Research on the Achievements of Japan's First Three Animators

Japanese animation is thought to have started when three animators (Oten Shimokawa, Jun-ichi Kouchi, and Seitaro Kitayama) released separate works at more or less the same time in 1917. However, very little research has been conducted so far on their personalities or their professional achievements. A major reason for this is that hardly any of the works they created have survived to the present day. So far, most research in Japan on these three pioneers has taken the form of literary searches. (Midorikawa, 1993: 1-42; Yamaguchi, 1978; Yamaguchi and Watanabe, 1977). But this research is inadequate from the viewpoint of the history of the development of animation -- i.e. how their work influenced the subsequent development of animation in Japan.