Japanese anime 'ChaO' wins award at global anime film festival in France
The film directed by Aoki Yasuhiro was honored with the Jury Award in the feature films division on Saturday.
The Annecy festival is one of the world's largest anime festivals. It attracts filmmakers from across the world to compete for the top prize, the Cristal Award, in separate categories, including the feature films and short films divisions.
ChaO depicts a future society where humans and mermaids coexist. It is a love story involving a regular office worker and Princess Chao from the mermaid kingdom.
The Paul Grimault Award in the feature films category went to "Dandelion's Odyssey," directed by Japanese-born Seto Momoko. She is now based in France and elsewhere.
A French film, Arco, won this year's Cristal for a Feature Film.
In 2017, Japanese films "Lu Over the Wall" directed by Yuasa Masaki and "In This Corner of the World" by Katabuchi Sunao won the top two awards in the feature films division.
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Japan Times
6 days ago
- Japan Times
In Paris, chefs Chizuko Kimura and Kei Kobayashi make their mark
Japanese chefs making a name for themselves in Paris is not a new phenomenon. The city is filled with such talents plying their trade in everything from sushi bars to French fine dining. But two chefs have been in the spotlight recently after earning Michelin accolades and making history: Chizuko Kimura and Kei Kobayashi. The 55-year-old Kimura, who runs the 10-seater Sushi Shunei, is the first female sushi chef in the world to earn a Michelin star. Her achievement, which she earned in March, comes on the back of a challenging journey to maintain the legacy of her late husband, Shunei Kimura, who opened the restaurant in 2021. He earned a Michelin star after only nine months of operation but passed away from cancer in June 2022 at the age of 65. What's more impressive is Kimura had no professional training as a chef before she joined her husband at Sushi Shunei: She was working as a Tokyo-based outbound tour guide and met Shunei in 2004 in Paris, who was working as a chef in a sushi restaurant. They married in 2005 and she moved to the French capital in 2008. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Japanese tourists stopped arriving and her work dried up, prompting her to help her husband open his own restaurant. The 47-year-old Kobayashi's career, on the other hand, follows a more conventional route. The Nagano-born son of a chef moved to France at the age of 21, determined to break into the top ranks of the culinary world. After four years at the then two-Michelin-starred L'Auberge du Vieux Puits in Loire Valley, Kobayashi joined Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee, where he worked for seven years before opening his eponymous restaurant, Kei, in 2011. In 2020, Kei was awarded three Michelin stars, making Kobayashi the only Japanese chef to earn such a distinction in Paris, an achievement he has maintained till this day. The two chefs spoke to The Japan Times on their achievements, culinary styles and future ambitions. With no professional background as a chef, Chizuko Kimura of Sushi Shunei had much to prove when she took over the restaurant set up by her late husband. | ©11H45 Chizuko Kimura You didn't come from a culinary background. How did you train to be a sushi chef? When Shunei was diagnosed with cancer in 2015, he didn't tell anyone and continued to work because he didn't want people to be worried. I was helping him with some fish preparation but I didn't learn how to make sushi then, as I was hoping he could recover. But once he could not walk anymore and had to be hospitalized, it was clear that I needed to become a sushi chef to take over his role and keep the restaurant running. In the daytime (before we opened for dinner), I trained with Tomoyuki Yoshinaga of Sushi Yoshinaga, another sushi chef in Paris. In April 2023, we hired Takeshi Morooka, former sushi chef of Sushi Ginza Onodera Paris, to help me. Today we work alongside each other in front of our guests. Is it easier for a woman to be a head chef in France than Japan? Yes, if this was Japan, I don't think it would have happened. Maybe there is a 'ladies first' culture here, but French people in general tend to be nicer to women, children and the elderly. They know the sushi world is male-dominated, so when I make sushi, most people give me a positive reaction. I don't think there are any disadvantages to being a female sushi chef, although a short person like me sometimes has difficulty cutting a huge fish like tuna or salmon. I've been learning many skills from Morooka, such as cutting big fish. The 10-seater Sushi Shunei offers Michelin-starred "omakase" (chef's choice) to diners. | ©11H45 Sushi Shunei lost its Michelin star in 2023 but regained it this March. Tell us more about this journey. When we lost the star, we knew we were not ready but we didn't close the restaurant. Last year, we changed the dining counter, from white birch to traditional hinoki cypress, and also hired a sommelier to increase the variety of sake on our menu and improve the food pairings. We wanted to focus not only on the sushi but the whole dining experience. I'm sure Shunei watched us from above and was happy (at us regaining our star). Is your culinary approach any different from your late husband's? Shunei was very traditional. He didn't accept guests who were vegan or vegetarian, but I'm happy to serve such customers — I'm the one who will be making sushi for such diners throughout the course. What are your goals in the near future? To be consistent and get the star again (next year). One day, I hope to be good enough to use Shunei's knife and say to him, 'I've overtaken you.' The son of a chef, Kobayashi knew from a young age that he wanted to be one of the top culinary talents in the world. | RESTAURANT KEI Kei Kobayashi How has your culinary style evolved since you opened Kei in 2011? I received my first Michelin star in 2012, and when I couldn't get the second one, I struggled to understand why — it was the toughest period for me. I tried many culinary styles but nothing was working. So I solicited advice from someone who visits fine dining restaurants often. He told me, 'Your dishes are too complicated.' Since then, the style of my cuisine has changed: I realized the most important thing is to simply enhance the beauty of the ingredients in my own way. That being said, I don't want to categorize or describe my cuisine. I leave that to the diners who taste my food. You earned your third Michelin star in 2020. What was it like trying to maintain this level of excellence during the pandemic? Even before I got the three stars, I was planning to renovate Kei. So we closed the restaurant for more than a year to do its refurbishment while I used the time to do research and development in the kitchen. I was also thinking of ways to enhance the brand by launching different variations of it, just like how a fashion brand would have different lines. This gave me the opportunity to work with a 500-year-old wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets) producer, Toraya, to open my very first restaurant in Japan, Maison Kei, in 2021 in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture. Did you introduce any Japanese culinary techniques to your cooking? Yes — charcoal-grilling, inspired by my experience dining at kaiseki (multicourse Japanese haute cuisine) restaurants in Kyoto. I recently brought back several beautiful portable charcoal grills, which we may use for tableside service. Kobayashi's eponymous restaurant is known for its beautifully plated dishes that flaunt the nuanced textures and colors of ingredients, such as this langoustine with hibiscus flowers. | RICHARD HAUGHTON How has French fine dining evolved in Paris in recent years? Just like fashion, the trend cycle of French cuisine lasts 10 to 15 years. It is now returning to classic fare, where the sauce is ever so important. But it's not going back to the same exact place where it last left: The sauce of choice — its popularity in French cuisine — has evolved, for example, from demi-glace to fond de veau (brown stock) and now, jus. The fine dining market is also more competitive. You need to think about what diners want and not have an attitude like, "I'm the chef so you will eat what I make.' What is your ultimate culinary goal? What I would like to achieve is simple and clear: To create a dish that will be called a classic 100 years from now. It's not necessary that my name be remembered — I want to be a drop of water in the great river of classic French cuisine. What life advice do you have for the younger generation today? I feel that Japanese people are not working hard enough these days. Of course, we now live in a different era, but I want younger Japanese to be hardworking and sincere, like the generation before them. (If you work in France), then you should ask yourself, 'What is the benefit to the employer for hiring me instead of a local?' We are evaluated by the virtue of our Japanese predecessors who have worked here. Not only must we appreciate this quality, we need it for the next generation to succeed.
Japan Times
7 days ago
- Japan Times
Osaka Asian Film Festival gets an expo boost
From the end of this month, those in Osaka for the World Expo will also have the chance to take in independent cinema from across Asia at the Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF), which runs from Aug. 29 to Sept. 7 at venues around Osaka Station. If you're scratching your head, convinced this year's Osaka Asian Film Festival already happened, you're not wrong. The official 2025 OAFF, which marked the festival's 20th anniversary, took place in March. The 21st edition, officially titled Osaka Asian Film Festival Expo 2025 — OAFF 2026, has been pushed forward to take place alongside the expo to capitalize on the crowds currently visiting the city. "We hope that alongside our usual audience, we'll attract new visitors who might not usually seek out a film festival," says OAFF programming director Sozo Teruoka, 64. "In a way, the expo and our festival share a similar mission, which is to promote international exchange and communication." OAFF first kicked off in 2005 as a festival centered on the cinema of South Korea before expanding to include films from broader Asia. "We aim to make our festival a springboard for films to reach audiences worldwide," says Teruoka, who has been in charge of OAFF's lineup since 2009. "So we work hard to select films I think have a lot of potential abroad and try to discover films that wouldn't necessarily be shown at other festivals." The Osaka festival will close with Singaporean feature 'A Good Child,' highlighting the Southeast Asian nation's modest but notable film industry. | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2025 BYLEFT PRODUCTIONS OAFF is being held during the expo at the request of the city of Osaka, a major sponsor. Teruoka had reservations about changing the date, as hosting two festivals in a single year poses logistical challenges. But the expo tie-up did allow the programming director to open the festival with a film he's been looking to feature for years: "Tracing to Expo '70." The Taiwanese film, directed by Liao Hsiang-Hsiung, stars Judy Ongg as a Taiwanese woman raised in Japan whose quest to find her long-lost benefactor eventually takes her to the site of the 1970 Osaka Expo. Teruoka, who first encountered the film on a beat-up old print decades ago, says that in the years since its 1970 release it has become so obscure that even the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute had barely heard of it. Nevertheless, when contacted by OAFF about showing the film, the institute was able to locate its elements and prepare a brand-new restoration in time for the festival. "Remasters like this come at no small cost in terms of money and labor, so I'm very thankful to them," Teruoka says. "The film was shot on location at the 1970 Expo, so I think watching it and comparing the '70 event with this year's will be a very interesting experience." Meanwhile, OAFF will close with "A Good Child," a new Singaporean film from director Ong Kuo Sin about a drag queen who returns home to his conservative family to help care for his mother, who has been diagnosed with dementia. The film takes a twist when the protagonist arrives one night in drag and convinces his mother that he is, in fact, her daughter. "Singapore doesn't produce many films a year, and we've never had a film from Singapore as our opening or closing film before, so I thought it was a good opportunity," says Teruoka. Of the festival's 68 feature-length and short films, the programming director is keen to highlight two from Bhutan, the small Himalayan country located between India and China. The feature "I, the Song," playing in the Competition section, is about a teacher on a quest to find her doppelganger after being accused of appearing in a pornographic video. Meanwhile, the short "The Bridge," playing in the Spotlight section, is about a young man who changes his mind about ending his own life after a chance encounter. "I was surprised to see multiple films from Bhutan, which has a tiny film industry," says Teruoka. "I was also surprised by the level of quality. I feel like the cinema of Bhutan is entering an interesting era, especially in terms of independent filmmaking." The Competition section presents a total of 11 feature films, all premiering in Japan for the first time. Other entries include "Shambhala Story," a Japan-U.S.-India coproduction about a Tibetan monk who visits Japan for spiritual training; "Some Like It Cold," a South Korean love story that takes place during a zombie apocalypse; and "Evacuation," a black-and-white film set in World War II-era Kazakhstan in which a family flees from the Nazi occupation. The festival's Director in Focus section, which has previously highlighted up-and-coming talents like Satoko Yokohama, will feature Miki Tanaka, whose "Ginger Boy," about two high school friends who reunite as adults, won a La Cinef award at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The section will feature both "Ginger Boy" and two new 30-minute shorts created by Tanaka this year. "Cannes was in May, but Tanaka has already made two short films since then," says Teruoka. "I'm hoping this section will help bring more attention to this active young director." Although programming director Sozo Teruoka had reservations about moving up the 21st edition of the Osaka Asian Film Festival to take place alongside the Osaka Expo, the tie-up gave him the opportunity to open the festival with "Tracing to Expo '70," an obscure Taiwanese film shot on location at the 1970 Expo. | COURTESY OF OSAKA ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL In addition to Tanaka's films, the programming director is excited about the number of Japanese entries showing at this summer's OAFF. Its Indie Forum section features 18 Japanese films, 11 seeing their world premieres, and includes a new short from director Neo Sora starring Japan Academy Prize winner Sakura Ando. "When some people in Japan hear 'Asian film festival,' they think of films from outside Japan, but in recent years we've also used the festival to help introduce Japanese films to an international audience," says Teruoka. "Despite the last OAFF taking place in March and the Tokyo International Film Festival coming in October, we had a surprising number of strong Japanese entries this time around." Speaking of Tokyo, Teruoka says there are some advantages to holding a film festival in Japan's second city over its first. "Rather than simply screening films, we put a lot of effort into having filmmakers come and participate, and we often hear from Asian filmmakers that they prefer visiting Osaka over Tokyo," says the programming director. "Some say it has a more 'Asian' atmosphere. For many countries, like South Korea, it's much closer, too. That's a big benefit for us." Osaka Asian Film Festival takes place from Aug. 29 to Sept. 7 at venues around Osaka Station. All of the films feature English subtitles, and Q&As with filmmakers will feature English-language interpretation (as well as Japanese for films outside Japan). For more information, visit
Japan Times
07-08-2025
- Japan Times
Futuristic mermaid tale ‘ChaO' makes a splash
Unlikely romances between humans and mermaids have been the basis for several anime films, like Hayao Miyazaki's 'Ponyo' and Masaaki Yuasa's 'Lu Over the Wall.' Now, Hans Christian Andersen's 'Little Mermaid' tale gets its latest animated spin in 'ChaO,' a new film from Studio 4°C that opens in Japan Aug. 15 after premiering in June at the Annecy International Film Festival in France, where it won the Jury Award. The romantic comedy takes place in a near-future Shanghai where humans live in relative peace alongside the merpeople who populate the city's canals and surrounding seas. Its protagonist is Stephan (voiced by Ouji Suzuka), a mild-mannered engineer who works at the city's top manufacturer of maritime vessels. One day, Stephan meets a mermaid princess named Chao (Anna Yamada), who is instantly smitten with Stephan, claiming they've met before, though he has no idea what she's talking about. Sensing a public relations coup for his company (a shipbuilder married to the daughter of a mer-king!), Stephan's boss (Ryota Yamasato) pushes his young employee to marry Chao. Even though he grumbles about the need to wed 'a talking fish,' the meek Stephan nonetheless goes through with the nuptials. The unlikely pair then begin a crosscultural coupling that brings challenges as Chao navigates life above the sea and Stephan slowly unlocks the repressed memories of when he first met his bride. 'ChaO' was directed by Yasuhiro Aoki, 56, a veteran animator and director of episodes of properties like 'Batman: Gotham Knight' and 'Tweeny Witches' in his feature film debut. For 'ChaO,' which took nine years from conception to release, Aoki was tasked by Studio 4°C producer Eiko Tanaka ('Tekkon Kinkreet,' 'Children of the Sea') to create a 'totally new' original anime film. Aoki tells The Japan Times that part of achieving that remit came in imbuing the film with a high level of visual density. Each frame is packed from corner to corner with intricate backgrounds, characters and objects with multiple blink-and-you'll-miss-it sight gags made to reward repeat viewings. Zooming out to allow for that kind of extra visual information was one of Aoki's primary goals. 'In a live-action film, you can have actors here and there across the frame doing all kinds of things, whereas anime tends to focus the camera only on what's essential to move the plot forward, on the character who's speaking, for example,' Aoki says. 'I wanted to avoid that tendency.' Proof of the film's visual spectacle is the number of frames drawn by its animators. The average anime film is said to be made up of about 30,000 to 40,000 hand-drawn frames, but 'ChaO' has over 100,000. 'That was many more frames than we anticipated,' says Aoki with a laugh. 'The truth is, with all the detail I was trying to pack in, the animators and I got excited about what we were trying to do, and we somehow ended up with over 100,000.' As the credits roll, the film gives the audience a peek behind the scenes and pays tribute to the hard work of those animators by showing how some key shots looked before they were colored and composited. 'We're entering an era where things like CG and AI are on their way in and hand-drawn animation is on its way out,' says Aoki. 'Since we're on the precipice of that change in eras, the ending sequence functions as proof that our film is drawn by hand. Ultimately, I think what humans like best is art made by other humans. AI may be gaining attention, but I think we want to watch things made by people.' Veteran animator and director Yasuhiro Aoki (center) premiered his film 'ChaO' in June at the Annecy International Film Festival in France, where it won the Jury Award. | Studio 4°C Speaking of people, another element that brings the vibrant look of 'ChaO' to life are its various characters. Created by the director and refined by character designer Hirokazu Kojima, each of the film's characters look totally different from each other but all share a sketchy, cartoony fluidity as they careen across the screen. 'I started my career in anime about 30 years ago, when the industry was starting to concentrate on anime with a lot of realism to appeal to adults,' says Aoki. 'I've done a lot of realist animation and enjoy drawing it, but for 'ChaO,' I wanted to try something you couldn't do in live-action filmmaking, something that might give live-action filmmakers a pang of jealousy. That's why the film has characters of all shapes and sizes: round, thin, tiny, large. Animation offers total freedom, after all.' Not only do the film's distinctive characters give it visual appeal, they also help fill out its expansive, zoomed-out worldview. Aoki and his team spent a lot of time making sure that even minor characters, from Stephan's inventor roommate Roberta (Yuichiro Umehara) to Chao's guide to the human world Maibei (Kavka Shishido), would be memorable even with limited screen time. 'Stephan and Chao are the main characters, so naturally we spend the most time with them,' explains Aoki. 'At the same time, Stephan is the most straightlaced, normal one among them. In contrast, we gave the minor characters enough zest to make the audience think they could be main characters in their own right. In that way, they end up leaving a lasting impression. We created all the characters to be loved even if they only appear briefly. I wanted audiences to wonder about what those characters were doing even when they weren't on screen.' Studio 4°C tasked Aoki with creating a 'totally new' original anime film, which meant imbuing 'ChaO' with a high level of visual density. | © 2025 'ChaO' Committee Another of the film's unique elements is its setting, Shanghai, a place not often seen in Japanese animation. The choice was partially inspired by China's explosive economic growth at the time the project was first conceived. 'When we visited, it felt very futuristic, but there was a lot of 'old China' left too,' says the director. 'That contrast was interesting, as was the speed of modernization. It had an atmosphere I had never felt in Japan, even though they're both Asian countries, so that made it a very interesting place for the setting of our film.' In recent years, anime has dominated the Japanese box office, and 2025 is no exception. But while franchise-based properties like 'Demon Slayer' and 'Detective Conan' are surefire hits, anime films based on original screenplays like 'ChaO' aren't guaranteed to make the same splash. Still, Aoki tried not to worry too much about box-office considerations while making his film. 'Filmmaking is a business, and everyone wants a hit, but I think every creator wants to try their hand at an original at least once,' Aoki says. 'I also think that viewers want to find something they can call their own. I have a feeling that more than big franchise hits, originals are the films that really live on in people's hearts.' 'ChaO' opens in cinemas nationwide from Aug. 15. For more information, visit (Japanese only).
