su Tong-Po (1037-1101) hint at a deeper Buddhist allegory, in a film, which also references the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, offered as Kawamoto’s ode to his mentor, Trnka, who died in 1969.

Dojoji Temple (Dojoji)
1976, 19 mins

One of Kawamoto’s most bewitching works, based on a famous Kabuki play, Dojoji Temple depicts a young monk on a pilgrimage tempted by a fair maiden, who transforms into a vicious sea serpent and pursues him until he seeks refuge in a distant temple. The serpent encircles the huge temple bell in which he hides, and the monk is reduced to ashes.

House of Flame (Kataku)
1979, 19 mins

Based on the Noh play Motomezuka- the Seeker’s Mound, this tells the story of a young woman named Unai-Otome who is loved by two men. Not knowing which to choose, in anguish, she chose death. But although her intentions were pure, not even the grave brought the respite she longed for from her earthly dilemma.

To Shoot Without Shooting (Fusha no sha)
1988, 25 mins

Based on the story Meijin-den by Atsushi Nakajima (1909-1942), this work is set in ancient China telling the tale of a young Chinese archer’s trials to reach the pinnacle of his field. Made at the end of the Cold War, it’s not hard to detect the pacifist message in this beautifully rendered fable.

Briar-Rose, or the Sleeping Beauty (Ibarahime mata manemurihime)
1990, 22 mins

For this exquisite yet unconventional fairytale based on a story written by Japan’s top screen siren of the 60s Kyoko Kishida, Kawamoto returned to Trnka’s animation studio in Prague. A young princess reaches her fifteenth birthday and discovers a diary written by her mother when she was the same age, telling of a secret paramour who dwelt deep in the forest surrounding the palace. Entering the woods during a heavy rain storm, the princess has a life-changing encounter.

Director’s Bio

Born in 1925 in Tokyo Kihachiro Kawamoto originally wanted to pursue a career in architecture while taking up doll-making ass a hobby. In 1950 he teamed up with publisher Tadasu Iizawa to create a series of doll storybooks. It was at this same time Kawamoto discovered the works of animator Jiri Trnka. Inspired by the Czech master he began studying under stop-motion animator Tadahito Mochinaga and by the 1970s he was making elaborate films based on traditional Japanese folk tales. An entirely independent artist Kawamoto still produces breathtaking animated films as well as sitting as the President of the Japan Animation Association, a post previously held by Japan’s master animator Osamu Tezuka.