Welcome to
The Strange World of Yamamura's Animation!

Mt. Head (Atama-yama)

The 2003 Oscar Nomination Short Film (Animated)

Koji Yamamura is a young leader of short feature animation in Japan. The artistic quality of his animation is highly respected all over the world. He has received more than ten major international awards in the last three years. His artistic craftsmanship is evident in the different materials he uses (e.g. drawing, clay, paper cutouts, etc.). This retrospective of all of his major short films showcases the vast range of styles from the almost Dadaist Japanese-English Dictionary to works for children and Mt. Head. This inventive work is a far cry from typical Japanimation seen in popular series such as Yu-Gi-Oh. The film show includes as follows:

7:30 PM, Thursday, November 13
Ayres 106

1. Aquatic (Suisei): 1987 / 5min./16mm / No dialogue Direction, Animation: Koji Yamamura Music: Jun Kurosawa Distributor: Yamamura Animation, Inc. Hi-vision: Produced by TBS The stream of a mile, an apple flows down through the stream, where innumerable illusion of fish appears and disappears in the sky reflected in the water. (top)

Japanese-English Dictionary (Hyakka zukan): 1989 /12min./16mm /No dialogue 1989 /12min./16mm /No dialogue Direction, Animation: Koji Yamamura Music: Jun Kurosawa Distributor: Yamamura Animation, Inc. Both in English and Japanese, words develop in parallel from "A" to "Z"(from "A" to "Nn" in Japanese syllabary) taking the last syllable of the previous word. Ant-Take off-F..., Ari-Ririku-Ku... Along with the developments of those words, images metamorphoses using various animation techniques so to be a pictorial encyclopedia of animation technique. (top)

3. Perspektivenbox (Enkinhou no hako: Hakase no sagashimono): 1990 / 4min./ 35mm / No dialogue / Direction, Animation, Script: Koji Yamamura Music: Koji Ueno Camera: Nobuyoshi Akiyoshi Distributor: Yamamura Animation, Inc. Buildings, black crows, a flood of bar codes, clone-looking businessmen, shopping-addicted ladies... images which symbolize excess, standardized and overcrowded modern cities are condensed in this animation. Various techniques, like modified photos, drawing animation, 3D objects and permeating lighting are combined onto a multi-planed (line drawing) stand, with a challenge to express a unique sense of unity and compression. (top)

4. Karo & Piyobupt: A House (Ouchi): 1993 /4 min. 20sec. /35mm /No dialogue / Produce: NHK / Direction, Animation, Script: Koji Yamamura / Camera: Akiyoshi studio / Sound: NHK / Music: Syzygys / Voice: Momota Takahashi, Hitomi Shimizu / Distributor: MICO One day in winter, two birds were flying to the snowfield. They found a fine big tree and decided to build their house on it. Carrying logs, cutting them, putting together, finally a lovely house was completed. (top)

5. Karo & Piyobupt: The Sandwiches 1993 /4 min. 20sec. /35mm /No dialogue / Produce: NHK / Direction, Animation, Script: Koji Yamamura / Camera: Akiyoshi studio Sound: NHK / Music: Syzygys / Voice: Momota Takahashi, Hitomi Shimizu / Distributor: MICO It was a wonderful day. At the kitchen, Karo and Piyobupt were making sandwiches. Yes, they were going on a picnic. When you eat sandwiches on the beautiful green field, how delicious they are and how much you eat. (top)

6. Karo & Piyobupt: Imagination (Ame no Hi): 1993 /4 min. 20sec. / 35mm /No dialogue / Produce: NHK / Direction, Animation, Script: Koji Yamamura / Camera: Akiyoshi studio /Sound: NHK / Music: Syzygys / Voice: Momota Takahashi, Hitomi Shimizu / Distributor: MICO Karo was hurrying to his house on a rainy day. Then he met a fish swimming in the air. He talked about the fish to Piyobupt but Piyobupt laughed at Karo. So they started to imagine and imagine. And outside of the window, flying fishes were enjoying the rain. (top)

7. Pacusi 1994 /1min. each 18 titles /VTR / No Dialogue Produce: NHK, Douzu Direction, Animation, Script: Koji Yamamura Camera: Akiyoshi studio / Sound: NHK Music: Syzygys, Takashi Sudo Distributor: MICO "Pacusi" is a story of Pacusi and his family. Little happenings in ordinary days are described. We can enjoy the warmhearted Pacusi's view of a big strange world. (top)

8. Kipling Jr.: 1995 /14 min./ 35mm /Japanese Dialogue (English subtitle) PRODUCTION: KODOMO NO SHIRO, Yamamura Animation, Inc. PRODUCER; Yukio Hiruma, Koji Yamamura DIRECTOR, SCRIPT, ANIMATION: Koji Yamamura CAMERA: AKIYOSHI STUDIO Nobuyuki Akiyoshi MUSIC: Syzygys SOUND DESIGN: SOUND DESIGN YURUTA Yutaka Tsurumaki / SOUND EFFECT: TOYO ONKYO VOICES: Anna Kipling-Hitomi Shimizu / Yohann Kipling-Koji Yamamura / Kip Kipling- RyokoNoguchi / Rog, Poe-Kiriko Odaka Distributor: Yamamura Animation, Inc. A fantastic animation adventure about Kipling Jr., his father, mother, and a musical band led by Rog. Advanced animation techniques, preciously unseen on the screen, help to create incredible movements by animated dolls. (top)

9. Kid's Castle 1995 / 5min./ 35mm /No dialogue PRODUCTION: KODOMO NO SHIRO, Yamamura Animation, Inc. PRODUCER: Yukio Hiruma, Koji Yamamura DIRECTOR, SCRIPT, ANIMATION: Koji Yamamura CAMERA: Nobuyuki Akiyoshi MUSIC: Takashi Sudo SOUND DESIGN: SOUND DESIGN YURUTA Yutaka Tsurumaki Distributor: Yamamura Animation, Inc. Take a journey into the imaginative world of the Kid's Castle where a young boy's dreams make playing with toys a reality. As his room takes on exciting changes, you, too, will delight at the many different whimsical sounds and voices. (top)

10. Bavel's Book 1996 / VTR, 16mm / Japanese dialogue PRODUCTION: NHK, Yamamura Animation, Inc. DIRECTOR, SCRIPT, ANIMATION; Koji Yamamura MUSIC: Syzygys Hitomi Shimizu, Hiromi Nishida SOUND; Kazuhiko Arakawa VOICES: Takaaki Namiki, Yui Makino / Distributor; Yamamura Animation, Inc. A boy and his young sister were curious about the book someone had left on a bench and opened it. Then the small Tower of Bavel was completed on a page. Looking into a tower, a library was inside with innumerable books. Whenever the old man turned a page of the book, a strange Mythical Animal appeared and went away. (top)

11. Your choice! (Docchi ni suru!): 1999 /10min./ VTR (Japanese dialogue or English dialogue), 35mm Dolby SR (English dialogue only) / PRODUCTION: Yamamura Animation, Inc./ SUPPORTED BY DENTSU INC./ PRODUCER: Shigeki Sawa / DIRECTOR: Koji Yamamura and the 'Junior Directors'/SCRIPT, ANIMATION: Koji Yamamura / MUSIC: Takashi Sodo / SOUND: Reiji Kitazato, Koji Kasamatsu/ Distributor: Yamamura Animation, Inc. Raoul, an alligator, has a bad tooth, and also needs a hair cut. Is he going to a barber, or a dentist, or neither of them? Madillo, an armadillo, wonders if he should bring an umbrella, or not. So, what is your choice? In the story of this animated film, a series of events which need judgments, spontaneity and decisiveness of the "Junior Directors" continue to occur. The film was completed with the ideas from those "Junior Directors" through having several workshops with them. (top)

12. Mt. Head (Atamayama): 2002/10'00"/35mm Dolby Digital Narration & Shamisen Takeharu Kunimoto Music: Takeharu Kunimoto Syzygys Original Story An old comic story (rakugo) "Atama-yama" Script Shoji Yonemura Direction, Animation, Design & Editing Koji Yamamura Sound Design Koji Kasamatsu Distributor: Apollo Cinema Narration & Shamisen Takeharu Kunimoto (English subtitle) After a stingy man eats some cherry seeds, a cherry tree grows on his head and he gets into a lot of trouble. This animated film is a modern interpretation of the traditional Japanese Rakugo story "Atama-yama" set in contemporary Tokyo. (top)