Profile Born 1931. Fascinated by steam locomotives and other machines from a young age, after World War II he was captivated by the U.S. Occupation Forces' jeeps that roved all over Japan. Joined Toei Doga in 1957. Representative works include the feature films "‘Ύ—z‚Μ‰€Žq ƒzƒ‹ƒX‚Μ‘ε–`Œ―" and" Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro", as well as the TV series "–’—ˆ­”NƒRƒiƒ“" and "Lupin III", for which he served as drawing director. Currently active as advisor and drawing director at Telecom Animation Films. Also known as one of Japan's leading experts on military vehicles, he produced the CD-ROM picture collection, Yasuo Ohtsuka Military 4X4 Graffiti. Member of the International Military Vehicle Preservation Association and editor of the Military Vehicle Journal.

‘Comment Yasuo Ohtsuka

I am really excited to receive such an honor; I hardly deserve it. Ever since I started out as an animator, I have always thought of myself as a craftsman. On the odd occasion when someone refers to me as an animation artist, I always correct them, saying, "I am not an artist. I am an animation specialist." Having seen the clips that were just shown, you must have been struck by how old, how faded they looked. Making an animation work in Japan costs a great deal of money: it's a very labor-intensive industry, with many many people involved in the production, so budgets are tight. How do you produce quality work on a low budget? This is the question that people working on Japanese animation movies in the last thirty years have struggled with. How do you make the movie fun and interesting, given only so many sheets of celluloid to work with, and a low budget, and a tight schedule to boot? Judging from what you've just seen, I think you'd agree we rose quite successfully to the challenge. Of course, if you spend a lot of money as Disney does with its movies, you don't have to cut any corners in showing movement and can offer long, smooth takes of fluid motion, but when it comes to showing real skill, I think there are many potentially good animators in Japan. I sometimes go to Studio Ghibri and Telecom to conduct drawing workshops, and while I see that young Japanese today have great dexterity, a fine hand, a very high level of raw ability, these skills are being wasted in the actual production of animation films. In other words, there is not enough money available. So if social recognition of this art form grows, through such events as this one here in Kobe, and the right conditions come together, Japan will be able to make animation films that really move, that really show how fun and interesting animation can be as entertainment films. I'm talking about movement in animation now, and not editing , and I think the latent ability is there because the level of skill among Japanese animators is very high. Well, I've been in the business now for some 40 years and I've enjoyed it a lot, so I always tell young people there isn't a more interesting job in the world, that once they start they'll never be able to stop. I stick to explaining my philosophy of animation because, technically, they're probably far ahead of me. Thank you very much.

‘Awards Screening Criteria

Yasuo Otsuka has been active as a leading animator for over 30 years, since the very first days of Japanese animation. The very human characters that Otsuka has drawn for such works as "‘Ύ—z‚Μ‰€Žq ƒzƒ‹ƒX‚Μ–`Œ―", "Lupin III" and "–’—ˆ­”NƒRƒiƒ“", as well as the impeccable timing of his action sequences, have earned him a wide fan base and greatly influenced later animators. Today he is active in developing younger talents as an advisor and drawing director at Telecom Animation Films. The Special Award is given to Mr. Otsuka in recognition of his numerous past achievements and in anticipation of his future activities.

Masahito Arinaga Editor in Chief, “dŒ‚ B-magazine