Noburō Ōfuji

Biography

Noburô Ôfuji (June 1, 1900 - July 28, 1961) was a Japanese film director and animator. One of the most notable auteurs of anime of the first half of the 20th century (one of the industry's most prestigious awards, the Mainichi Film Awards' Ôfuji Noburô Award, is named after him), he worked primarily with cutout and silhouette animation. He also made a number of films in traditional animation, using then-expensive, imported cels, while his earliest work known to have survived is a live-action/animated film. He trained under Jun'ichi Kôuchi before starting his own company. He is known for his employment of washi, especially the colored and patterned Edo chiyogami, which gives his films a distinctively Japanese appearance. He was one of the first Japanese animators to earn international recognition for his work.