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This year, Waseda University held its Culture and Art week from October 10 to October 21, where a huge array of culture and arts in the university was showcased through concerts, live performances, exhibitions, stamp collecting and various events. Across the two weeks, students sporting vibrant outfits and costumes could be seen all around campus. Amongst the events was a special film screening of the Japanese animated film BELLE (2021), also known as Ryu to Sobakasu no Hime, in the Okuma Auditorium on Waseda Campus on October 19. The film BELLE made its world premiere at the prestigious 2021 Cannes Film Festival where it received a 14-minute-long standing ovation from the audience after it was screened. The screening was followed by a dialogue session between the Academy Award®-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda and Professor Hideto Tsuboi from the Faculty of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, who happens to be his former teacher and a long-time mentor figure. 

©2021 STUDIO CHIZU 

Director Hosoda and Professor Tsuboi go way back to the time when Hosoda was a student in Tsuboi’s class at Kanazawa College of Art. At that time, Hosoda took a literature class by Tsuboi and after the first lecture, he decided to approach Tsuboi in his office to chat. Since then, the two connected and have constantly been a strong influence in each other’s lives up till the present. Thinking back to the time when Hosoda was in school, Tsuboi said that while most universities were a place to ponder things, Kanazawa College of Art was a place to create things instead. However, Hosoda was a student who had a hunger to do both. Hosoda added that during his time as a student, he wasn’t sure of how he wanted his future to be and if not for the meeting with Tsuboi and his guidance in his life, he probably would not be the filmmaker he is right now.  

Film Director Mamoru Hosoda

Professor Hideto Tsuboi

When Tsuboi asked Hosoda on his thoughts on the movie BELLE and his other past works, the film director said, “I wanted to convey how the internet and SNS is influencing the world, and what it is revealing about our actual society. When the internet first made its appearance, there was hope that new people would use the new tools to build a new world. However, right now in 2022, the internet is also a place that exposes the many negative sides of humans.” Despite that, Hosoda mentioned that he wanted to convey the hope that the internet can bring to us in the near future with all its new developments. He expressed his desire of a virtual world that is fair and equal, transcending borders and societal norms, that would bring more freedom and happiness to individuals. This is reflected in various motifs and themes that come up in his films.  

©2021 STUDIO CHIZU

©2021 STUDIO CHIZU

The audience listened earnestly when Hosoda was asked about his next work. “I am currently in the midst of preparation. I would like to create a film that reflects how the young people perceive these difficult times, and what they need to live and thrive in these times of change with situations such as the coronavirus pandemic and crisis in Ukraine. I hope to convey both the importance of having empathy for others and facing the future with excitement and anticipation.

After the dialogue, there was a time for Waseda students to ask questions and many eager hands in the audience went up. One question for Hosoda was about the challenges and fear of filmmaking. “There was a time in the past when I faced major setbacks in film making, and after that I would be very hesitant when making new films. Even now, there are times when I feel that way. However, the reason why I continue to make films is because there is such a strong desire within compelling me to make them, that I cannot stop doing so. I want to express new themes, and this desire has me searching through the possibilities of animated films. That desire is one of my motivations.”  

©2021 STUDIO CHIZU

Towards the end, Hosoda was asked for a piece of advice that he would give to students. His message to them was, “In your life as a university student, there will be encounters with people who will have an influence on the rest of your life. Don’t miss those encounters. Treasure the encounters like the one I had with Professor Tsuboi.” 

Even half an hour after the session was scheduled to end, many hands were still raised in the hopes of asking Hosoda a question. Hosoda was all smiles and pleasantly surprised by the students’ response. The session concluded with a huge round of applause which echoed throughout the entire Okuma Auditorium.  

Waseda University will continue to organize events such as this dialogue session to provide our students with insight for their future career development. For more information on future events, please visit the events column on our homepage. 

Mamoru Hosoda | Photo by Takeshi Shinto

Mamoru Hosoda
Filmmaker

Born September 19, 1967 in Toyama prefecture. Director of animation films. In 1991, he joined Toei Doga (now Toei Animation). He was an animator there before becoming a director. In 2003, he directed “SUPERFLAT MONOGRAM,” a video for Louis Vuitton’s spring/summer collection. He turned freelance thereafter, and in 2006, he released feature animation The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, which, despite its small-scale release, turned out to be a long-running box office hit supported by young viewers. It was also the first winner of the newly established Japan Academy Prize Best Animation as well as numerous other awards. In 2009, he released Summer Wars based on a story he wrote himself, and it also became a smash hit grossing 1.65 billion yen in box office sales and drawing an audience of 1.26 million. Like his previous film, it swept the animation awards in Japan, and it moreover received a formal invitation to the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival and gave Hosoda a nomination for the 2011 Annie Award Best Director, thrusting him to the top echelon of Japanese animation directors. In 2011, he and producer Yuichiro Saito co-established animation studio Studio Chizu. Wolf Children, which he directed and whose screenplay and story he wrote, became a mega hit that drew an audience of 3.44 million and grossed 4.22 billion yen in box office sales. 

*This information is current as of the time of the event in October 2022.