Chara

The struggles of a group of outcasts living in "Yentown", in an alternate-future Japan.

While alone in a nightclub, straight-laced Lui meets sensitive but troubled punk kid Ama. Mesmerized by his split tongue, she becomes obsessed with body modification and soon wants the same treatment. After Ama's heavily-tattooed friend Shiba pierces her tongue, Lui finds herself inexorably drawn to both men – and to her growing list of desires, she now adds a tattoo.

Believing that the world will end that very day, three mental patients Coco, Tsumuji, and Satoru set out upon a journey. Walking upon the tops of the walls of the city, they seek to find a picnic spot with the best vantage point to view the final event.

Hamaji, a young huntress from the mountains, stumbles into the middle of a shogun’s vendetta against a group of human-dog hybrids, the Fusé. Rumors of Fusé murdering innocent people in the bustling city of Edo have sparked a bounty for their heads. Along with her brother, Hamaji joins the hunt for this dangerous quarry, but after accidentally befriending one of them, Hamaji is torn between two worlds: her life as a self-reliant huntress, and the young woman her new friend has helped her to uncover.

Five loosely connected storylines concerning the secrets and lies, the fears and tears, and the puerile potty jokes that punctuate the characters' daily (and in one eerie case, nightly) encounters.

Making-of documentary for Swallowtail Butterfly

In the near future of a Japan, the ancient 'Act of Vengeance' is revived and professional executioners are permitted to kill criminals by the requests from their victims. People who are to be executed are notified of the execution time and date in advance and they are allowed to have their own guard.

Swallowtail Butterfly 20th Anniversary concert at Inujima Seirensho Museum as part of Setouchi Triennale 2016. At the former power plant of the Inujima Seirensho Art Museum, a site designated as a Modern Industrial Heritage, the fictional city of “YEN TOWN” from the film Swallowtail is recreated. Beginning with Swallowtail, moving through All About Lily Chou-Chou, and, on another trajectory, through the September 11 terrorist attacks and the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, this work traces the paths of these events to the present day. Produced by Takeshi Kobayashi, the project is a two-hour concert suite, performed together with a diverse group of musicians, including Chara (YEN TOWN BAND) and Salyu.