EX: Your art style is very unique, and your approach seems to be to take a more realistic view of the characters. Who and what have your influences been.

HJ: Well, of course, when I was young and watching anime, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's designs on GUNDAM had a big influence on me. And when I was working on the HOKUTO NO KEN (FIST OF THE NORTH STAR) movie, I was working with Suda Minami. He has a very strong style; I learned a lot from him. He is really great and I think he is one of the best animators in Japan.

EX: Much of your work has been adapting manga designs for animation. How do you redesign a character that's already been drawn?

HJ: Well, it doesn't take that long for me, maybe half a day. It only takes one or two hours to draw, but it takes much longer to think about it and come up with the ideas. With JOJO, there really was no difference between the manga designs and the anime designs, so it was easy for me. The Producer of BE-BOP HIGH SCHOOL said the designs for the anime had to be exactly like the manga designs. I didn't like that, so I did my own settei, making little changes here and there. And then, when the creator of the manga saw them, he liked my designs better, so I won.

EX: Do you have a favorite character you've drawn?

HJ: (leans over and asks his wife then says confidently) Kenshiro from HOKUTO NO KEN.

EX: And why is that?

HJ: When I first started working, I was brought in as an in-between checker for the HOKUTO NO KEN movie, but then I moved up to key animator. Then, I was promoted to animation supervisor for the HOKUTO NO KEN television series. As a result, I know this series from inside out, and I worked my way up from the bottom. I have a lot of fond memories of my work on that show.

EX: (To Mrs. Hayama) Do you have a favorite character your husband has drawn?

H: Yes, I like Yuki [the main character] from GANDALLA. (laughs)

EX: What is the most challenging job you've had to do?

HJ: Oh that's easy. The BASTARD!! Playstation game that came out around 2 years ago. I had never drawn cute girls until then. It's very difficult to do that. (laughs)

EX: Since you work in the anime industry, spare time is very precious. How do you spend your free time?

HJ: We just spend time together. I know it's a boring answer, but it's true.

EX: Is this your first trip to America.

HJ: Yes, but we really haven't had a chance to see anything outside of Anime Expo yet. I hope to do some sightseeing before going back to Japan.

EX: I like to ask this of all the people I interview. Do you still watch any anime?

HJ: Not recently, I haven't had time. My old favorites, though, are things like COMBATTLER V and old Tatsunoko titles like KAGAKU NINJA TAI GATCHAMAN and CASSHAN.

EX: What do you think of the growing popularity of Anime in the US?

HJ: I heard a long time ago that it wasn't popular because "the eyes were so big, it makes people sick and they didn't like it." But when I looked at the art show, I thought that the fans here are really no different from the ones in Japan. Everyone here really likes it.
I thought that most of the stuff I had worked on really wouldn't interest anyone over here. But when I was at my panel, and the fans were asking me questions about JOJO, they knew so much about it. Even very small details. I was very happy.

EX: How do you think the industry has changed in the last few years?

HJ: What do you mean?

EX: Well, have you noticed a tougher time with production schedules and budgets?

HJ: Oh yes. Production schedules are much shorter, and they keep getting shorter. They're always tightening up the schedules.

EX: What would you like to do next?

HJ: I'm working on GANDALLA till August or September. I want to do a show where I design all the characters. One thing I really liked about GANDALLA was that I was designing the characters from scratch [instead of adapting preexisting manga designs]. That was interesting and challenging and I'd like to do more of that.
Maybe I'll even do some manga, too. Although it is very difficult to do manga alone.

EX: Thank you for your time. It was a pleasure talking with you.

HJ: Thank you very much. We're looking forward to the rest of Anime Expo.

Special thanks to Scott Frazier for translation assistance and comedy relief.