"Titanic" has done better than any motion picture this century. And "Princess Mononoke," even though its lead position has been usurped by "Titanic," has topped the 10 billion mark in revenues and continues to achieve things previously thought impossible for a Japanese movie.

"Princess Mononoke" and "Titanic" have in common the ample use of computer graphics imaging (CGI). "Titanic" can be considered animation, in the sense that is makes liberal use of CGI. It uses digital technology not to express dinosaurs, outer space and the like, but everyday objects that can easily be taken for reality by everyone who watches the movie. "Titanic" not only established new entertainment records, but showed that it is possible to use animation to create a motion picture replete with a sense of reality, as if it had been filmed from real life. This technique of making animation on a scale equivalent to actually filmed footage has provided Japan's movie industry, which has long lagged behind Hollywood, with new inspiration.

Japan today is home to many studios specializing in digital animation, where many innovative and inspired digital animation productions are underway. Signs are beginning to emerge that digital animation is taking its place as a legitimate industry in Japan, discarding its old stereotypes, and being fostered as the core of a new digital contents industry. The Human Visual Center Foundation (HVC) has prepared and released the first comprehensive report in Japan on Japan's animation industry, with a focus on digital animation, to enable those interested to grasp the substance of which Japan's animation industry is comprised.

Japan is by no means the only place that has realized the possibilities of digital animation. Related projects have sprung up simultaneously in the U.S., South Korea, France, Canada and many other countries. Amid this activity, Japan's animation industry, too, is obviously approaching a turning point.

To promote animation and its tremendous possibilities, ANIMATION KOBE has made one of its main focuses activities that provide recognition for excellent and innovative animation and, starting this year, the holding of training programs. "The 3rd. ANIMATION KOBE" provides only a short period of time for workshops, but we are privileged to have an all-star team of instructors. Participants will not only receive a lot of information and instruction, but I am sure that exchange with the instructors will prove to be a major point of departure for everyone.