"THU Storytelling 2025" Hideo Kojima's Concerns Over the Disappearance of "Storytellers" [CINEMORE ACADEMY Vol.40]

"Storytellers" are becoming less and less present

Q: I had prepared a question for you: Why do you think people seek "stories?" But after hearing what you've said so far, it seems like people may no longer seek stories.

Kojima: That's a bit worrying, isn't it? As George Miller mentioned in the previous session, since ancient times, humans have gained various knowledge and emotions by listening to stories. Communicating these to others is precisely what "storytelling" is, and it allows various personalities to emerge. Remnants of this are storytelling and rakugo. Nowadays, short videos of events are circulating, without a narrator. For example, typically, someone would tell a story, saying, "This is what happened in Palestine," but now that intermediary is gone, and only fragments are transmitted directly. All we get are videos of people dying in airstrikes. But the important thing is to tell stories like, "This country is fighting this kind of war in this place." In the future, AI may be able to supplement this part. It would be ideal if humans could properly complete it.

It is important to see and hear storytelling, but it is also important to be able to tell stories yourself. If this culture were to disappear, what would become of humanity?

Q: When it comes to "storytelling," please tell us about any people or works that have influenced you.

Kojima: When it comes to movies, I like George Miller, and when it comes to novels, I like Kobo Abe, but there are many others. After all, memories from my teens take priority, so the film directors and writers I encountered then still remain with me. I still encounter directors and writers that I like, but my senses aren't as sharp as they were when I was a teenager (laughs). The things that changed my life were things I encountered when I was 15 or 16 years old. The things you encounter when you're a blank slate are important.

Hideo Kojima

Born in Tokyo in 1963, Kojima is The Game creator. He made his directorial debut in 1987 with his first work, "Metal Gear," which became a series and established the stealth The Game genre. He went independent at the end of 2015 and founded Kojima Productions. In 2019, the studio released its first title, "DEATH STRANDING," for PlayStation®4 and PC. He later released an expanded version, "DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR'S CUT" (2021), for PlayStation®5, PC, iPhone, iPad, and Mac. As of March 2025, the game has surpassed 20 million users worldwide across all platforms. In June 2025, he released the sequel, "DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH." He received BAFTA's highest honor, a Fellowship Award, at the 2020 BAFTA Games Awards, and the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Prize (Media Arts Division) from the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2022. Additionally, various projects are currently underway, including a live-action film project with film production and distribution company A24, "OD" with Xbox Game Studios, and a completely new action espionage The Game, "PHYSINT" (working title).

Official website: www.kojimaproductions.jp

Interview and text: Fumio Koda

Editorial staff and writer for CINEMORE. My favorite movies are ``The Goonies'' and ``Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.'' My recent favorites are 4K digitally remastered classics by Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu.

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