“The villains are all parts of me.”

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.

Humans have both the urge to create and destroy.

One murder makes a villain, millions a hero. Numbers sanctify.

One may smile, and smile, and be a villain.