Koji Yamamura

An animated archive of imaginary monsters written by a fictitious mosterologist in Medieval Europe.

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This film depicts evolution from birth of life to whale in the sea with music and images by dedication to the American contemporary composer George Crumb's "Vox Balaenae (1971)" .There are 4 part, Proterozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic.

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A Parade for three managers and four performers. Sketchy drawings in a neatly arranged palette, involving quotes from the French composer Erik Satie, set to the music of Parade performed by the Dutch Willem Breuker Kollektief.

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This work was commissioned for the 20th Anniversary Edition of the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival and made possible by support from the 2016 Champion and Patron Members of Reel Asian. Chinese Zodiac is 60-years cycle by 10 heavenly elements and 12 earthly animals, 20th anniversary is just one third. In this movie appearing and changing into 20 elements from 1997 that was started the festival to 2016.

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A festival cut/compilation of the animated segments made by Yamamura Kouji for a TV documentary by NHK, Kojiki Girl Travelogue (古事記ガール 日向路を旅する). The 4 episodes that compose The Hyuga Episode of Kojiki are: #1 The Cleansing (禊/ Misogi, 3’17”) #2 Sun Goddess Amaterasu (天照大御神/ Amaterasu Ookami, 2’11”) #3 Flowering Tree (木花之佐久夜毘売/ Konohananosakuya-bime, 2’31”) #4 Umisachi and Yamasachi (海佐知山佐知/ Umisachi Yamasachi, 3’30”)

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Created using "Etching on film" from the NFB's McLaren's Workshop Application.

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Koji Yamamura's allegory the immutability of time, love and devotion, and the unbreakable nature of the parent-child bond, into interlacing story.

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"Anthology with Cranes" is a 17th Century scroll painting by Sotatsu Tawaraya, measuring over 13 meters long. Koji Yamamura attempts to decipher this painting by interpreting it as animation.

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Collaborations between some of contemporary Japan's finest musicians and filmmakers. The Nihon no Uta Executive Committee produced a series of original short films inspired by the classic Japanese songs included in the albums Nihon no Uta Vol. 1–4, released by commmons (founded by Ryuichi Sakamoto). Each film pairs a celebrated musician with an acclaimed filmmaker, creating a unique fusion of music and visual storytelling. Artists: Takoko Oshinaki, Tomoyo Harada, Keiichi Suzuki, Miyuki Hayama, Blue Hats, Kenji Endo, cero, Yoshihiro Takahashi, Tomohiko Mito, Mush Kamayatsu, Nokazu Takemura, Kaori Konishi, Kiyhiko Senami, Rooji Nakanana, ASA-CHANG

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A hapless country doctor describes with breathless urgency a night-time summons to attend a young patient. Events soon take on a surreal aspect as "unearthly horses" transport him instantaneously to the bedside. The doctor, preoccupied with personal distractions and grievances against those he is employed to care for, fails to find what is revealed to be a vile, fatal wound. He is humiliated by the villagers, who are "always expecting the impossible from the doctor," and doomed to an endless return trip, losing everything.

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A child whose head is numerals, a child who winds his own face and has it under his arm. What was left is his identity, a child whose eyes are provided by fishes, a child who cannot say anything because of a zipper across his mouth. Ecology and philosophy of children with sadness and humor.

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A seaside school. In the corridor stands the principal, beloved of the high-spirited youngsters. Gazing at a picture of a whale drawn as a child, the head teacher is swept away with sentiment into a flashback from the past.

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A series of 16 "short stories" created by the creator's group Images Forum.

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The Tokyo Tower and the window transform themselves into the characters, and roam in the night of Tokyo.

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A very old crocodile is shunned by his family after eating one of them.

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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).

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A series of nine flipbook-like vignettes showcasing simple revelations of movement and color. Koji Yamamura's animation refers back to the phenakistoscope, one of the earliest mechanisms used to make drawings move.

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A miserly man eats the pits of some cherries he can't stand throwing out. A tree starts growing from the top of his head. He cuts it off; it grows back. After a while, he gives up and lets it grow, but the crowds that gather on top of his head to enjoy the tree (and leave huge mounds of trash) eventually drive him to uproot the tree. This leaves a crater on top of his head, which fills with water, which becomes a popular lake.

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The theme is indecisiveness but hand the reigns over to kids and a T-Rex is sure to show up sooner or later. Yamamura's delight in their errant narration is evident in his fresh sensitivity to the comedy of everyday life.

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A music video by Koji Yamamura.

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Short by Koji Yamamura

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Short by Koji Yamamura

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Canelo Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. sit down to discuss their highly anticipated May 6 showdown.

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The third and last installment in the Karo and Piyobupt series by Koji Yamamura

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The second short in the series Karo and Piyobupt by Koji Yamamura

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The first short in the series Karo and Piyobupt by Koji Yamamura

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A normal day turns into a day of adventure when an elevator that carries a boy does not stop where it should.

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Buildings, black crows, a flood of bar codes, clone-looking businessmen, shopping-addicted ladies...these images which probably symbolizes excessive, standardized and overcrowded modern cities are condensed in this animation. Various techniques, like modified photo, drawing animation, 3D object and permeating lighting are combined onto a multi-planed (line drawing) stand, with a challenge to express a unique sense of unity and compression.

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Second short by Koji Yamamura

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An indie documentary exploring the art form of hand-drawn animation through a contemporary lens in the digital era. Featuring insights and anecdotes by hand-drawn animation artists from around the world.

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The star fell in love with the ocean, but this love was never reciprocated. So the star tried to discuss with friends. But no one can understand what is the star thinking about.

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Here, everything is The North. This is an account of the people I met in The North. However, my fragmented memory doesn't capture the essence at all.

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Since I was born, the moon has circled the Earth 9,125 times. We all grew older with each orbit, but the moon never seems to age. A story about my grandma, her death, and my childhood.

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Something blue strays from the herd and ends up in someone’s house.

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What should one do if they encounter a jar that won’t open?

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When it shrinks, it expands. It floats and it sinks. It separates but connects. When I think I’m watching them, they're actually watching me. A charming animation rhyme that weaves together the many days of observing, recording, and experimenting.

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Bird poo fell in love with the hill but the hill is taken away high above the clouds. Poo is devastated. But then, a triangular telescope falls from the sky and it's showing what the hill is seeing.

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It's winter but my heart and the classroom are hot. Unexpectedly I got my hands on a star fruit, but I never told anyone about the taste.

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The film expresses the sense of being left behind. It stems from the realities of my childhood and how they did not match up with what I was feeling back then.

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The elderly at the nursing home have their heads shaved. The protagonist who works there sees them but can't read their expressions. However, from one instance, he finds himself looking closely at their faces.

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A man is walking along the beach. Then a demon, the man’s pain, appears and chases him. The pain is unbearable, coursing through his entire body. He somehow manages to get away, but eventually, he returns to the ocean even though he knows that the demon will appear again if he goes there.

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One cold and damp morning, two weasels were wandering the quiet streets. They get separated at one point but are reunited. Just then, bells and alarms began to ring through the city, and dawn came.

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An animated documentary on intertwining memories and emotions experienced by the director in his hometown and current whereabouts.

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One morning, a woman leaves home for work like any other day. In another place, a loan shark is terrorizing a family. A cross-cutting of two incidents in two locations.

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Tomorrow, they'll finish building the most beautiful tower on this planet. I've never seen it, but I bet it's beautiful. I couldn't wait to see the new tower, so that night, I snuck out.

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A little girl reflects on her last summer with her father at his funeral.

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Kaibun are palidromes in which words sound the same when read backwards and forwards. Sometimes the meaning changes, and sometimes not. I brought this playful and poetic world to life.

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Commemorating the 700th anniversary of Dante's death, the film is a reinterpretation of Dante and Beatrice's reunion story, from "Vita Nova" to the three parts of the "Divine Comedy" (Hell, Purgatory and Heaven). Where are we, young people, now? Where should we go? Since 2020, it has become clear that young people are free to choose anything. We can even choose to live or die. The new world is coming. Let's jump into it with love for ourselves and for others.

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A polar bear who is very bored with various marine animals in the deep blue sea. It continues an ancient tradition of "Caricatures of Frolicking animals" in scroll painting-style; this time, "Frolicking Sea Animals," in animation form, with a play on Japanese and English language word-plays: "Hokyoku-Guma Suggoku Hima. / Polar bear bears boredom", "Kawauso Kawaisou./Other otter, poor otter," etc.

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I'm the only one who can't live without an oxygen tank in the underwater world. No matter how suffocated I feel, I preserve peace and harmony by pretending the selfish girl and my friends with complicated family backgrounds don't bother me.

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How to make this mysterious cake? The ingredients include blue eggs, cookie flowers, pillow stuffing and much more.

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This work is based on 15 years of entries in the diary that I’ve kept since age eight. Through creating this work I was searching for freedom from my preconceptions about animation and myself.

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I conveyed my love and gratitude to a certain deceased physician amidst the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, while a personal shopper expressed the same emotions from yet a different place.

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This work is a missive to the life form we call viruses in the hope that we can coexist. The relationship between humans and viruses is poetically expressed from a different perspective.

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Far away from her hometown, the little fox studies in a foreign country. The monotonous days and bare relationships make her increasingly homesick. But one day, she finds the curiosity that she had once lost and takes a new step.

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Everyone has a sense of justice. The protagonist thinks her ideas are right and voices her opinions through protests for social justice. One day the demonstration turns violent. Maybe we could live in peace if self-righteousness were to disappear.

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The mouse finds a prism and it reveals to him a magnificent rainbow like he's never seen before. He tries to show his friends but for some reason it won't reappear. It seems beauty has a mind of its own.

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TV shows, manga, music, movies, plays, pop stars and cartoon characters. I watch videos on my phone with the TV blaring and music in the background. I’m swimming in media... Is this the other side of the screen?! Awesome!

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That moment of refreshing sensation when drinking a soda in the hot summer.

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When I touched the sack of cod roe for the first time, it felt exactly like my thighs. It was light pink and so soft. Maybe my whole world is made of squishy fish eggs.

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