‘Unroll and Press Play’ Bridging the Gap Between the Emakimono and Japanese Animation: A literary analysis of the Taketori Monogatari Emaki and Isao Takahata’s ‘Tale of Princess Kaguya’

Stephen Paclibar
Trinity College Dublin
Department of History of Art and Architecture
2018
BA

Subject: Picture Scrolls and Animation
Country: Japan
Period: 21st Century

10,000 words

The Emakimono (Japanese picture scroll) and Japanese Animation have been a topic of academic discussion amongst scholars and animation critics. Both media have been compared to each other due to the numerous artistic features that they share. The emakimono has often been bestowed as the source of Japanese animation for the comparable techniques it evokes. Therefore, a complex debate has built up over the years questioning these similarities and also its nationalistic associations. Foreign influences have added and complicated the artistic root of Japanese animation. This dissertation aims to revisit this debate by evaluating the work of one of Japan’s most significant voices, Isao Takahata. His work ‘The Tale of the Princess Kaguya’ (2013), presents a reflection of his theories towards the two media.

Irish Georgian Society

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‘Unroll and Press Play’ Bridging the Gap Between the Emakimono and Japanese Animation: A literary analysis of the Taketori Monogatari Emaki and Isao Takahata’s ‘Tale of Princess Kaguya’