Japanese Animation

Japanese Animation: East Asian Perspectives makes available for the first time in English a selection of viewpoints from media practitioners, designers, educators, and scholars working in the East Asian Pacific. This collection not only engages a multidisciplinary approach in understanding Japanese animation but also shows ways to research, teach, and more fully explore this multidimensional world.

Presented in six sections, the translated essays cross-reference each other. The collection adopts a wide range of critical, historical, practical, and experimental approaches. This variety provides a creative and fascinating edge for both specialist and nonspecialist readers. Contributors’ works share a common relevance, interest, and involvement despite their regional considerations and the different modes of analysis demonstrated. They form a composite of teaching and research ideas on Japanese animation.

Contributions by Kenny K. N. Chow, Sheuo Hui Gan, Hiroshi Ikeda, Sonoko Ishida, Tokumitsu Kifune, Joon Yang Kim, Dong-Yeon Koh, Masashi Koide, Akiko Sano, Akiko Sugawa-Shimada, Nobuyuki Tsugata, Yasushi Watanabe, and Makiko Yamanashi

Masao Yokota, Tokyo, Japan, is professor of psychology at Nihon University and former chair of the Japan Society for Animation Studies. Tze-yue G. Hu, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is an independent scholar and author of Frames of Anime: Culture and Image-Building.

“This fascinating book balances essays from academics with the work of seasoned animation professionals, and in so doing provides a wide-ranging and accessible overview of aspects of Japanese animation often unexplored or neglected in the West. Masao Yokota and Tze-yue G. Hu have taken an adventurous approach that embraces and celebrates teaching, research, and creativity in its widest sense. This will be an invaluable addition to any anime-lover’s bookshelf.” —Helen McCarthy, author of The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga and coauthor (with Jonathan Clements) of The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, Revised and Expanded Edition

“A significant collection of essays by Asian writers on Asian animation, this book sheds new light on the diverse histories and influences in the development of anime. It is a much-needed contribution to animation studies.” —Dan Torre, lecturer in animation and interactive media at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

“Japanese Animation is highly informative for those wanting a deeper understanding of the industry.” —South China Morning Post, 12 July 2014