「動きの面白さ」に注目した新しい工作番組。番組の提供する工作のしくみと視聴者のアイデアがあわさることで、新しいものが生まれる。映像配信の特性を活かした表現を駆使して、子どもたちのものづくりへの興味と力を育てます。その第一弾の特番です。 スマホやタブレットを活用した参加型コーナー「アニ工作」「アニカメラ」で新しい映像との関わり方を提案したり、簡単な工作で驚きの動きが生まれる「うご工作エンジン」わかりやすい映像として伝えたり、映像表現の活用という意味でも、これまでに培ったいまできることを投入・更新しています。ぜひご覧ください。

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

“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.

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.