Masaya Ishikawa

2D animationAnimationBroadcastInteractiveKineticLive action

UGO Workshop: Nice to Meet You

2025, 2025〜

00:26:02

A new craft program that focuses on the “interestingness of movement.” By combining the program’s craft mechanisms with viewers’ ideas, something new is created. Making full use of expressive techniques unique to video streaming, it nurtures children’s interest in and ability for making things. This is the first special episode. Using smartphone- and tablet-based interactive segments such as “Ani-Kougei” and “Ani-Kamera” to suggest new ways of engaging with video, and clearly presenting the “Moving Craft Engine,” where simple crafts create surprising motion, the program also makes use of video expression to introduce and update what it can do now. Please take a look.

AnimationBroadcastMotion graphics

Sleeping Room Picture Book

2024

00:01:39

“NEMURUMA EHON” is an original picture book read-aloud program that began streaming on U-NEXT in October 2024. Featuring a carefully selected lineup of Japanese picture books that we want people to read now, chosen together with Nemu Yumemi, the program invites a variety of readers to bring them to life. To convey the appeal of picture books themselves, the actual books are filmed on camera. By making full use of editing techniques such as preserving the sound of pages being turned and action cuts, we aim to transform a single reading experience into video. At the end of the program, “Nemuruma Anime” by Yosuke Omomo continues to play, gently encouraging a calm state of mind and sleep. By exploring what is uniquely possible with streaming video—such as not showing “the next recommended video” and not fixing a set runtime—we aim to create a program that can be a small help in childcare, one that parents can feel comfortable handing to their children on a tablet or smartphone.

ExperienceKineticR&D

Open the Box

2023

“Hirake Hako” is a new packaging design, along with a group of technologies that form its elements, developed with Keiaki Nakaji and presented at TAKEO PAPER SHOW 2023, “PACKAGING—Function and Laughter.” By treating the wave-like structure of Takeo’s fine-paper corrugated board “Fine Flute” as if it were the teeth of a gear, we developed mechanical element technologies that create a variety of “movements” using paper. Building on this technology, we proposed a package that contains the mechanism within the box itself, offering a new way to open it and a distinctive unboxing experience.

2D animationAnimationOriginalR&D

Ani Crafts #01 Eyes and Flames (from "Ugo Crafts")

2024

This is an original segment for the new craft program “Ugokosaku,” which is being developed jointly by the video streaming service U-NEXT and designer Masaya Ishikawa. By working together with animations displayed on a tablet or smartphone and placing the craft on the screen, you can create a moving craft—that is, “ugokosaku.” “Ugokosaku” also uses technology and optical illusions to deliver the joy of making things by hand through new crafting and visual experiences unique to streaming.

2D animationAnimationOriginalR&D

Anicamera #02 A Walking Cat (from “Ugo Kousaku”)

2024

This is an original segment for the new craft program “Ugo Kousaku,” which is being developed together by the video streaming service U-NEXT and designer Masaya Ishikawa. By accessing the web app on a smartphone, animations appear over the camera feed. With a single action triggered by tapping the screen, this simple animation asks viewers, “Where in the world would it be interesting to place it?” Through the way the animation’s size and appearance change depending on where it is placed — that is, through the illusion of size — this piece also invites us to reflect on how our eyes work. “Ugo Kousaku” will also convey the joy of thinking and of making things by hand through new craft and video experiences made possible only through streaming, using technology and optical illusions.

2D animationAnimationOriginalR&D

Anicamera #01 Kaiju ("Ugo Kousaku")

2024

This is an original segment for the new craft program “Ugo-Kousaku,” currently in development by the video streaming service U-NEXT and designer Masaya Ishikawa. When you access the web app on your smartphone, an animation appears over the live camera image. Tapping the screen triggers a single action, and the video asks viewers the question: “Where in the world would it be interesting to place this simple animation?” Through the way the animation’s size and appearance change depending on where it is placed—that is, through the illusion of size—the video also invites us to think about the way our eyes work. “Ugo-Kousaku” also conveys the joy of coming up with ideas and making things by hand through new craft and video experiences unique to streaming, using technology and optical illusions.

AnimationARArt workInstallation

Layers of Light

2020

A project that explores a three-dimensional imaging device based on the principles of light wavelengths, and the possibilities of visual expression using it. By turning the limitations of the device—such as human perceptual abilities, the “maximum of three layers,” and the fixed colors for each layer—into advantages, a new “mode of expression” unique to this medium was developed, resulting in a group of three-dimensional animations with a vivid sense of depth that could be described as sculptures of light.

Installation

Square Goes Out

2021

00:07:44

An installation that brings to life abstract, idealized animation—something that would normally seem possible only through CG or stop-motion—in the real world. Boxes (squares) arranged on a stage move, roll, and sometimes cooperate as they change formation, passing through openings in an approaching series of barriers. The mechanism that controls the squares is not based on existing technology, but was developed from scratch to realize this work. Presented in 2021 at the special exhibition “Rules?” at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT. Through two types of installations, it conveys without words the sense of pleasure and the sense of fear that can come from following rules.

Motion graphicsPromotion

Furness Heavy Industries ROTAVECT

2021

00:02:38

A video introducing Furnace Heavy Industries’ proprietary circulating industrial furnace, “ROTAVECT.” Using arrows as a motif, it conveys the stance of Furnace Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., which works to realize a sustainable world through circulating industrial furnaces, while also presenting the features of its industrial furnace “ROTAVECT” through simple motion graphics built around the logo. All of the flat graphic sections were produced in Cavalry.

Fashion filmLive actionPromotionStopmotion

ISSEY CANVAS

2020

A film for a series that expresses the word “ISSEY” through print and pleats. By using a motion-control camera and stop-motion animation, it presents (1) the details of the pleats, (2) the hidden letters of ISSEY, and (3) how it looks when worn, all in a single continuous, floating shot without using CG.

Stopmotion

Stop motion unboxing / MacBook Pro 13 inch 2020

2020

00:01:16

Stopmotion Unboxing is a personal project by Masaya Ishikawa. Combining a record of purchasing gadgets with training in stop-motion techniques, he improvises stop-motion shooting while unboxing the product. The music is an original score newly written for this project by Masaki Kurihara. “Stop motion unboxing / MacBook Pro 13 inch 2020,” featured here, is a collaborative work based on an article by journalist Nobuyuki Hayashi: ITmedia / Nobuyuki Hayashi compares and evaluates the latest MacBook series: The gradient Apple draws on the latest 13-inch MacBook series https://www.itmedia.co.jp/pcuser/articles/2005/13/news049.html

Experimental filmStopmotion

Invisible Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball

2020

00:03:05

This video introduces “Invisible Sports Encyclopedia,” an activity that conveys the essence and sensations of various sports to people who are not athletes by translating them through different tools and objects. It visualizes what specific elements were focused on and what they were replaced with through stop-motion animation inspired by Norman McLaren’s pixilation, a form of stop-motion using people.

Experimental filmStopmotion

The Invisible Sports Encyclopedia: Fencing

2020

00:03:05

This video introduces “Invisible Sports Encyclopedia,” an activity that translates the essence and feel of each sport using different tools and objects so that even people who do not play the sport can understand it. It visually expresses what elements were focused on and what they were replaced with through stop-motion animation inspired by Norman McLaren’s pixilation (stop-motion using people).

Promotion

[GOKO] GOKO Bscan-Z, Guide by Stop-Motion

2020

00:07:03

A video that explains how to install and use GOKO Imaging Devices Co., Ltd.’s “B-Scan-Z” through the extensive use of stop-motion animation. By using stop-motion that is engaging to watch, the video softens the sense of resistance users and customers may feel toward professional equipment, such as the impression that it seems difficult to use, while also giving the film a practical, manual-like function.

EventFashion filmInstallationPromotionStopmotion

BAO BAO ISSEY MIYAKE #hellobaobao + Pop-up exhibition

2019, 2020

A video created for the “hellobaobao” series, which shrinks BAO BAO ISSEY MIYAKE’s signature items down to one-quarter scale. The debut of the one-quarter-scale bags was expressed through stop-motion animation, in which the bags are made smaller one after another. In addition, stores and pop-up shops featured an installation where visitors could shoot their own stop-motion animations of shrinking a bag.

Fashion filmPromotionStopmotion

BAO BAO ISSEY MIYAKE #hellobaobao

2019

A video for the “hellobaobao” series, which features iconic BAO BAO ISSEY MIYAKE items scaled down to one-quarter size. The appearance of the one-quarter-size bags is expressed through stop-motion animation, in which the bags are successively made smaller one after another.

Experimental film

"The Magnetact Animal" Project

2020, 2021

00:02:42

“Magnetact Animals” is a kinetict toy (a moving toy) created by extending “Magnetact,” a magnetic tactile technology using magnet sheet, researched by Dr. Kentaro Anken of NTT, from the realm of tactile sensation into the realm of “movement.” With nothing more than a simple craft activity of attaching magnet sheet and cardboard to paper, it produces a variety of creatures that move in surprising ways. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when children could not go बाहर and had fewer opportunities to experience science at museums and similar places, Ishikawa and his team designed and held an online craft workshop using Magnetact Animals as teaching material, allowing children to learn how magnets work. By sending kits to each household and making full use of the power of video—such as multiple cameras and an opening film—they created a workshop that could be understood and enjoyed even online, while still providing a satisfying sense of accomplishment. This is the opening film shown to the children at the start of the workshop, as well as an introduction to the activity as a whole.

AnimationArt workInstallationOriginal

Layers of Light / Light Layers (2021.2)

2020, 2021

This is a documentary video of Masaya Ishikawa’s first solo exhibition, “Layers of Light,” held from Monday, February 8 to Sunday, February 21, 2021. Working as a graphic designer and visual expression researcher, Ishikawa developed an original three-dimensional image device in 2020 using the principles of light wavelengths. At the same time, as an artist, he has been creating works that explore new forms of expression by making the most of the device’s characteristics and constraints. With this new medium, which comes with significant limitations—“up to three layers” and “the color of each layer is fixed”—he has applied insights from cognitive science and animation to uncover several rich veins of expression and turn them into works of art. These are sculptural forms and animations made of light, with a vivid sense of three-dimensionality that can only truly be experienced by seeing them in person. This recording was made in the hope of conveying even a little of that texture.

Experimental film

Layers Act

2018

Only Image

This video was produced for “AUDIO ARCHITECTURE: The Architecture of Sound,” an exhibition directed by Yugo Nakamura and held at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT. The work consists of a variety of visual effects created by superimposing and moving two layers with simple patterns drawn on them. This expression was developed by researching and advancing special-effects animation techniques that were used before the advent of computer graphics. It was shot by manually moving patterned cel sheets in sync with “AUDIO ARCHITECTURE,” a new piece written by Keigo Oyamada (Cornelius) for the exhibition. The editing was crafted to pursue a visceral sense of pleasure. At the venue, in addition to the video, the actual layers used in the shoot were exhibited. Visitors were able to experience the visual effects and the mechanisms behind them with their own hands.

3DCGAnimationCo-CreationMotion graphics

Sleeping Anime "Mysterious Factory"

2026

00:07:39

CG animation for the “Nemuru Ma Anime” segment included in U-NEXT Kids’ picture-book reading program “Nemuru Ma Ehon.” By weaving together the factory motifs that Masaya Ishikawa had explored in his previous works with the absurd ideas of Senpuukyaku Hoshiko, the piece was brought to life as a mysterious and charming visual work. The 3DCG production was handled by Hoshiko. Through repeated trial and error, the process by which “something” whose state keeps changing—such as being stretched or painted—is manufactured was visualized. In the latter half, frame-by-frame “faces” are given to the manufactured objects to endow them with emotion, retelling the factory line as a single story.