2017 marks the 100-year anniversary of Japanese animation. In celebration, the JICC is presenting a retrospective of animated films featuring representative works from each decade beginning in the 1950’s!  This screening will feature two of the first recognized female animators in Japan’s modern animation history.

From the legendary Toei Animation studio comes the first full-length animated feature produced in Japan to reach the shores of the United States!

Friday, August 25th, 2017 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)

Japan Information & Culture Center, Embassy of Japan

1150 18th Street Northwest

Suite 100

Washington DC 20036 US

Register Here – Event is free but registration is required

Synopsis: Magically gifted boy Sasuke lives in peace, deep in the forest with his animal pals and Oyu, his elder sister. After their forest sanctuary is violated by a demon witch who devours one of Sasuke’s animal companions, Sasuke vows vengeance.

Leaving the forest, he sets out to master his magical gifts, making a pilgrimage to the home of the wizard Hakuunsai. While Sasuke learns the ways of magic, Yakusha, the demon witch, terrorizes the countryside, and Sasuke works to complete his training in time.

About the Animators: REIKO OKUYAMA & KAZUKO NAKAMURA

Reiko Okuyama and Kazuko Nakamura were among the first recognized female animators in Japan’s modern animation industry. They joined Toei Animation soon after its establishment and contributed to Toei’s first films, Hakujaden (1958) and Shonen Sarutobi Sasuke, aka Magic Boy (1959).

Okuyama worked on other Toei films including Horus: Prince of the Sun (1968) alongside Hayao Miyazaki and was animation director on 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1969). She later became an illustrator and animation teacher. Okuyama passed away in 2007.

Nakamura joined Mushi Pro, Tezuka Osamu’s company, in the early 1960s and worked on their TV series including Astro Boy (1963) and Princess Knight (1967). She was later key animator for two of their ambitious Animerama films A Thousand and One Nights (1969) and Cleopatra (1970).