“In the past, humans hesitated when they took lives, even non-human lives. But society had changed, and they no longer felt that way.”

I make films as a business, not as a cultural endeavor.

The characters are born from repetition.

Modern life is so thin and shallow and fake. I look forward to when developers go bankrupt, Japan gets poorer and wild grasses take over.

I’m not going to make movies that tell children, “You should despair and run away”.

Children understand intuitively that the world they have been born into is not a blessed world.

Stop trying. Take long walks. Look at scenery. Doze off at noon. Don’t even think about flying. And then, pretty soon, you’ll be flying again.

Our lives are like the wind or like sounds. We come into being, resonate with each other. Then fade away.

We depict hatred, but it is to depict that there are more important things. We depict a curse, to depict the joy of liberation.

If you release your subconscious it becomes really hard to live a social or family life.

The winds of time eventually turn them into the tools of industrial civillisation. It’s never unscathed.

First: don’t panic! Second: don’t panic! And third: did I mention not to panic?!

There are so many things we can’t do anything about if we think about generalities

I wanted to convey the message to children that this life is worth living.

Yet, even amidst the hatred and carnage, life is still worth living. It is possible for wonderful encounters and beautiful things to exist.

There are all kinds of values within the films but I don’t make message films.

I find it pointless sitting in my house not working, though I like to go on extended vacations from time to time.

It has been the political career of this man to begin with hypocrisy, proceed with arrogance, and finish with contempt.

The arrogant ego desires respect, whereas the humble worker inspires respect.

Arrogance can lead to death.

As humans grew stronger, I think that we became quite arrogant, losing the sorrow of ‘we have no other choice.’

Man in his arrogance thinks himself a great work, worthy of the interposition of a deity. More humble, and I believe truer, to consider him created from animals.

The line between confidence and arrogance is very fine, and the line between arrogance and stupidity even finer.

Undisguised clarity is easily mistaken for arrogance.

Arrogance is truly the child of impiety, but from health of soul comes happiness, dear to all, much prayed for.