05 · 03 · 18

The spectral animation of Kichachiro Kawamoto

Alonso Díaz de la Vega @diazdelavega1

Nowadays talking about Japan and animated films might evoke the memory of Isao Takahata, a master of anime and a co-founding member of Studio Ghibli who died on april 5, or perhaps Wes Anderson’s latest movie, Isle of Dogs (2018), which tells the story of a pack as it tries to help a boy to find his pet. Yet this film is far from being the only one set in Japan and shot in stop-motion.

Because he cultivated the art of the short film format the name of Kihachiro Kawamoto hasn’t managed to remain in popular memory as much as those of other Japanese animators, but a quick look at his work, defined by buddhism and the folk traditions of Japan, shows the astounding ingenuity of one of the major talents among the local filmmakers.

As a child Kawamoto learned from his grandmother how to make puppets and stage shows with them. He never thought about becoming a filmmaker but his creations would bring the attention of photographer Tadasu Iizawa, with whom he made children’s books with pictures of his dolls. Further on, Kawamoto would go into advertising and then into cinema.

In Kawamoto’s films we often see the struggle against a demonic instinct which derives from the human character and materializes in the supernatural. The music and the fable-like narration create a spectral tone, underscored by the lighting and the director’s expressive shots. In Dôjôji (1976), for example, an obsessed woman becomes a devil, while in Oni (1972) a couple of brothers discover a terrifying secret about old-age.

Below we present Oni, hoping it will be the first of many visits to Kihachiro Kawamoto’s imagination.