Abstract

As soon as the first cartoons by Émile Cohl and John Randolph Bray were shown in Tokyo around 1914, some of the local artists tried to imitate them as animators. The Japanese animated films (which in the beginning were called senga eiga, or ‘films with designed lines’) boast three pioneers: Shimokawa Hekoten, Kitayama Seitaro, and Kouchi Sumikazu. All three of these artists made their debut in 1917 within a few months of each other and were in close contact with film production companies from the very start.