Anime director, artist and manga-ka Yōji Kuri died November 24 at the age of 96. The news was shared Sunday by his official Facebook page and website, sharing that the filmmaker had passed due to natural causes. A private wake and funeral service were held for his family.
Kuri was borng Hideo Kurihara in Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture in 1928. The aspiring artist went against his parents’ wishes, and set out to follow the example of newspaper manga artist Taizo Yokoyama, moving to Tokyo to earn an art degree from Bunka Gakuin in 1956. He got his start contracting single-panel satire cartoons for Kyodo News, and was awarded the Bungei Shunju Cartoon Award in 1958, as well as a Special Prize from the Nika Exhibition for Western-style artists (yoga). In 1960, Kuri joined forces with Hiroshi Manabe and Ryohei Yanagira — dubbed the “Animation Group of Three” — and launched the Sogetsu Animation Screenings in Japan’s capital.
Known for his pioneering pop-art inspired works, Kuri swiftly made a name on the international animation stage, with his short films including Human Zoo, LOVE, The Button, FLOWER, The Room and Au Fou! earning accolades from the Annecy, Venice, Oberhausen, Locarno and other prestigious film and animation festivals through the 1960s. The decade also launched his work to television on Nippon TV’s 1 1 PM‘s Mini Mini Animation segments.
The 1970s saw festival tours of more award-winning shorts, including The Midnight Parasites, POP and MANGA. Through the 1980s and ’90s his work was the subject of several solo exhibitions and retrospectives. (His own Gallery K is located in his hometown of Sabae.)
Among the stand-out works of Kuri’s long career are the experimental shorts including Tragedy on the G-String and Imagination in the Trousers. His picture book, Gokiburi-chan, inspired an anime series in 2005. He also contributed to the visions of his colleagues, working as an animator on films including The Room and Winter Days.
In 1982, Kuri was awarded the Emperor of Japan’s Medal of Honor Dark Blue Ribbon, followed by the Purple Ribbon for significant artistic contributions in 1992 and the Order of the Rising Sun in 2011. He also received lifetime achievement honors from the Annecy Festival (ASIFA Prize), Tokyo International Anime Fair and Zagreb International Animation Festival. He served as the Honorary President of the 2018 Hiroshima International Animation Festival.
[Sources: Anime News Network, ASIFA Japan]
