Yôji Kuri

Directing

Yôji Kuri

Born April 9, 1928 · Sabae City, Fukui, Japan

Died November 24, 2024 · aged 96

Yôji Kuri was a Japanese cartoonist and independent filmmaker. He was the unofficial leader and most prolific of the "Animation Association of Three" collective who kick-started the renaissance of modern-styled, independently made, adult-aimed animation in early 1960s Japan.

Known For

Winter DaysWinter Days · 2003
Winter Days
★ 6.12003
MovieAnimation
An animated film based on one of the renku (collaborative linked poems) in the 1684 collection of the same name by the 17th-century Japanese poet Bashō. The creation of the film followed the traditional collaborative nature of the source material – the visuals for each of the 36 stanzas were independently created by 35 different animators. As well as many Japanese animators, Kawamoto assembled leading names in animation from across the world. Each animator was asked to contribute at least 30 seconds to illustrate their stanza, and most of the sequences are under a minute (Yuriy Norshteyn's, though, is nearly two minutes long).
Art, Life and Opinions: Shūsaku ArakawaArt, Life and Opinions: Shūsaku Arakawa
Art, Life and Opinions: Shūsaku Arakawa
Movie
An interview with artist Shūsaku Arakawa.
LoveLove · 1964
Love
★ 5.21964
MovieAnimationComedy
A short experimental anime about a woman desperately in love. Made by Yoji Kuri, a well-known Japanese indie animator.
The Midnight ParasitesThe Midnight Parasites · 1972
The Midnight Parasites
★ 6.91972
MovieAnimationHorror
A night when parasites of various green forms devour humans. A cruel food chain that never ceases, and an eternal repetition of life and death. A grotesque and strange parable drawn by Yoji Kuri. Isao Tomita's synthesizer music echoes quietly and eerily.
MangaManga · 1977
Manga
★ 5.31977
MovieAnimation
A series of mini-stories satirising our world in the 20th Century.
Tokyo LoopTokyo Loop · 2006
Tokyo Loop
★ 7.72006
MovieAnimationComedy
A series of 16 "short stories" created by the creator's group Images Forum.
What Do You Think?What Do You Think? · 1967
What Do You Think?
1967
MovieAnimation
EmmanuelleEmmanuelle
Emmanuelle
Movie
A parody of the French erotic film series Emmanuelle, set on an air liner flying through the sky.

Filmography

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Art, Life and Opinions: Sawako GōdaArt, Life and Opinions: Sawako Gōda · 1973
Art, Life and Opinions: Sawako Gōda
1973
Movie
In this documentary made by Yoji Kuri, artist Sawako Gōda talks Kuri through the development of her best-known works and the origins of their distinctly Gothic sensibility, including her assemblages of junk and debris picked up in Tokyo and New York, her painted copies of antique foreign photographs, the quickly-produced painted eggs which became her signature, and the sculptures she made from a horse skeleton which she helped to flay herself. Gōda’s commentary on her artistic practice is interwoven with reflections on the practical demands of her life: from the challenges of living abroad and of raising her child as a single mother, to how financial circumstances helped to shape the appearance and form of her objects.

Director