Quick Facts
Born:
Feb. 4, 1916, Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan
Died:
Oct. 4, 1996, Tokyo (aged 80)

Kobayashi Masaki (born Feb. 4, 1916, Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan—died Oct. 4, 1996, Tokyo) was a Japanese motion-picture director whose 9 1/2-hour trilogy, Ningen no joken (The Human Condition: No Greater Love, 1959; Road to Eternity, 1959; A Soldier’s Prayer, 1961), a monumental criticism of war, constitutes the best example of his films of social concern.

Drafted into the military in 1942, Kobayashi was taken prisoner on Okinawa. In 1946 he was released as a prisoner of war. Returning to Shochiku Motion Picture Company, Tokyo, he served as an apprentice director until he made his debut in 1952 with Musuko no seishun (1952; My Son’s Youth). He followed that film with Kabe atsuki heya (1953; The Thick-Walled Room), which criticized the rigid social order that had characterized Japanese life, and Anata kaimasu (1956; I’ll Buy You), a film that exposed the commercialism of Japanese baseball.

The Human Condition established Kobayashi’s reputation as a major director. It won recognition at international film festivals, as did Seppuku (1962; Harakiri), a film indicting the traditional warrior code of ethics and generally considered his finest film; Kaidan (1964; Kwaidan), a quartet of fantastic ghost stories; and Kaseki (1974; “Fossil”), a dying man’s reassessment of life.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Key People:
Miyazaki Hayao
Anno Hideaki
Related Topics:
Japanese art
animation
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anime, style of animation popular in Japanese films. Early anime films were intended primarily for the Japanese market and, as such, employed many cultural references unique to Japan. For example, the large eyes of anime characters are commonly perceived in Japan as multifaceted “windows to the soul.” Much of the genre is aimed at children, but anime films are sometimes marked by adult themes and subject matter. Modern anime began in 1956 and found lasting success in 1961 with the establishment of Mushi Productions by Osamu Tezuka, a leading figure in modern manga, the dense, novelistic Japanese comic book style that contributed greatly to the aesthetic of anime. Anime such as Miyazaki Hayao’s Princess Mononoke (1997) are the modern equivalent of the epic folk adventures once filmed by Japanese masters such as Mizoguchi Kenji and Kurosawa Akira. At the turn of the 21st century, anime began to attain wide international popularity with television series like Pokémon, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball Z, as well as films such as Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (2002), winner of an Academy Award for best animated feature film.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Teagan Wolter.