Kentaro Hachisuka

Kentaro Hachisuka (蜂須賀 健太郎, Hachisuka Kentarō, born June 17, 1965) is a Japanese film director and a member of the Directors Guild of Japan, known for his imaginative storytelling and visual experimentation. A graduate of Wakō University, he began making 8 mm films in childhood. His professional debut came in 1988 with a music video in the enka genre, and in 1993 he directed his first feature film, "Those Who Would Be Einstein", which earned international acclaim and was nominated at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Throughout his career, Hachisuka has explored various genres, including manga adaptations like "Aquarium" (1998), puppet animation such as "Puppenpit" (2008), and international co-productions like "Here Comes Santa Claus" (2013). In 2015, he released "Alice in Dreamland", a fantasy animation using ball-jointed dolls. In 2022, he released "Ano niwa no tobira o aketa toki".