The Book of the Dead

A Kihachiro Kawamoto film, The Book of the Dead, has recently released at Iwanami Hall in Jimbo-cho (11 Feb- 7 Apr).

Kihachiro Kawamoto is a pioneer and master of stop motion puppet animation in Japan. He was impressed by a film by Czech pappet maestro Jiri Trnka, and studied puppet animation under him.

The original is the same title novel "The book of the Dead" by Shinobu Orikuchi. You can read it at Aozora Bunko.

You can also watch his works at eurospace in Shibuya (25 Feb- 17 Mar). There's also an exhibit of his dolls at Daikokuya Gallery in Ginza (21- 26 Feb).

I'm looking forward to seeing The Book of the Dead next weekend.