is a Japanese cartoonist and independent filmmaker. An influential figure in Japanese

independent animation The term independent animation refers to animated shorts and feature films produced outside a major national animation industry. A good portion of the work is viewed in animation festivals and private screen rooms along with schools that produce ...

, he was the unofficial leader and most prolific of the collective who kick-started the renaissance of modern-styled, independently made, adult-aimed animation in early 1960s Japan. He is known internationally for the very

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

of his films, with the typically naïve style of his cartooning often belying the surreal, obscene and disturbing situations they depict (though he has worked in a variety of styles and mediums, including

pixilation Pixilation is a stop motion technique in which live actors are used as a frame-by-frame subject in an animated film, by repeatedly posing while one or more frame is taken and changing pose slightly before the next frame or frames. The actor beco ...

); this made them a favourite among the fervently

counter-cultural A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

audiences, which included such filmmakers as

René Laloux René Laloux (; July 1929 – 14 March 2004) was a French animator, screenwriter and film director. Biography He was born in Paris in 1929 and went to art school to study painting. After some time working in advertising, he got a job in a psychi ...

, of the first few years of the

Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

, and in a 1967 publication he was considered to be "the most significant" and "the only Japanese animator whose work is known in the West" (which is to disregard the Tōei Animation features and ''

Astro Boy ''Astro Boy'', known in Japan by its original name , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 '' tankōbon'' ...

'' series that were first seen in the West around the same time that Kuri's first several films were and mentioned in passing in the same publication, though these were not known as works of an individual and characteristic filmmaker and often had their Japanese origin played down). He is also known in Japan for his comics, a collection of which earned him the 1958

Bungeishunjū Manga Award The was an annual award established in 1955 and given out by Bungeishunjū in Japan for gag, , one-panel, and satirical manga. The award was also given out for works considered the magnum opus of manga creators. Past winners of the award inclu ...

. Though now retired from filmmaking he continues to

illustrate An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...

and to teach animation at . In 2012 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Festival of Animated Film -

Animafest Zagreb World Festival of Animated Film Zagreb ( hr, Svjetski festival animiranog filma), also known as Animafest Zagreb, is a film festival entirely dedicated to animated film held annually in Zagreb, Croatia. Initiated by the International Animated Fi ...

Selected filmography

Kuri made over 40

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s between 1960 and 1981; some of the best known are: * (1960) * (1962) * (1962) * (1963) * (1963) *''The Button'' (1963) * (1964) * (1963) * (1964) * (1965) * (1965) * (1965)

Permanent Exhibition

* Manabe Museum 1 Chome-9-20 Chosenjicho

Sabae is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 69,338 in 24,167 households and the population density of 820 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Sabae is located in central Fuku ...

, Fukui. Near Nishiyama-Kōen Station of

Fukui Railway is a bus and railway company located in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. It owns and operates the Fukubu Line between Tawaramachi Station in Fukui and Echizen-Takefu Station in Echizen. Overview Although Fukui Railway's name refers to its f ...

. * Tannan Regional Medical Center 1 Chome-2-31 Sanrokucho

, Fukui. Near Shinmei Station of Fukui Railway. * Gallery K Yoji Kuri No Sekai (The World of Yoji Kuri) 16-18 Tadasucho, Sabae, Fukui. About 20 min walk from Shinmei Station of Fukui Railway.

References

External links

at New Animation Animation

an

at

Cartoon Brew Cartoon Brew is an animation news website created by Amid Amidi and animation historian Jerry Beck that was launched in 2004. Cartoon Dump It also created ''Cartoon Dump'', a weekly podcast showing poorly made TV cartoons featuring ''Mystery Sc ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuri, Yoji 1928 births Anime character designers Anime directors Japanese animators Japanese animated film directors Japanese surrealist artists Living people Manga artists Black comedy

Selected filmography

Permanent Exhibition

See also

References

Further reading

External links