Takeshi Yashiro is a Japanese animator and television commercial director. Having graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts in 1993, he helmed numerous commercials produced by Taiyo Kikaku Co. Ltd. before focusing on finessing his stop-motion animation techniques and beginning to make his own animated films. His short film Moon of a Sleepless Night (2015) was a Jury Selection at the 20th Japan Media Arts Festival, and a sample of his most recent work, Gon, The Little Fox (2019) has been exhibited at the Content Tokyo 2019 as well as participating in Marché International du Film d'Animation in Annecy.

On the rare occasion of his appearance at the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival in Cardiff, the Japan Foundation is delighted to welcome Takeshi Yashiro for a special talk event this October. In this illustrative talk, Yashiro will divulge his professional transition from directing large-scale commercials to creating stop-motion films where his role varied from writer and animator to designer of sets and puppets. He will also discuss his dedication to the painstaking work of hand crafted stop-motion animation and talk us through the stages of producing an animation, from storyboard to screen.

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