Kawamoto Kihachiro 川本喜八郎 (1925-2010) was a world-famous puppet designer and animator, who was born and grew up in Sendagaya, Shibuya. He is known for the puppets he created for Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Tale of the Heike, puppet dramas that aired on NHK.
In the dramas, the unique expressions of the puppets are used to skillfully present scenes that would be difficult for human actors to act out. This depth creates vivid historical dramas that never get old even after multiple viewings. We might say that this depth was the result of Kawamoto’s perspective of the worlds of the stories and the love he poured into the puppets he created.
… from an explanation of the Kawamoto Kihachiro puppet gallery at the Shibuya Hikarie.
