Scene Artist Takuji Yamada Discusses his "Perspective on the Times" that Stands throughout the Showa, Heisei, and 2025 Era [Hobby Industry Inside Vol. 48

In the 1970s, when military plastic models were very popular among boys, Takuji Yamada was an up-and-coming modeler who began publishing examples of his work in the modeling magazine "Hobby Japan. Around the same time, Mr. Yamada became a top prize winner in Tamiya's doll modification contest, and in the 1990s, he became widely known as the champion of the national professional modeler championship on "TV Champion," which was broadcast on TV Tokyo.
Last month, we were able to interview Mr. Yamada at the 58th Shizuoka Hobby Show held in Shizuoka Prefecture. He spoke freely about his "perspective on the times," which goes beyond plastic models and modeling and spans the Showa, Heisei, and 2025 eras.

Works that win gold awards have "dignity

─ When I think of Mr. Yamada, I have an image of him as someone who has won prizes in Tamiya's doll modification contests.

Yamada: Indeed, the doll modification contest was my starting point. However, it was difficult for me to win a gold prize, and I was always worried about it. I have been entering the contest since the first contest, but I couldn't even get my work included in the book. After passing the photo judging, the next step is the physical judging. If you made it to the actual judging, it seemed that 90% of the entries were included in the book, but my work was not. In the fourth round, I finally received an honorable mention. It took me a long time to win the bronze award. For years I wondered, "How can I win a gold award? I wondered for years. There is something beyond technique in a work that can win a gold medal. What is it? I always asked myself, "What is it? Technically, the Silver Award is the top prize. But the gold award-winning works have a kind of dignity. The gold award is technically rougher than the silver award, but a gold award is still a gold award. So why is it a gold award?　--That question is the starting point of my aesthetic sense. There is a "goodness" that transcends technique and detail. Perhaps it is the same with paintings, but miniature paintings are not 100% correct, are they? Paintings that are considered masterpieces are not always painted with such a fine touch. I learned from the doll modification contest that the fineness of the touch does not determine whether a painting is high or low. ......
There is nothing wrong with creating a model with fine details, but it is just a miniature. I think that dioramas and dolls, in particular, can compete not on the basis of accuracy, but on the basis of expression. I feel that we can compete not in terms of accuracy, but in terms of expression.


─ ─ But in the end, you won the gold prize in the doll remodeling contest, didn't you?

Yamada Yes, I think I finally won the gold award after winning the bronze award about three times. That was the year of Akira Kurosawa's "Kagemusha. It was a film called "DIRECTORS CHAIR," in which Kurosawa, Francis Ford Coppola, and myself appeared side by side. People may not have noticed, but I was the only one sitting on the floor, not in a chair.

─ ─ Of course, I was aware of it. It was a cool film, including your sense of humility toward Kurosawa and Coppola.

Yamada Now that I think about it, I don't like models based on myself. At the time, I thought that I could make a good model of Godzilla or Gundam because I loved the subject matter. I can create good works because I can love them, but I cannot love myself to that extent. So when I was asked to make a self-portrait for the cover of a collection of scenes, I was troubled. I decided to make a portrait of my daughter as a trial, and then I thought I would make a portrait of myself as well, and put them together as a parent-child grouping. My daughter is purely my favorite, so I could make a model of her. Then my wife's mood got worse this time. ...... I asked my daughter, "Mom, isn't it because you can't get yourself to make it?" And. So I had to start a family. That's how it is, so I'm still not very good at actively bragging about myself (laughs).