Anime

Anime (アニメ) is a shortened version of the word “animation” and is an animated offshoot of Japanese manga. In Japan, the term itself refers to any form of animation regardless of its source while in the US and other countries, it refers to animation produced in Japan. Most anime is hand drawn but recent trends have started to introduce more computer assisted drawing techniques into the genre, while the genre itself has gone beyond animated television shows and become a source for films, video games, music, and much more.

History

Anime’s history can be traced back as far as the early 1900s when the first known Japanese animation was produced in 1917. The clip, consisting of fifty frames and drawn on a strip of celluloid, depicts a young boy drawing the kanji for “moving pictures” on a board before saluting the audience.

Most of the early animations produced in Japan have been lost, largely due to being dismantled and sold. However, there were some prominent animators in the early 20th century including Shimokawa Oten who created five films, including Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki. Another well known early animator was Kouchi Jun’ichi who created 15 movies.

Kitayama Seitaro was a major player in the field of animation in the 1920s with animators such as Kimura Hakuzan,Yamamoto Sanae and Murato Yosuji working in his studio. After the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 much of the studio was destroyed and most of the young animators at the Kitayama Studio left and started their own studios. Early laws were also put into place during this time protecting youth, leading to the censorship of many early films and the growth of an educational film base.

During the 1930s and into the 1940s when Japan was leading up to and involved in war, there was a strong push for nationalism which led to extensive censorship. During this time, animation became much larger as it was shown in front of or after newsreels promoting the overall nationalistic mood of the country. Most films in this era were funded by the Japanese military as funding from private sources was hard to find.

The article taken from Virtual Japan, you can find there lot of intresting things about anime and Japan.