Greeting from the Organizing Committee Chairman Yasuki Hamano

Good evening. Just ten days ago, this year's Annie Awards--a sort of Academy Awards for the animation industry--were announced in the city of Glendale, a suburb of Los Angeles where many animation studios are located, and the neighboring city to Burbank, home of Disney headquarters. I was at the awards ceremony myself, where director Miyazaki Hayao won this year's Lifetime Achievement award. Mr. Miyazaki, incidentally, studied under Mr. Ohtsuka Yasuo, who is here with us today. The Lifetime Achievement award is a great honor, and I had been contacted in advance by the organizers, who hoped I could persuade Mr. Miyazaki to attend the ceremony. I did my best, but unfortunately Mr. Miyazaki could not go, so I had to accept the trophy on his behalf. When I walked out to the podium, the entire audience gave me a standing ovatio n -- which soon died down to uncomfortable silence when I opened my mouth and said, "I am not Miyazaki." So that was a rather embarrassing experience personally, but at the same time I was delighted to get a very real sense of the high esteem in which Japanese animation is held by the U.S. animation industry. And on that note, I would like to offer my heartiest congratulation s at this time to all of today's award winners.

Also, with many aspiring young animators in the audience today, I would like to voice my hope that the Kobe awards, like the Annies, will become a leading animation event worldwide and winning them a goal for young animation artists. If receiving an award today serves as a stimulus for the young animators gathered here to create works for a world audience, Animation Kobe will have more than served its purpose.

Numerous hurdles had to be overcome in the realization of Animation Kobe, giving this event a special emotional resonance for me. As the Mayor mentioned in his greeting, we experienced the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, and then Mr.Kimura [first name], who was the head of Kobe City's Multimedia Promotion Department and the Secretary General of the Animation Kobe Organizing Committee, was recently killed in a tragic accident. In spite of these terrible misfortunes, Animation Kobe is now a venue for screening great works and an event that is leaving a legacy of splendid achievements. This is what we have all worked for, and we hope to keep it up year after year. Thank you for gathering here today, and to the award winners, once again my congratu lations.