\u2015\u2015Please tell us about your current work, your position, and your job responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am a producer at a studio called Dwarf. Dwarf is not an independent company, but if you were to think of it as an independent studio, I would be considered one of the studio\u2019s founders. Dwarf was started by director\/writer Tsuneo G\u014dda(Note 1), and I joined in a supportive role (laughs) as a producer to start the studio together. So, within Dwarf, I hold the position of the head producer and act as a managerial producer.\u2028\u3000A producer is someone who creates work. Someone who creates opportunities for work. Someone who helps creators realize their ideas. Dwarf is a studio that specializes in stop-motion animation and mascot character design. So, we create mascot characters and use them in animations that we also create. We also create animations that don’t use mascot characters, but, at any rate, our specialty at Dwarf is stop-motion animation that features mascot characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Note 1.Tsuneo G\u014dda is an animation writer and director. He founded Dwarf in 2003.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015So you talk with the creators about their ideas and think about what is needed to make their ideas a reality?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My job includes that kind of work, but before that, there are also cases where we reach out to someone and say, \u201cYou seem like you could make something interesting, so why don’t you give it a try?\u201d There are various patterns that I follow in my work as a producer, but we also do a lot of client work. Originally, I was an advertising producer, so I also do advertising and commissioned work. So, we are quite often commissioned to make something, and then we make a plan to fulfill the commission. Even if it’s not a client, I might consult with someone who says, \u201cI want to realize this idea,\u201d so it\u2019s about matching a product to someone\u2019s ideas when they say to us \u201cI\u2019d like you to make this for us.\u201d And if I find a creator I think is interesting, I might approach them and say, \u201cWhy don’t you try making something with us?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Could you give us an example of someone you’ve approached?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dwarf is in its 21st year of operation this year [2024], but five years before Dwarf started, we had a job with NHK called \u201cDomo-kun\u201d (Domo) that changed our lives. I was working as an advertising executive at NHK at the time. When NHK BS was celebrating its 10th anniversary, there was a project to create a mascot character, and although I had never done work related to mascot characters before, I thought it was a great opportunity, so I presented my idea, and Domo was the character idea that passed through without a hitch. Tsuneo G\u014dda was making his first mascot character, and I was also serving as a producer for a mascot character for the first time, but it was a project that aligned with NHK’s needs. And we created the character with that in mind and then considered what to do with it, such as various plans for media appearances and activities, which eventually led to the creation of the animation. On the other hand, \u201cKomaneko,\u201d which is part of the same team as Domo, was created after we had been working on Domo as an NHK BS character for several years. At that time, we wanted to create something original, and coincidentally, about 20 years ago, we were asked to produce an art exhibition titled \u201cA Universe of Storyboards\u201d at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum. The exhibition title \u201cA Universe of Storyboards\u201d was already decided on, and as we brainstormed content for the exhibition, we decided to make it a \u201cmaking-of exhibition.\u201d We collected various behind-the-scenes animation materials and thought more about what we wanted to do with the exhibit while we started to exhibit storyboards and other behind-the-scenes materials. The ultimate peek behind-the-scenes is seeing the actual studio, right? So we said, \u201cLet’s just exhibit the studio!\u201d So we built a studio inside the museum, and the footage shot there became \u201cKomaneko.\u201d First off, we had the space, and so I suggested to G\u014dda, \u201cLet’s create something new.\u201d Public filming is now a specialty of Dwarf, but at the time, we wanted something suited to public filming, yet we also wanted to give our animators the freedom to create whatever they wanted. When told to create whatever you want, creators often find it challenging. However, what emerged from that was \u201cKomaneko,\u201d a stop-motion animation of a cat.\u2028\u3000More recently, we have \u201cHIDARI\u201d which is a work led by an interesting creator named Masashi Kawamura who I had invited to work with us because I wondered what kind of feature-length film he’d make. Kawamura had no experience with feature-length projects, but he said, \u201cActually, I’ve always wanted to try it,\u201d so I invited him to meet regularly, saying, \u201cWe can at least throw some ideas at the wall and see if anything sticks.\u201d During those meetings, the idea for \u201cHIDARI\u201d emerged, and we decided it was an idea we definitely had to pursue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Next, I’d like to ask about your career path. You mentioned that you were originally an advertising producer. How did you end up in that field?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t have an educational background in anything like advertising or art at all. I didn’t go to art school; I just studied sociology. After graduating from university, I vaguely wanted a job where something different happened every day, so I initially aimed to become a journalist. I thought, \u201cI want to either tell a lot of lies or a lot of the truth.\u201d\u2028\u3000\u3000Now as an adult, I’m not sure if journalism is \u201ca lot of the truth\u201d (laughs). So first off, I thought, \u201cWell, if I want to tell \u2018the truth,\u2019 then maybe making television programs or commercials could be good industries to explore.\u201d Both of those industries are worlds where the things in them are very carefully crafted. So I joined a commercial production company. It was right after the economic bubble burst, but people hadn\u2019t really noticed yet.\u2028\u3000\u3000I graduated in 1989, so it was a fun time for advertising. Every day was full of new things. It was the era where “you\u2019d be asked to work 24 hours a day”. But it was really fun. It was a period of economic prosperity. It was an era when advertising was competing to experiment with various forms of expression and searching for new visual expressions. We were often told to \u201cfind sample footage of something you’ve never seen before,\u201d which was like a Zen k\u014dan, but in the sense of constantly trying new things, I thought advertising was great. At the time, it was the highest-paying form of video production per second of footage. So I thought it would be a good place to learn, and it was fun working under the fast-paced production cycle.\u2028\u3000I think commercials suited me pretty well. At first, I started as a production manager on set, arranging various things and also serving as an assistant director, which is a job that basically doubles as the producer\u2019s assistant in moviemaking. I started working in a position that involved managing schedules, budgets, and the minutiae of the set. I was really bad at coordinating the set. I wasn\u2019t very talented at it, but it was fun. Back then, there were very few women on set. There were only female hair and makeup artists. There were almost no female directors. There were no female lighting technicians or camerawomen. The only other woman in my position was the assistant production manager, and it was time where when we went on location, everyone else was sleeping on the floor, so I didn’t know where to sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015So it was like that it in the commercial industry too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s right. But even though it was that kind of era, I did feel the occasional discomfort with being a woman in the industry, but I didn\u2019t really feel like being a woman was a big deal. And the company I joined in the advertising industry wanted to be progressive, so there was an atmosphere where having women working enthusiastically in the company was seen as hip. Male producers who brought women into production were pretty forward-thinking, saying to everyone like, \u201cI\u2019m open-minded,\u201d and maybe it was an industry where it was easier for women to break in because it was seen as fashionable at the time. Compared to a typical conservative company, being a woman was seen as a unique trait, like, \u201cIsn\u2019t it interesting?\u201d or \u201cOur team is led by a female producer, isn’t that cool?\u201d So I was given opportunities and didn’t feel much stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Were you the only woman in your cohort at the time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, I was the only woman. I think I was the second woman in production to work as a production manager at my company. At the time, the company had fewer than 40 employees, and out of the four new hires, one was a woman. Hiring four people in a company of 40 made people wonder, \u201cHow many of them will end up quitting?\u201d If you think that it\u2019s okay to quit, then it’s going to be a miracle year when the new hires all end up staying.\u2028 I thought, \u201c(women) can’t lift heavy things, so I’m sorry.\u201d But we tried to make up for it by keeping the workplace cheerful and preparing delicious bento boxes. I think I just assumed that it was an industry where individuality was highly valued. I’m sure there are many women in the same industry who feel they had a hard time, but later on, I noticed that many women say things like, \u201cYou know, women are like that,\u201d and I thought, \u201cOh, that’s how it is.\u201d But I think I was able to work in an environment where I didn’t feel that stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015When you applied, were you worried that there might not be any positions available for women?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a time when companies were enthusiastically recruiting women for general positions, so in theory it was equal, but I still expected there to only be a few women in this industry when I joined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015The Equal Employment Opportunity Law was enacted in 1985, so was hiring women a status symbol for companies at that time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, it was. But there were still overwhelmingly more men. All my seniors were men. The woman who was right above me left soon after I started for various reasons. Because of that, when my hiring was about to be finalized, the senior colleague above me said, \u201cHaving a woman join the company will disrupt the discipline in the workplace, so you should reconsider,\u201d but after seeing my photo, they apparently said, \u201cThere shouldn\u2019t be a problem if it\u2019s this one.\u201d I’m not sure if it was a sexual harassment or a power harassment thing, but it was an era when such jokes were still acceptable. Later, they told me, \u201cI thought you\u2019d be fine,\u201d and I replied, \u201cSorry, I\u2019m not very attractive,\u201d\u2014it was that kind of era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Was there a gender pay gap at that time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not at my company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015And so as you built up your career, how many years did you work before you created Domo?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a time when commercials were very abundant, and I enjoyed my work, so I became a commercial producer at the age of 29. Commercial producers are salespeople. They receive work from advertising agencies and clients, and then they organize and produce the commercials. Sometimes they decide on the director, and sometimes the director is already decided. The job of a producer is the entry point into production and creation.\u2028 Just before becoming a producer, I was taken to Australia as an assistant by our company\u2019s film-oriented president who was working on a movie project. The president was a former director, so he decided to take me, who understood budgets and schedules as a production manager, as an assistant for his work as producer. That project was an international co-production, with the Japanese side of production being led by NHK. Working on a joint production between Japan and Australia was where my life started to take a different turn. After working on one non-commercial project, I thought, \u201cThis is interesting. This is what being a film producer is like.\u201d There was also a Hollywood producer from the US on the team, who taught me a lot about the \u201cart of producing,\u201d or what producing truly entails. I felt that I was still just the newbie girl, but during the three months I spent in Australia, the president and that American producer thoroughly taught me the differences between advertising production and film production, and I came back thinking, \u201cAh, so this is what a film producer does.\u201d\u2028 Either way, I wanted to become a producer as soon as possible. As a production manager, I was constantly being scolded for not handling work on the set properly, so I also thought it would be better for the company (laughs) to move on from there. After that job ended, I was offered a transfer to the film department, but I said, \u201cI’ll go back to advertising,\u201d and returned. Soon after, I became a producer. Since NHK transfers employees between departments, while doing various jobs, the connections I made through that work led to me being transferred to the public relations department at NHK, where I was approached and asked, \u201cLet’s work together, Matsumoto-san.\u201d It was during my time working on the promotion work for NHK BS that I ended up creating Domo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015When you were in Australia, were there any women around you? What were their positions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, there was one woman who was a production secretary supporting the ADs, and another in accounting who was the chief accountant. She was a very a capable woman and was the only woman in the production office who dressed nicely. She was the only one who wore beautiful clothes to dinner parties. She was a very cool woman who took good care of me. No one could look down on her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Even in Australia, or among the staff from the US, women were still working more in support roles rather than at the top?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The producer on the Australian side was a woman. She was someone who often worked on co-productions, so she was affiliated with a Japanese company, but she was a woman. There were actually quite a few women around her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015So, you were working very enthusiastically in production, but then you ended up in a position where you had to hire people, right? Did you have any gender-related policies at that time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basically, if someone is suitable, we hire them regardless of gender. Stop-motion is a pretty niche field, so it tends to attract a small number of people who are really passionate about it.\u2028 Actually, I\u2019m not that into stop-motion myself. But I think it\u2019s good that I\u2019m not a die-hard stop-motion lover. If you\u2019re too into it, you lose objectivity. People who love stop-motion animation get so excited just because it\u2019s stop-motion that they lose their ability to judge whether a work is interesting or not. The biggest weakness of a stop-motion animation is if being stop-motion becomes its greatest value. Just saying \u201cstop-motion\u201d makes everyone a little nicer. When the CG industry worked with Director Daisuke Tsutsumi, they repeatedly told him, \u201cDon\u2019t get too caught up in the fun.\u201d Working with Mr. Tsutsumi is fun. Thinking about starting on set today, it\u2019s truly exciting. But if you get too caught up in the fun, you might end up with a boring work, so we always say, \u201cDon’t get too caught up in the fun of stop-motion.\u201d However, when it comes to hiring, since, as expected, many of the people who come to us seeking employment are people already familiar with the fun of stop-motion, the number of people in our candidate pool is relatively small. We don’t have much room to be selective.\u2028\u3000Our representative (as of December 2024), Tsuneo G\u014dda, says, \u201cYou might think that at Dwarf everyone gathers at 3 PM to eat cake and drink tea, but that’s not the case,\u201d and he’s right. We do a fair amount of manual labor and are quite sporty. I’m like that too… In that sense, as long as you want to do solid work in crafting, we’re open to anyone. However, we currently have a lot of female employees, so we’re actually looking to hire more men. But that’s reverse discrimination, so it’s not really acceptable (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015When hiring, do you want people who are as objective as possible? Not stop-motion lovers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It depends on the position. For creators, I think that’s okay, but it’s collaborative work. At Dwarf, the work often involves very large collaborative projects in the studio. Stop-motion animation is extreme, with some works created by a single artist. There are individual artists who make independent work like that. On the contrary, at our company, we tend to work in larger teams, so someone who says, \u201cI want to create the kind of cute things that I like on my own,\u201d might not fit well. In terms of seeing if someone can handle being one part of a larger whole, communication skills in collaborative work are important. Also, probably being tough. Both mentally and physically. You don’t have to be physically strong, but I think we like staff who are more flexible and tough, but that’s actually something you can’t really see in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Did you get a referral to work at NHK from someone you knew?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes. When I was a student, I used to wonder, \u201cWhat’s it like to get a job through connections?\u201d But connections are actually really solid. In a way, you already have enough information about what kind of person they are, so it\u2019s understandable that they get in through connections. Now that I\u2019m an adult, I understand why people use connections. Of course, I want opportunities to be equal, and there are interesting, good kids in unexpected places. Also, there are kids who I wasn\u2019t sure about at first but blossomed two years later, so I\u2019m looking at a lot of different things. There\u2019s your fit with the company, the timing of when you apply, and also your chemistry with the people working above you. I often say that there are moments of audible stretching when someone grows rapidly, so there are kids who have years where they grow so fast it\u2019s whoosh like bamboo You might think, \u201cI wonder what this kid is like. They’re a good kid, but I wonder how they’ll turn out,\u201d and then suddenly they make a remarkable leap forward. That’s why I think it’s interesting that you never know when or who it will happen to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Do you hire people for the producer position from the start?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We hire experienced mid-career hires for producer roles from the start. There are cases where people who have worked as producers in other fields or in roles similar to producers become producers. Otherwise, we often promote production managers to producers, but even though I said many, it’s not that many people. For example, someone who has been my assistant for a long time might become a producer without realizing it. Or, we don\u2019t do this with production managers, but someone who has been an assistant in public relations for a long time might start a new project and become a producer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Are there many women in those positions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We really have a lot of female producers. Most of our creators are male. Except for one, all of our producers are female.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Though it was not your intention, was that something that you wished for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not at all. It just happened that way. We have of course hired female directors before, and we currently have a very interesting female assistant director who we hope will become a director in the future. It just so happens that in our company, women are mostly producers and men are mostly directors. When I say, \u201cWe really need a man,\u201d everyone responds, \u201cAgain, Noriko!\u201d In the commercial department, about 20 years ago, when we were hiring without any specific criteria, 80% of the final candidates were women, and everyone was worried. But women are strong in interviews. We all wondered, \u201cWhere are the capable men working? Do they go to manufacturers or places like that? Do they go to car companies or something?\u201d What’s going on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Now, I’d like to ask you about yourself. When you were a child, were you interested in popular culture like anime?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was just a normal anime fan. I was really into anime when I was in high school. I used to buy tons upon tons of issues of the \u201cAnimage\u201d magazine. I was really into anime like \u201cSpace Battleship Yamato.\u201d I was still in elementary school when \u201cYamato\u201d came out, but I’m also part of the first Gundam generation. I could talk about \u201cMobile Suit Gundam\u201d all night long. I am a part of the generation that was so into the first Gundam that when a I was working on a commercial where Sh\u016bichi Ikeda (voice actor for the popular main antagonist of the original \u201cGundam\u201d series, Char Aznable) was the narrator, I almost fainted because it felt like Char was there with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015That’s amazing. You worked with Char!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes. But I was still a rookie at the time, so I couldn’t really show how excited I was. But I wasn’t a huge anime or movie fan who watched hundreds of them a year. I was more of a casual anime and movie lover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Do you like works targeted at male audiences such as \u201cGundam?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went through a phase where I was into magical girl shows, but then the anime boom happened around when I was in high school, so during that period I watched a lot of anime. After that, I went to college and lost interest for a while, I guess. I\u2019m not someone who was constantly watching anime all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015What did you do in college?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was making movies in college. But I realized I had no talent! I was making films in my college\u2019s film club and realized that I liked planning more than directing so I decided I wanted to be a producer. I entered film festivals more than the other students in the club, but even when I watched my own work, I didn\u2019t find it very interesting. I felt like I was just imitating something else and only able to make neatly packaged works. When people would say to me, \u201cMatsumoto, you won an award! That\u2019s amazing!\u201d I\u2019d think, \u201cNo, no, no, this is all just good technique. This isn\u2019t good enough.\u201d I realized that I found planning and organizing much more enjoyable, so I decided that instead of directing, I should aim to be a production manager or producer.\u2028\u3000So while many people aiming for the film industry want to be directors, I clearly knew directing wasn\u2019t a good fit for me\u2014I lacked the talent. I think it\u2019s very important in life to make decisions based on what you can\u2019t do, and that\u2019s not something to be disappointed about or use as an excuse. Instead, gradually shifting toward what you\u2019re good at is an important choice in life, and I think I made that decision relatively early on. I didn\u2019t want to take the risky gamble of becoming a director, so I decided to go for becoming a producer instead. I felt that I needed to create a place for myself in the film industry.\u2028 That’s objectivity, right? When I look at the works I was making myself objectively, I think they were not that interesting. They might have been regarded as good works, but they were definitely not films that would win in a grand prix. So, I don’t have the creative ability to make something from scratch. I don’t think I have much of a natural filmmaking instinct to begin with. I felt that way when I was working in advertising as well. Even though I don\u2019t have great natural instinct as a filmmaker, if I study and build up a database of what\u2019s good and bad, I can figure out how to make something good, right? I wanted to become a producer who makes decisions like, \u201cThis is looking good right now,\u201d \u201cThis isn\u2019t looking good right now,\u201d or \u201cI don\u2019t like this at all, but this is what\u2019s popular right now.\u201d The good thing about commercials is that, since we make a large volume of works in a short time span, even if I don\u2019t personally know what would be good for a project when I work with a director who is really on top of their game, I try not to say no to what they say. I try to accept everything at first, listen carefully, and even if I don’t understand it instinctively, I try to understand it logically and present it that way. I consciously trained myself to do that. I still think I have no natural filmmaking sense, so I’m pretty humble about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Have you faced any particular challenges because you are a woman?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, I haven\u2019t. Everyone has lots of things that they can and can\u2019t do, right? We put labels on our skills a lot, right? We label ourselves as fast runners or slow runners, as strong people who can carry heavy things or weak people who can\u2019t carry them, as educated or uneducated, as people from the places we grew up in. If I\u2019m honest, things like whether you\u2019re beautiful or not\u2014there are all these objective labels we slap on ourselves, and being male or female is just one of them. This isn\u2019t the case to men, but I think there are more important labels than being male or female, so I want to focus on those. I don’t have a natural creative instinct. But I make up for it by seeing lots of different things. Even in regards to music, I put labels on things like what kind of music I like, and among all these different labels in my life, there’s one that says \u201cfemale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015That’s a very wise thing to say. Was there something that triggered you to think that way? Did you read a book or see someone living that way and think, \u201cThat\u2019s how I want to live,\u201d or something similar? It’s a very enlightened way of thinking, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Really? Somehow, when I organize my thoughts, that’s what I end up thinking. People have various personalities and aptitudes, but when you think about what defines you, I\u2019d say that being a woman is only one of the many labels that define me. I think I came to that conclusion over the past two years or so. Yeah, I think that\u2019s what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Did you have any role models?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it’s great that I didn’t have any role models. All of my role models were men. There were many wonderful producers who were my seniors, and the seniors who found me interesting and gave me opportunities were all men. When I was 27 and the company president told me to move from commercials to film work, all the male superiors in commercials told me, \u201cYou should quit.\u201d \u201cYou want to build your career in commercials, so you shouldn’t do anything extra. You’re already doing pretty well in commercials, and you’re just one step away from becoming a producer.\u201d Since the film job was supposed to be a yearlong or year and half long assignment, when they told me it would slow down my career, I thought, \u201cEveryone saying this is a man.\u201d All my male superiors were saying the same thing. But I knew I couldn\u2019t become like them, and while it might be presumptuous to say I could surpass them, I realized that to become a more interesting producer than them, I had to do something they weren\u2019t doing. You see, since all my superiors said, \u201cYou should quit,\u201d I thought, \u201cMaybe I should give it a try.\u201d In short, I didn’t think those people were bad, but they were telling me to quit because they couldn’t predict the future, right? So I thought, \u201cLet’s do something they can’t predict and deviate from the career path they’ve taken.\u201d That way, I wouldn’t feel rushed either. I wanted to get ahead quickly, to become a producer as soon as possible. I thought it would be easier to think when I compared myself to my peers that I had just gotten sidetracked once in pursuing my path to become what I wanted to be. As a result, I was able to pick up speed here. I think I’ve gained a different kind of drive as a producer. I think my life would have been completely different if I hadn’t done that. So maybe I was just being a contrarian and thinking that way on purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Would you say that women are more flexible in their approach to work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I would probably say so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015You have the spirit of someone who likes to take on challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It may not be because I’m a woman, but I can take a step back and not rush things. Men tend to be more like \u201cLet\u2019s go, go, go,\u201d but women can take a step back. If you think about the saying from 50 years ago that women walk three steps behind to support the men leading the way, it doesn\u2019t feel like that much of a big deal to follow only one step behind because there are times where you can take a step back and then jump forward afterwards. Rather than the spirit of someone who likes to take on challenges, I think I\u2019d say that I have the spirit of someone who\u2019s flexible or agile instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Rather than going with existing values, you decide to compete in that playing field on your own terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s right. You don’t have to compete on the same playing field. Fighting just because you’re a man or a woman isn’t really the point. What I really wanted was to become a good producer, so being a woman or a man is one of the points in question, but it’s only one of many. So I felt like it would be better to do something interesting in a field different from commercials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015On their career path, women also have to deal with the responsibilities of life stages such as marriage, childbirth, and nursing care. How have you negotiated navigating these life stages with your career?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve had some conflict between them a little bit. Because it was only a little bit, I haven’t been able to resolve them. You see, I’m not married. I’ve always been single. It’s not that I feel sorry for myself, but people have said things like, \u201cYou poor thing.\u201d They say, \u201cYou poor thing, you\u2019re so focused on work,\u201d and I think, \u201cShut up\u201d (laughs), but so it goes. Just the other day, I was talking with a younger married female producer who said she went out to search for a husband and got married. Wow, our generation didn’t think we had to actively seek out a spouse to get married. So that\u2019s why I thought that by the time I was 27 or 28, I’d naturally get married, but then I realized at around 40 that it wasn’t happening naturally… I just felt like, \u201cHuh?\u201d Yeah, I guess it’s just the times. In that sense, I didn’t make that effort. Work was interesting. I do think I should have made that effort, and I didn’t necessarily want to avoid marriage, I just thought it would happen naturally, and I thought having kids was normal, but even if I don’t have kids, that’s just how it is. So I just think I have to work hard at my job. It’s like, you make compromises, but it’s just one thing in life. I’ve thought about it, but I don’t know what to do. Maybe I should start thinking about having kids soon, right? I did look up things like \u201cthe possibility of artificial insemination in Japan.\u201d It’s kind of old-fashioned, but I do think that it’s a woman’s job to have children, so I thought about it a little. I do feel that I’m a woman who hasn’t done the most important thing I need to do in life, but I just put it aside and focus on my work, and there wasn’t much pressure from those around me. I’m an only child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Your parents didn\u2019t put pressure on you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, they didn\u2019t. My parents were the type who wanted me to be able to take care of myself since I was an only child. They always hinted that they wanted me to have a skill. My father was a civil servant, and my mother was a teacher who became a full-time housewife, so everyone in my family had a completely different industry background, but they always emphasized that I should be able to live on my own. I was taught that I should do my job properly, but it wasn’t an overwhelming pressure, but rather it was taught to me liberally. I thought, \u201cI\u2019m sorry I can\u2019t even show you my grandchildren,\u201d but they just said, \u201cSo it goes,\u201d so I don\u2019t know how they really felt or if they were just putting up with it, but I didn\u2019t feel much pressure from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015What about from your friends?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I was young, I almost went bankrupt from going to weddings and eating French food. I’d joke, \u201cMy salary is low, so I’ll pay you back someday!\u201d But work was always so busy and fun that I felt like there was nothing else I could replace it with, so I just accepted it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Were your friends also the type to continue working after marriage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of my high school friends and others friends at the time quit their jobs. As time went on, I naturally started hanging out only with friends who were in similar fields, but I still have friends from back then. In that sense, I didn’t feel much stress about all of my friends getting married and being too busy with married life to spend time together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015So you ended up with a group of friends who are also balancing work and family life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There may have been a time when I didn’t have much of a personal life. But I also made friends through work, so I don’t feel lonely at all. I actually have a lot of fun. Also, single women tend to stick together, so you don’t feel lonely. And no one leaves the group. If someone did leave, I would feel a little anxious, but no one has. We have a safety network to look out for each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015What about nursing care?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, I have had experience with that. My father passed away relatively early, but my mother passed away seven years ago. She battled cancer for over a year and a half, and I spent that time in my life by her side. It was before COVID-19, so working from home was unthinkable at the time. My parents’ house is in Saitama Prefecture, and I am an only child, so I had to spend time with my mother. I\u2019m the type of person who doesn\u2019t difficult think things are really that difficult, so I didn\u2019t think it was that hard to support her while working, but I did consider quitting my job for a moment. I thought this might be a time when I needed to spend time with my mother.\u2028\u3000\u3000What was interesting at that time was that when I told my colleague, G\u014dda, about my mother, he said, \u201cDo whatever you want.\u201d He said, \u201cIt\u2019s okay if you quit or if you take a break. You should spend some time with your mother,\u201d And I was really grateful for that. On the other hand, a single older woman who was a mutual acquaintance of my mother and me and had nothing to do with my work told me, \u201cYou absolutely must not quit your job.\u201d She said, \u201cEven after your mother passes away, your life will continue, so even if hit the brakes a bit right now, you must not quit your job.\u201d It was interesting to hear such opposite advice from people in completely different positions. Those close to my mother told me not to quit my job, while those more distant from her said it was okay to quit. I thought that was interesting. I thought that I probably will continue working, so since I’d been at Dwarf for a long time, I asked for some time to handle household matters, and even though I felt bad about it, I asked the company to support me, and I tried to depend on everyone in the company. I told everyone, \u201cI might have to leave suddenly, so please make sure someone can cover for me.\u201d I made sure to say, \u201cI’m relying on you,\u201d and really relied on them to help me out.\u2028\u3000At that time, there was a junior colleague at work who had already had a child and was working, and I thought that must be really tough. Having something to worry about at home while working is really tough. The only difference was that the things in her home were growing and had hope, while I was thinking that my mother would soon die. On the other hand, my mother was cooking and eating alone, but my junior had someone at home who couldn’t cook for themselves. I realized I should have been more considerate of her. It was through my mother\u2019s illness that I came to understand that. I realized that things happen in order, starting with the older generation, so that we can empathize with our juniors when they go through the same things we already have. Shortly after that, a junior whose parent was undergoing an emergency operation told me, \u201cMy father needs surgery, but my mother is there, so I\u2019m fine,\u201d and I was able to say, \u201cGo home. I\u2019ll cover for you. It\u2019s better for you to go home for your mother\u2019s sake, not your father\u2019s.\u201d I realized that was thanks to my mother. Before, if a junior had said, \u201cI’m fine,\u201d I would have said \u201coh, okay\u201d and left it at that, but now I am able to say, \u201cThink about your family,\u201d and I think that’s because of my mother. That was really good. It’s not just because I’m a woman; it’s the same for men and for women. I can now laugh and say, \u201cGo ahead and take it,\u201d to a boy who says he wants to take parental leave, and that’s because of what happened then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015That’s truly a treasure you received from your mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, isn\u2019t it? My mother\u2019s name is Keiko, and I think to myself, \u201cThank you, Mrs. Keiko.\u201d We had a pretty casual relationship, and she found my work interesting, so even though she must have been worried about being alone after she got sick, she never said anything about me continuing to work. She just kept asking, \u201cWhen are you coming back?\u201d But toward the end, she was mostly at the hospital. I was allowed to go into the office only when there was something important that I needed to be there for. Everyone at Dwarf was so kind. So when I said, \u201cI’m really sorry for everything that happened while my mother was sick,\u201d G\u014dda replied, \u201cYou don’t need to apologize for that.\u201d I was so grateful. I thought he was a leader with a big heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015That’s wonderful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
G\u014dda is really amazing. It’s because of people like him that Dwarf has become what it is today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015I was also taking care of my mother when she was ill. It was difficult because I had to commute long distances while working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s right. There are moments when you think you might die from overwork. But strangely, I kept thinking that it would end someday, so I had to keep going. But at the same time, I also thought, all of this will end one day. However, through this experience, I realized that even I can’t always prioritize work above everything else. And I also understood that this is a difficult part of being human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015When younger female colleagues are struggling with their work-life balance, how do you advise them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don’t have children and I’m not married, so I think it’s really important to see how younger women are balancing their careers. I want them to achieve great things because I can’t show them the way. I want them to be able to actually work and for those around them to accept that. To achieve that, I think it’s really important to be fair, regardless of whether you’re a man or a woman. I don’t want the #MeToo Movement to just focus on women’s rights and end up being unfair, so I want to be neutral and fair.\u2028 Everyone thinks we need to support women who have children. But I don’t think it’s good to force them to do something just because they \u201chave to.\u201d We need to find a better way to handle that. So, when a female staff member at Dwarf became a mother for the first time, I told her, \u201cYou\u2019re the first person at our company to take maternity leave and have a child, so please try your best so that when your juniors have children in the future, they won\u2019t think, \u2018There she goes again with her kid.\u2019\u201d I also told her, \u201cUnfortunately, as long as you\u2019re working shorter hours, your full-time salary won\u2019t be restored, but if you deliver results, we\u2019ll consider restoring it.\u201d I was pretty strict with her, and she was really upset, but, you see, she ended up delivering results. Even though she was working shorter hours, her performance was higher than that of full-time employees. So we decided to create a culture where, regardless of whether you’re working part-time or full-time, if you deliver results, you get paid accordingly.\u2028 On the other hand, if your performance is low, your salary will decrease, regardless of whether you’re a man or a woman. Dwarf is currently a studio with around 27 or 28 employees, but we also work with a lot of freelancers, so I don’t want to be lenient with just the employees. Freelancers are taking risks, so we want to be fair to them too. If we think about being fair to everyone, it feels weird to overprotect people. That said, we obviously need to protect them when necessary, and we should use the systems available, but we don’t want them to be like, \u201cOh, I got away with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Out of the 27 or 28 employees, what’s the gender ratio? What about the age range?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it’s about half and half. There are a few people in their 50s, a few in their 40s and 30s, and now that there are a lot more young people, there are a surprisingly large number of people around 30 years old, so they make up more than half of the company. The age range in the company was getting a little on the older side as the aging population progresses, but it’s good that there are more young people now. I think it’s more important to have a good age distribution than gender. There’s no seniority system at all, so I think it’s great if young people who are doing interesting things can rise up in the company quickly. We really need to build the next generation. We’re trying to delegate some management responsibilities, but not just a little\u2014we want to do it aggressively. When making decisions, we want to avoid relying on seniority and instead intentionally promote younger employees. We don’t want to decide based on age alone; we want to give the next generation a chance to manage. We’ll assess their suitability and see if they can handle it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Is the turnover rate low?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s low. I think it’s relatively low. It\u2019s because we do a lot of specialized work. But some people do leave. There are cases where we mutually agree to terminate the contract because it’s not a good fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015What is the retirement age?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The retirement age is 60. The company allows employees to continue working until 65. I think one of our current challenges is to set an example by considering life as a whole, including that aspect. I’m starting to come up with some answers. With that in mind, I want to make sure that management is properly handed over to the next generation before we\u2019ve reached the limit where the management needs to retire, so that we can continue to support them for a while. And when it comes to women’s careers, there are not many examples of what life looks like after retirement, so I think we need to provide some guidance on that as well. I’m currently thinking about how employees resign and how they continue onwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Do you still want to be a producer after retirement?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes. So, that\u2019s the biggest thing on my mind right now. I love my work, I\u2019m alone, and I don\u2019t have anything else to do (laughs). So I\u2019m thinking about how I will be able to continue working. I\u2019ve been thinking about this for the past few years, thinking that I have to make it happen. G\u014dda started Dwarf, and I\u2019ve been supporting him, but I realized that this alone isn\u2019t enough for Dwarf to continue. I want to hand over the reins to the next generation relatively early so that the studio can continue. The thing on my mind is not so much about resigning, but about continuing together. That’s how I’m thinking about it right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Do you want to continue in stop-motion animation, or do you have hopes to enter a completely different field?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reason I do stop-motion out of all the techniques in the animation industry is because I think it’s the animation technique that comes across the most neutrally overseas. CG is still stronger overseas, right? Of course, Japan is also making efforts in CG animation, and there are many interesting companies doing work in it here, but Hollywood\u2019s budget is still overwhelmingly larger. In the case of 2D animation\u2014I love Japanese 2D animation and think its influence is incredible\u2014but Japanese 2D animation is referred to as the genre called \u201canime,\u201d which is a genre unique to Japan that is a bit different from \u201canimation\u201d as a whole. However, only stop-motion is borderless. No one cares what country \u201cDomo\u201d was made in. \u201cKomaneko\u201d has been shown in France for years, but people think it was made there. That’s what makes it interesting. That’s also why it was relatively easy to get into streaming platforms. Streaming has no borders. Plus, we want evergreen content\u2014things that look the same no matter how many years pass. Cutting-edge technology eventually becomes outdated, right?\u2028 Recently, the thing that many people have been saying is that stop-motion is being threatened by CG. And now everyone is doing CG. In that context, there aren’t that many studios in the world that are seriously doing stop-motion, so we are all friends. There’s a strong sense of community. We help each other out and respect one another. For example, a French studio might say, \u201cWe saw \u2018HIDARI,\u2019 and we think we could do a woodcarving-style effect using a 3D printer,\u201d and someone else might respond, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think we could,\u201d or \u201cMaybe we can do this part instead.\u201d That kind of free exchange is what makes stop-motion so interesting. The stop-motion industry is really leveling up right now, so there are more interesting projects being made, and I want to keep working to keep this going. These days, a lot of people call me the \u201cDwarf\u2019s matriarch of stop-motion,\u201d so I think I’ll probably keep working as a producer in a kind of matriarchal position. The \u201cHIDARI\u201d project is a collaboration between Dwarf and TECARAT, a Japanese studio that’s sometimes called our \u201crival,\u201d but I think it’s great to collaborate with studios that have different strengths, and I want to connect studios not just in Japan but globally and make work together. That’s why I want to be a producer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015That’s wonderful. Dwarf openly shares its stop-motion filming process and holds workshops for children. What about educational activities?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You’ve hit the nail on the head (laughs). That’s something I want to do as well. Every time we get a job, we fight over staff and say, \u201cIt’s hard to find good people,\u201d but that’s not going to get us anywhere. I think we need to create and nurture such people ourselves. There\u2019s a young leader in our company who has a strong sense of this issue, and recently the two of us went to the UK to visit the Aardman Academy and learned a lot about how they do things. I think there\u2019s something interesting and valuable about the way studios run schools, so I\u2019d like to explore that further, maybe through vocational training or ongoing workshops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015That\u2019s definitely important. Actually, recently when I was asked by a British person about how animation education is done in Japan, I mentioned Dwarf and how they teach general audiences and children how to create animations, let them shoot them, and give them a sense of accomplishment. While there are art schools and vocational schools, there aren\u2019t many animation studios that are deeply committed to such programs. Since Dwarf has been doing this for a long time, I thought it might be worth promoting it more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s exactly what I\u2019d like to think about. Maybe we could open our studio doors, or perhaps collaborate with schools, like they often do in Europe, to develop proper educational programs aimed at helping people become professionals. The 20-something animator we have at Dwarf now was a science major in college during the pandemic, but he started learning stop-motion animation by watching YouTube videos at home. One of the videos he watched was an online editing course our cameraman had done. He studied it and then started making his own projects. We noticed him on Instagram and thought he was really talented, and one day we were introduced and he came to observe our work. He said, \u201cI learned from watching Dwarf’s YouTube videos.\u201d It was lucky that he came to us by chance, but we realized we need to reach out to people like him interested stop-motion more properly. We need to connect with people who don’t know how to get into stop-motion animation work.\u2028\u3000 The theater where \u201cKomaneko\u201d is currently being filmed has a caf\u00e9 next door, and we’re planning to hold monthly discussions after movie screenings. They would be industry discussions. Stop-motion animation as an industry is just small enough, so the caf\u00e9 manager is interested, and we’re planning to hold a stop-motion discussion after watching a film once a month. It won’t be a presentation on Dwarf\u2019s works, rather we’ll watch something different each month, have a discussion, and maybe go out for drinks afterwards. Students can come here and meet people who work in stop-motion animation, so we want to create a regular opportunity for them to do that. We want to build a self-sustaining community.\u2028 When I go overseas, I always visit studios and meet people in the stop-motion industry to make the most of the opportunity. Last year, when I was in Los Angeles, I happened to be invited to an industry party. An email was sent to everyone in the stop-motion industry in Los Angeles, letting them know when and where to meet. That day had a casual vibe. We rented out the terrace seating outside a large bar. It was a complete coincidence that I was in Los Angeles that day, but when I said, \u201cI’ll go too, I\u2019ll go too,\u201d there ended up being people there I already knew. Of course, we already knew each other\u2019s work, and someone would say, \u201cI submitted a character design proposal for the so-and-so project at Dwarf,\u201d and someone else would say, \u201cOh, sorry, we ended up not meeting remotely.\u201d There were also people who said they were fans of some of our works or friends of someone else I knew. At the time, I had posted on social media that I was in Los Angeles, and two people messaged me asking if I wanted to come to the party. I thought that was great.\u2028\u3000The event happens regularly, so it\u2019s okay to miss if you\u2019re busy. I really think this kind of event is great. I wondered if we could do something like this in Japan, and this year at Annecy [International Animation Film Festival], there was a \u201cStop-mo (short for stop-motion) Picnic,\u201d and I received emails and messages from various people inviting me to come to the picnic. I shared the event information with a bunch of other people, and when I went, we stood by the lake in Annecy, had drinks, introduced ourselves, and showed off the puppets we had brought with. When I said, \u201cI’m the producer of \u2018HIDARI,\u2019\u201d which had already aired its pilot, someone replied, \u201cWhen does \u2018HIDARI\u2019 start filming? I’m good at action, so I want to be an animator!\u201d So I said, \u201cLet’s exchange Instagram accounts and we\u2019ll stay in touch and let you know if anything comes up.\u201d It was very casual, and I wondered how we could do this in Japan. I also thought \u201cDwarf Presents\u201d might not be the best name for our event. Instead of saying \u201cI was invited by Dwarf,\u201d I wanted to keep it more neutral and flat, and then a cinema called Stranger came on board. The location for Stranger stays the same, but anyone can host screenings. Of course, someone will curate the event at first, but once it gets going, it can be freer. For example, students could organize one of stop-motion roundtable discussions at the Stranger. I want to create such a space where people long to have their works screened at this event… The first event is on December 17th. (Note 2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Note 2. Following the interview, this event was held at the mini-theater Stranger in Kikugawa in the Sumida Ward of Tokyo and is now held regularly on the second Friday of every month.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015That sounds interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’d like to have people who are somewhat familiar with the industry come, not just stop\u2014motion enthusiasts or people in the \u201cnormal animation industry.\u201d On the other hand, it would be great if 2D directors who love stop-motion animation came, or even people from live-action film. I want to create a relaxed community like that. The first event will be about Dwarf\u2019s \u201cKomaneko,\u201d but the second might be about something different, and we\u2019ll keep changing the theme as we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015That’s great. It will also help raise the standard for the animation industry\u2019s culture. If you know you can go to this event and meet someone there, you can just drop by casually and discover something new. I think it’s a great idea to create that kind of space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m thinking of eventually doing it online as well. For example, it would be nice if students from far away could participate in the roundtable discussion online.\u2028But for those people, even though we have social media, we’re currently relying on word of mouth, so I’m wondering how we can ensure that information reaches everyone properly. That’s a challenge. The theater has a capacity of 50 people, so I don’t think we need to start with a large audience right away, but I’ve been making an effort to meet various stop-motion artists over the past few years by attending various film festivals and meeting people there. Of course, there are still many people I don’t know, and there are those who don’t need a producer or don’t seem to be open to work, so it’s difficult to connect with them. I’m wondering how we can get information to everyone in a more organic way, rather than just sending it out in a BCC email, so that students who are looking for opportunities can find the information they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015It would be nice to have some kind of platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, word of mouth is one thing, but… There are platforms like that, right? Young people use social media, right? But there\u2019s a lot of variation in who sees what, so it\u2019s tricky. I think it\u2019s important to keep doing something regularly and physically, like \u201cWe\u2019re gathering there,\u201d over the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015It would be nice if there was a place that people could casually go to and hang out when they\u2019re in Tokyo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s why I’m suggesting the second Friday of every month, so that people will say, \u201cI’ll be in Tokyo on the second Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Yes, I think that would be a ray of hope for some students. I really think so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s great. Everyone in the stop-motion industry is nice, so I’m sure good people will come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Do you have any hopes for nurturing people who can produce?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I really do. I really want to nurture them. More than nurturing, I want to find more like-minded people in the industry. I’m still growing myself. I still have a lot of room to grow (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015For example, just talking about your own experiences as a role model, like, \u201cThis is what I’ve done,\u201d would be encouraging for students who are interested. Especially for women, who are still few in number in the industry, it would be helpful to hear about specific ways to get involved in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I want to keep saying, \u201cIt’s fun.\u201d It’s really different from school, but when working with companies on character production, even if the company president asks me to do a job, I always ask them to assign a staff member to support me. Most of the time, a woman is assigned, and I feel like these women are on their way to becoming producers. I don’t need them to keep me on permanently. I’ll share all my knowledge and what I do, and then they can become producers at their company. Of course, there is the possibility of hiring people from my own company and training them as my assistants, but I think that if we can create people who have that kind of awareness outside the company, it will spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015I think stop-motion animation is a field where women can really thrive. How about other industries? Aren\u2019t there quite a few female producers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I go to the Hiroshima Animation Festival, I meet a lot of women. I also feel like there are many women in the 2D animation industry. I have connections with people in the art animation field, but I don’t have many connections with female producers in 2D animation, so I’d like to try talking to them. It might be interesting to have a one-off conversation. It could be nice for female producers to meet each other, even if they work in different media within animation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Finally, do you have any messages for young people aspiring to work in the animation industry?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Making animation is definitely fun because you love it. But I think the only thing that matters is to keep making truly interesting things. Make sure to share them with the world, and of course with the fans who are waiting for them. That\u2019s why I think producers are important. If we don\u2019t keep making things that are actually interesting, the industry will die, so let\u2019s make sure to keep making interesting things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2015\u2015Thank you very much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":219,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-221","wija_creator","type-wija_creator","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dock.geidai.ac.jp\/wija\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wija_creator\/221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dock.geidai.ac.jp\/wija\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wija_creator"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dock.geidai.ac.jp\/wija\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wija_creator"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/dock.geidai.ac.jp\/wija\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wija_creator\/221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":670,"href":"https:\/\/dock.geidai.ac.jp\/wija\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wija_creator\/221\/revisions\/670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dock.geidai.ac.jp\/wija\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dock.geidai.ac.jp\/wija\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}