Kōbō Abe

A vacationing entomologist suffers extreme physical and psychological trauma after being taken captive by the residents of a poor seaside village and made to live with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.

A businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his new doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality and causing him to question his identity.

A man wanders into a seemingly deserted town with his young son in search of work. But after a bit of bad luck, he joins the town's population of lost souls.

A private detective is hired to find a missing man by his wife. While his search is unsuccessful, the detective's own life begins to resemble the man for whom he is searching.

A group of rank-and-file soldiers are jailed for crimes against humanity, themselves victims of a nation refusing to bear its burdens as a whole.

An ethical, young tax collector new to his area encounters increasingly absurd individuals and groups coping with their post-war woes.

A vacationing entomologist suffers extreme physical and psychological trauma after being taken captive by the residents of a poor seaside village and made to live with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.

A businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his new doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality and causing him to question his identity.

A man wanders into a seemingly deserted town with his young son in search of work. But after a bit of bad luck, he joins the town's population of lost souls.

A private detective is hired to find a missing man by his wife. While his search is unsuccessful, the detective's own life begins to resemble the man for whom he is searching.

A group of rank-and-file soldiers are jailed for crimes against humanity, themselves victims of a nation refusing to bear its burdens as a whole.

An ethical, young tax collector new to his area encounters increasingly absurd individuals and groups coping with their post-war woes.

A film adaptation of the second play from "The Man Who Turned Into A Stick" by Kōbō Abe himself.

A film adaptation of the second play from "The Man Who Turned Into A Stick" by Kōbō Abe himself.

Commissioned for the 1970 Osaka Expo and originally shown on a four projection system at the spherical Automobile Pavilion. Set in a near future, the story follows a scientist and his assistant who invents an experimental accelerator drug that makes human activity run ten times faster, thereby expanding a single day into 10 days.

A salaryman living alone in a small apartment is visited by complete strangers, a large family with grown-up sons and a daughter, who take over his apartment and his life. They use his money and he has to wait on them as their servant. They even steal his girlfriend. Although they behave very dictatorially, everything is decided "democratically" by the majority.

Directed, original story, script and music by Kobo Abe. The last performance of the theatre group Koubou Ambe Studio's "An Elephant Calf Is Dead" is reconstructed as a video work. Performed by Yamaguchi Karin and others.

Directed, original story, script and music by Kobo Abe. The last performance of the theatre group Koubou Ambe Studio's "An Elephant Calf Is Dead" is reconstructed as a video work. Performed by Yamaguchi Karin and others.