Oten Shimokawa
Encyclopedia
a Japan
ese artist, is considered to be one of the founding artists and pioneers of anime
. Little is known of his early personal life, other than that his family moved to the Tokyo
area when he was nine years old. Here he began working for Tokyo Puck Magazine as a political cartoonist and manga
series artist.
At the age of 26, Shimokawa was hired by Tenkatsu Production Company
to create a short animated film. Shimokawa used several animation
techniques that were, at the time, unique: using chalk or white wax on a dark board background to draw characters, rubbing out portions to be animated, and drawing with ink directly onto film, whiting out animated portions. At the time, celluloid
cels (rather than modern acetate
film) was costly and scarce in Japan, having to be imported. These techniques cut production costs, material costs and completion time.
The resulting film was Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki
, released in 1917. Though not the earliest animation created in Japan, it is considered to be the first "true" Anime film, as it was the first to be publicly shown in a theater. The film ran only five minutes. As with many animation works created in Japan before the mid 1920s, no trace of the film, or any of Shimokawa's five other short films, has survived.
Shimokawa's animation work was cut short by chronic health problems, and he returned to work as a consultant and editor for other production companies making animated films in the 30s and 40s. Not much is known of his later life; indeed, very few works bear mention of his contribution beyond his own personal works.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese artist, is considered to be one of the founding artists and pioneers of anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
. Little is known of his early personal life, other than that his family moved to the Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
area when he was nine years old. Here he began working for Tokyo Puck Magazine as a political cartoonist and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series artist.
At the age of 26, Shimokawa was hired by Tenkatsu Production Company
Tennenshoku Katsudō Shashin
was a Japanese film studio active in the 1910s. The name translates as the "Natural Color Moving Picture Company," but it was known as Tenkatsu for short...
to create a short animated film. Shimokawa used several animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
techniques that were, at the time, unique: using chalk or white wax on a dark board background to draw characters, rubbing out portions to be animated, and drawing with ink directly onto film, whiting out animated portions. At the time, celluloid
Celluloid
Celluloid is the name of a class of compounds created from nitrocellulose and camphor, plus dyes and other agents. Generally regarded to be the first thermoplastic, it was first created as Parkesine in 1862 and as Xylonite in 1869, before being registered as Celluloid in 1870. Celluloid is...
cels (rather than modern acetate
Acetate
An acetate is a derivative of acetic acid. This term includes salts and esters, as well as the anion found in solution. Most of the approximately 5 billion kilograms of acetic acid produced annually in industry are used in the production of acetates, which usually take the form of polymers. In...
film) was costly and scarce in Japan, having to be imported. These techniques cut production costs, material costs and completion time.
The resulting film was Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki
Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki
is the first professional Japanese animation film ever made. It was made by Ōten Shimokawa in 1917.-Backgrounds:In April 1914, French animation Fantasmagorie by Émile Cohl was screened under the title . This seems to be the first drawn-animation film screened in Japan...
, released in 1917. Though not the earliest animation created in Japan, it is considered to be the first "true" Anime film, as it was the first to be publicly shown in a theater. The film ran only five minutes. As with many animation works created in Japan before the mid 1920s, no trace of the film, or any of Shimokawa's five other short films, has survived.
Shimokawa's animation work was cut short by chronic health problems, and he returned to work as a consultant and editor for other production companies making animated films in the 30s and 40s. Not much is known of his later life; indeed, very few works bear mention of his contribution beyond his own personal works.
Sources
- Johnathan Clements, Helen McCarthy. (Fall 2001) The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, Paperback Edition, Stone Bridge Press