Tokyo Weekender - October 2017
A day in the life of a geisha. Find your perfect Kyushu. Plus Q&A with anime director Keiichi Hara, are robots taking our jobs?, Explore Japanese cuisine at GINZA SIX, and Tsukuda guide
A day in the life of a geisha. Find your perfect Kyushu. Plus Q&A with anime director Keiichi Hara, are robots taking our jobs?, Explore Japanese cuisine at GINZA SIX, and Tsukuda guide
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as the Best Animation Film Award at the 70th<br />
Mainichi Film Awards. This year, in recognition<br />
of the director’s body of work, the <strong>Tokyo</strong><br />
International Film Festival, which kicks off<br />
on <strong>October</strong> 25, has dedicated its animation<br />
section to his creative output.<br />
<strong>Weekender</strong> recently dropped by Hara’s<br />
studio in Nakano to talk with him about…<br />
THE CHALLENGE OF BRINGING<br />
COLORFUL TO LIFE:<br />
With Colorful, it was a client who asked me<br />
to make that film. I didn't know the original<br />
novel, but when I read it, at first I didn't think<br />
Miss Hokusai, ©2014-2015 Hinako<br />
Sugiura MS.HS / Sarusuberi Film Partners<br />
Mami the Psychic: Dancing Dolls in a Starry Sky, ©Fujikopro,<br />
Shogakukan, TV-Asahi, Shin-ei, and ADK 1988<br />
nese people feel that aspect of things strongly;<br />
even though we are a developed country, we<br />
still believe in connections with dead people,<br />
and gods dwelling in nature. So I want to honor<br />
that part of Japanese people's hearts, and<br />
continue to reflect that in my films to come.<br />
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SUPER-<br />
NATURAL IN HIS FILMS:<br />
I haven't experienced anything like that<br />
myself, but I feel like there is some kind of<br />
supernatural influence in our world, in the<br />
form of certain phenomenon, or in the case<br />
of things like fate or destiny. I think Japathat<br />
it was great material for an anime. But<br />
the producer was intent on making it into<br />
an anime, and requested that I do it. I took<br />
it up as a challenge to turn the story into an<br />
animated film.<br />
THE SERIOUS TOPICS LYING AT<br />
THE HEART OF A FILM DIRECTED AT<br />
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS:<br />
[This film] tells the story of a junior high<br />
school student who commits suicide, one<br />
whose mother is having an affair, and<br />
another who is prostituting herself to buy<br />
the things she wants. These are heavy topics.<br />
These things are really happening now in<br />
Japan. I didn't want people to look away<br />
from these problems, but face them head on.<br />
There are young people who are struggling<br />
with those problems, so I made this film for<br />
those people.<br />
WHAT DREW HIM TO THE STORY<br />
BEHIND MISS HOKUSAI:<br />
I really loved Hinako Sugiura's manga, and I<br />
knew that I wanted to make an anime from<br />
her work at some time. So when I had the<br />
opportunity to collaborate with Production<br />
I.G, I was very happy to be able to bring this<br />
piece to life. It was really like a dream come<br />
true.<br />
THE UNIQUE APPEARANCE OF MISS<br />
HOKUSAI’S LEADING LADY:<br />
In the original story, O-Ei is not a beautiful<br />
I DIDN'T WANT PEOPLE<br />
TO LOOK AWAY FROM<br />
THESE PROBLEMS, BUT<br />
FACE THEM HEAD ON<br />
woman, and from the historical records that<br />
remain, it was very certain that O-Ei was<br />
not a beautiful woman. But because she is<br />
the protagonist, I thought it was a good idea<br />
to make her beautiful, but not completely<br />
gorgeous. So I made her attractive, but I<br />
made her eyebrows very thick and gave her<br />
other striking features. She’s pretty, but she<br />
has a unique appearance that will make an<br />
impression on the audience.<br />
Dawn of a Filmmaker: The Keisuke Kinoshita Story,<br />
©2013 "Dawn of a Filmmaker" Partners<br />
WHY HE DECIDED TO GO IT ALONE<br />
AFTER DECADES OF SUCCESS:<br />
I had a long part of my career directing as an<br />
employee, and during that time, I wasn't making<br />
films for myself, but doing what I was being<br />
told by the company. Within those limitations,<br />
I tried to maximize my freedom. Finally,<br />
I felt like I had achieved a certain measure of<br />
success, but I was aware of the limitations. So<br />
I decided to launch myself on my own. However,<br />
not many people get to spend most of their<br />
career making only movies! I have been able<br />
to make only films up until now, so I feel very<br />
lucky to be able to do this work. I also think<br />
that it's not easy to keep making only movies,<br />
but if possible, I want to keep making them for<br />
the rest of my career.<br />
THE 30TH TOKYO<br />
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL<br />
PUTS A SPOTLIGHT ON THE<br />
WORLD OF KEIICHI HARA<br />
This year marks the fourth year since<br />
the <strong>Tokyo</strong> International Film Festival<br />
revived its Special Focus on Japanese<br />
Animation, and <strong>2017</strong> also marks the<br />
100th anniversary of the institution of<br />
Japanese animation itself. In honor of<br />
this historic occasion, TIFF is focusing<br />
on the work and worlds of Keiichi<br />
Hara. This is the first ever major<br />
retrospective of the director’s work,<br />
and will feature movies in the Shinchan<br />
series as well as his more recent<br />
independent films.<br />
TIFF will take place between <strong>October</strong><br />
25 and November 3, <strong>2017</strong>. Full details<br />
about screenings are available at<br />
<strong>2017</strong>.tiff-jp.net