Animation Conference 2026
Japanese Animation Industry during WWII:
National Policy and the Activities of Animation Companies
Overview
How did Japan’s animation industry change during World War II as it came under the control of national policy and, at the same time, aligned itself with it? Existing research has often focused on the content of works intended to boost wartime morale and on analyses of their modes of expression.
Drawing on contemporary historical sources, this lecture instead examines the development of animation production as a business and the activities of individual companies in relation to national policy.
It also considers how aspects such as the structure of commissioned production and its relationship with post-production businesses were by no means unique to the wartime period, but rather offer a valuable perspective from which to view the history of the animation industry more broadly.
Speakers
Professor, Kaishi Professional University Faculty of Anime and Manga Arts
Kimura Tomoya
He was known for his award-winning monograph “A Historiography of Toei Animation: The Undercurrents of Management and Creation” (Nippon Hyoronsha, 2020), with the 2021 Japan Society for Animation Studies (JSAS) Award. His other publications include the book chapter, “Government Control of the Film Industry and Animation during Wartime: The Integration of Cultural Film Companies and Military-Commissioned Films”, “WWⅡ and Japanese Animation” (Seikyusha, 2022); the journal article, “Between Curation and Amusement: On the Nature of Animation-Related Exhibitions,” “Studies in Audio visual Narrative Arts, No.2" (Kaishi Professional University, 2025); and the essay “Notes for ‘Tokusatsu’ Study from the Perspective of Film Industrial History: The Showa-era GAMERA Films,” “Magma PB16” (2026).
Professor, Aichi University of the Arts Faculty of Art
Akira Arimochi
He served as a visiting researcher at the Estonian Academy of Arts for two years starting in 2012, and in 2019, he obtained a Ph.D. on Pritt Pärn from the Tokyo University of the Arts. He presented his research at Animafest Scanner, an international symposium for contemporary animation studies (2024, 2026). He will be speaking at the international symposium "Surrealism Anime," which will be held in Kyoto on November 22 and 23 this year. Furthermore, he presents animation under the artist name ALIMO. Recently, his work Juxtaposed LAND (2023)—a mixture of everyday life, allegory, and philosophy produced with the cooperation of the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Saudi Arabia)—premiered at the World Festival of Animated Film Animafest Zagreb (2023).