Pennacky: Shooting out of the ordinary

He's been dubbed ‘Indie Japan’s most stylish music video director’, and in his mid-twenties Pennacky already has his own signature style to cast across the songs and artists that swim into his focus.

It exudes a sense of the perfectly balanced ad hoc: that feeling of honesty and immediacy over contrivance and set-up...

He is now a much in-demand promo director, having made them – at first at his own expense – while still at high school. Artists he’s worked with since those early days include hardcore metallers Otus (latest release: Morgue), rapper Omega Sapiens, Korean rap troupe Balming Tiger and indie singer Ye-Ye.

Above: Ye-Ye – I'm Fed Up With This

His video for Ye-Ye’s effortlessly cool and languid I'm Fed Up With This possesses singular Pennacky touches – clear blue skies, edge-town aesthetics, empty concrete spaces, blank walls, powerlines, surveillance cameras, lens flares, blurry close-ups, actors playing boom mic and camera operatives sporting vintage Nineties gear, even camcorders.

It exudes a sense of the perfectly balanced ad hoc: that feeling of honesty and immediacy over contrivance and set-up; of the handmade over the manufactured.

His is an aesthetic that feels loose at the same time as drawing on some otherness of spirit that absorbs your attention.

Ditto Pennacky’s video for Indonesian dream-pop band Gizpel and for their song Your Loss, where Pennacky seems to double down on and dial up the suburban aesthetics of underpasses, bare concrete, billowing clouds, chem-trail skies and gigantic, off-scale habitats of industrial plants from the last century, like remnants of an alien world, crumbling like Ozymandius’s statue in the desert.

Above: Gizpel - Your Loss

These lo-fi stylistic directorial decisions have helped take Kenichiro Tanaka, AKA Pennacky – to the top of the pile of in-demand Japanese video directors, as well as changing and charging up a new visual aesthetic for the Japanese and wider Asian indie music scene. Shooting on 16mm, rather than digital, underscores the edge-haze of nostalgia and liminal sense of place that pervades his work.

My interest in filmmaking was sparked by the behind-the-scenes extras on a DVD of Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), which my grandfather bought for me. 

His is an aesthetic that feels loose at the same time as drawing on some otherness of spirit that absorbs your attention. Recent works include last summer’s breezy soft rock hit Young Man, a Korean-Taiwanese hook-up between Korean indie band Hyukoh and Taiwanese rockers Sunset Rollercoaster, for which Pennacky sets up a roving, circling camera in a blizzard of jump cuts and digital background changes, as well as close-ups of antique, Heath Robinson-esque studio equipment and paraphernalia – speaker cones, cabling, effects pedals and the like.

Here he talks to shots about his background and early inspirations, his aesthetics and his shooting methods and his attraction to the lost analogue eras from before he was born.

Above: ATARASHII GAKKO! - Tokyo Calling

What is your background, your training, and your first steps into filmmaking?

My interest in filmmaking was sparked by the behind-the-scenes extras on a DVD of Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), which my grandfather bought for me. Watching it ignited a strong passion for filmmaking. Later, I studied cinematography at university, and the casual approach of creating films with friends for fun eventually led me to pursue filmmaking professionally.

 I enjoy how film exists as a tangible 'object' in the real world, adding a sense of permanence to the footage.

What were your important breaks in terms of starting to direct your first pieces of work?

The first commercial project I directed was a music video for V6, an iconic J-pop group that are legends in Japan’s music scene.

What’s the story behind your working name, ‘Pennacky’?

Pennacky is the name of a fictional alien character, originally created by a friend of a friend.

Above: Hyukoh and Sunset Rollercoaster - Young Man

What’s behind the choice of shooting in 16mm rather than digital?

I love the look of 16mm film. Additionally, I enjoy how film exists as a tangible “object” in the real world, adding a sense of permanence to the footage.

How did you develop your cool, static shooting style, such as in YeYe’s Unzari Desuyo?

For YeYe’s music video, I initially wanted to focus solely on landscapes. However, since it was a moving image and a music video, I decided to subtly incorporate staged elements within the scenery.

I believe nostalgia can indeed guide us toward the future. Nostalgia is a sign of the future.

Are these techniques mirroring a 2020s love affair with 1990s pre-digital culture? Is that reflected in the music scene you work in?

I believe my generation has been heavily influenced by the internet. With easy access to past information, I’ve developed a strong interest in eras before I was born, which definitely informs my approach to filmmaking.

Above: Still from Tokyo Calling 

What does nostalgia mean to you in the 2020s? Can nostalgia point us towards the future?

I believe nostalgia can indeed guide us toward the future. Nostalgia is a sign of the future.

What draws you to the kinds of locations featured in your videos—on the edges of towns, borderline, or liminal places?

At first, I chose such locations simply because they were quiet and easy to shoot in. I just thought it would be easier to film there because there was no one around.

I can’t help but feature my favourite cameras in my videos. In today’s social media era, I also want to encourage viewers to maintain a meta perspective

Could you guide us through the inspiration for – and the making of – some of your music videos?

For the video of Atarashii Gakko’s Tokyo Calling, I was heavily influenced by Tokusatsu films [action movies with lots of practical special effects] and children’s shows such as Ultraman and Godzilla.

For the rap video Rich & Clear by Omega Sapien, this was a self-produced music video filled with gags, created with my friend Omega Sapien in our neighbourhood.

And for the poetic urban night wandering of shoegaze-dreampop band Kinoko Teikoku and their song Yumemirukorowo Sugitemo, I made this music video when I was living in Shinjuku City [famous for the buzzing Kabukicho entertainment district, Tokyo’s Soho, and a yakuza gang hangout]. I captured scenes that you can only see while being in Shinjuku.

Above: Still from Tokyo Calling 

Filming equipment often appears in your videos—what does including behind-the-scenes gear mean to you?

Since I’ve always been interested in filmmaking, I can’t help but feature my favourite cameras in my videos. In today’s social media era, I also want to encourage viewers to maintain a meta perspective.

The Further album by The Chemical Brothers had a huge influence on me. Its graphical and abstract visuals left a lasting impression, and I watched it countless times.

How do you approach the ideation of a music video for a song? What’s your process from first hearing the song to creating the final cut?

I start by listening to the music repeatedly, jotting down my thoughts and organising them into a coherent concept as I move through the production process.

What were the music videos that first inspired you? What are your favourites in the genre?

The Further album by The Chemical Brothers had a huge influence on me. Its graphical and abstract visuals left a lasting impression, and I watched it countless times.

Above: Still from I'm Fed Up With This

Who are the directors that inspire and motivate you—whether in music videos, film, TV, or beyond?

I don’t have any specific directors, but the Godzilla series always lifts my spirits.

Going forward, I believe the boundaries of video content categories will become even more blurred.

How do you see the genre developing over the past decade, in Japan and more widely, moving toward 2025 and beyond?

Since my work is primarily shared online, I always think about what kind of visuals would be interesting on the internet. Going forward, I believe the boundaries of video content categories will become even more blurred. I aim to create freely without being confined by genres.