From Chalkboards to Giant Robots: A History of Japanese Animated Film

Despite what American media may think, Japanese animated film does not begin and end with Hayao Miyazaki. Although Miyazaki’s contributions should not be ignored, there are many other individuals whose work over has created a thriving community of Japanese animated filmmakers. The industry has a rich past that begins over a century ago. In fact, listing the many various developments and contributions would take an entire volume’s worth of text, but there are three specific eras that deserve close attention when discussing Japanese animated films.

Japan’s animated film industry began in the second decade of the 20th century. As Western film began to develop, it made its way to the rest of the world. As soon as it reached Japan, its citizens began to experiment. The true beginnings of Japanese animation can be attributed to three specific men, working concurrently, but separately: Ōten Shimokawa, Seitaro Kitayame and Jun’ichi Kōuchi. Each man made his own contributions to the industry, and their influence can be traced directly to today’s filmmakers. Without these three men, it is hard to say where the Japanese animated film industry would be today (Clements and McCarthy).

Ōten Shimokawa is most often credited as the creator of the first completed Japanese animated film. According to Fred Patten’s Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews, it is a short lasting no more than five minutes, titled Mukuzo Imokawa, the Doorkeeper (369). As Dr. Frederick Litten explains in his “About the Earliest Animated Films in Japanese Cinema,” the film was released by the company Tenkatsu, with whom Shimokawa would work with for the entirety of his short career. He made five short films with Tenkatsu and returned to work in his original medium, newspaper (Litten 28).

Seitaro Kitayame began his career with Nikkatsu studio. His films include The War Between Monkey and Crab and The Dream Car. In 1917, Kitayame would leave Nikkatsu to join filmmaker Kobayashi Kisbarō at his new studio, Kobayashi Shōkai. At the same time, Jun’ichi Kōuchi was founding the animation studio, Sumikazu. He is credited with the films The Sword Test, The Famous Sword, and The Blunt Sword. These few men comprise the majority of the animated film work done prior to 1930 (Litten 29).

Japanese film animators are producing some of the most beautiful, sophisticated animation in the world - aided by the inspiration of Japanese culture. However, early Japanese animators used some very inventive, though crude, techniques. According to Litten, Shimokawa used two techniques in his career: chalkboard and paper. The first consisted of aiming a camera at a blackboard and drawing, erasing, and re-drawing the work frame by frame. The second used several pre-drawn backgrounds, on which Shimokawa would draw his characters. He constructed a light table to help illuminate his works. This light table caused the quick end to his career, as staring into the under-mounted light caused damage to Shimokawa’s vision.

Other techniques, employed by Kōuchi and Kitayame include kōgashiki and kirinukigashiki. Kirinukigashiki is known as “cut-out” animation. It is most recognizable in the current hit television show South Park. Kōgashiki, on the other hand, is the early form of what we consider animation by today’s standard—wherein all of the work for a single frame, including characters, props, and setting, is drawn on the same sheet of paper (Litten 29). These animators and techniques were the most used until a big shift occurred in Japan due to the coming war.

World War II saw, in Japan, a rise in nationalism. As Nancy Brcak and John R. Pavia explain in their 2007 article, “Racism in Japanese and U.S. Wartime Propaganda,” the government wanted its people to believe that Japan’s involvement in WWII was an act of defense, and it used animation to perpetuate this idea amongst its people. Films like Kenzō Masaoka's Kumo to Chūrippu, Mitsuyo Seo’s Momtaro’s Sea Eagles and Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors were made with the help of Japan’s navy. The last film is considered the first Japanese feature-length animated film.

Modern-day Japanese animation really begins in the 1980s. As Patten explains, animated outer space adventures, such as Space Battleship Yamato, gained popularity in the late 70s, in part due to its similarity to their similarity to the wildly popular Star Wars films. This connection also saw the growing trend of Japanese animation becoming popular in America. The rise in popularity coincided with famed "God of Manga," Osamu Tezuka’s visit to the United States. Tezuka was famous for characters such as Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion, two characters who still have relevance among today's anime fans (Patten 59). This visit is notable because it helped encourage and solidify the affection American fans have for Japanese animation.

It is impossible to discuss the modern Japanese animated film industry without addressing the famed and beloved, Hiyao Miyazaki, and his nearly synonymous, Studio Ghibli. Helen McCarthy’s biographical work Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation: Films, Themes, Artistry describes his early involvement, in the 1960s, with anime studio Toei Animation (30). There, he was named chief animator, but it is not until his film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, was released with Top Craft Studio in 1984 that his true artistry and vision can be seen (McCarthy 81). Valley of the Wind, according to McCarthy, features many of the themes Miyazaki’s viewers have come to expect—nature, war, and anthropomorphized beings. These themes have persisted in Miyazaki’s many award-winning films, including Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and WWII drama, The Grave of the Fireflies (McCarthy).

It would also be remiss to leave out the iconic 1980s film, Akira. The film was directed by Katushiro Otomo. Its animation was led by Takashi Nakamura. Tokyo Movie Shinsa studio released the film in 1988. Akira is a science-fiction feature-length film, set in a post-apocalyptic Japan. The film was considered “a visual tour-de-force, including experiments in digital and analog animation that were to stun audiences worldwide” (Clements and McCarthy). Its experimental vision and wide-reaching goals made it a success that is still prevalent today.

While giant, human-controlled, robot battles as a genre, may seem a little too specific to find any real popularity, it has existed for decades. It is especially appropriate to discuss it within the context of present-day Japanese animation. The success of current American blockbuster Pacific Rim is indicative of the scope of influence the Japanese animated film industry has had globally. This genre, referred to in Cult Cinema by Ernest Mathijs and Jamie Sexton as “mech” or “mecha” includes famous franchises such as Gundam and Neon Genesis: Evangelion—both of which have seen commercial success in Japan and worldwide (124). While this genre is not the only one that has seen far-reaching recognition, it is one of the most notable, and this notoriety only ensures that it will continue to have a place in the animated film industry.

Japan’s animated film industry has been steadily growing in technology, skill, and popularity for a century. As we see its influence across many genres increasing, (award-winning video game Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch was made in collaboration with Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli, for example) we will likely see a rise in overall popularity. Its influence cannot be denied. The film industry—especially the animated film industry—is a much richer place because of Japan’s involvement with it.

Works Cited

Brcak, Nancy, and John R. Pavia. "Racism In Japanese And U.S. Wartime Propaganda." The Historian 56.4 (1994): 671-684. Print.

Clements, Jonathan, and Helen McCarthy. The anime encyclopedia: a guide to Japanese animation since 1917. Rev. & expanded ed. Berkeley, Calif.: Stone Bridge Press, 2006. Print.

Litten, Frederick. "About the earliest animated films in Japanese cinema." The Japanese Journal of Animation Studies 15.1A (2013): 27-32. Frederick Litten's Publications. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

Mathijs, Ernest, and Jamie Sexton. Cult cinema: an introduction. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. Print.

McCarthy, Helen. Hayao Miyazaki: master of Japanese animation: films, themes, artistry. Berkeley, Calif.: Stone Bridge Press, 1999. Print.

Patten, Fred. Watching anime, reading manga: 25 years of essays and reviews. Berkeley, Calif.: Stone Bridge Press, 2004. Print,