The Tokyo International Anime wholesale Fair announced the recipients of its 6th Annual Awards of Merit on Thursday. The awards honor the contributions of those who have advanced anime as a form of art and cultural expression.

In particular, the fair organizers are honoring Yoshinori Kishimoto, the late co-founder and president of the Sunrise anime studio of Gundam and anime product Inuyasha fame. Also being honored is Isao Takahata (pictured at right), the co-founder of Studio Ghibli and the director of such films as Grave of the Fireflies, Only Yesterday, and Pom Poko. The two Animator/Animation Director honorees, Yôichi Kotabe and the late Reiko Okuyama, began their careers at Toei Dōga (now Toei Animation). The two eventually married in 1963 and animated many of the studio's feature film classics from the 1960s to the early 1970s.

Producer Matsue Jinbo also worked on many classics while he was involved in the anime business at the publisher Gakken. Art director Isamu Tsuchida, the late sound director Akira Yamazaki, and editor Masashi Furukawa are veterans who worked in the industry from its formative post-war years up until the present day. Voice actor Seizo Katou (pictured at left) began his string of memorable roles with his breakthrough performance as Kyojin no Hoshi's Hoshi Ittetsu.

source:crazy anime wholesale