Upon graduating from high school, Kawamoto was first employed in the making and designing of precision machinery. During this early period, he became interested in becoming an animator due to the ongoing Macross series, Yoshiyuki Tomino's Mobile Suit Gundam and Gainax's amateur Daikon films. In particular, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's character designs were a major influence. Within a year, Kawamoto left his previous profession and enrolled in the Nagoya branch of Tokyo Designer Gakuin College (currently known as Nagoya Designer Gakuin), which he later attended for two years.