The is an animation award given at the

Mainichi Film Award The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 1935, ...

s. It is named after Japanese animator

Noburō Ōfuji was a Japanese film director and animator. One of the most notable auteurs of anime (one of the industry's most prestigious awards, the Mainichi Film Awards' Ōfuji Noburō Award, is named after him), he worked primarily with cutout and silho ...

History

Following the death of pioneering animator Noburō Ōfuji in 1961, Mainichi established a new award in his honour to recognise animation excellence. A specialist in

silhouette animation Silhouette animation is animation in which the characters are only visible as black silhouettes. This is usually accomplished by backlighting articulated cardboard cut-outs, though other methods exist. It is partially inspired by, but for a ...

, Ōfuji was one of the earliest Japanese animators to gain international recognition, winning accolades at the

1952 Cannes Film Festival The 5th Cannes Film Festival was held from 23 April to 10 May 1952. As in the previous three festivals, the entire jury of this festival was made up of French persons, with Maurice Genevoix as the Jury President. The Grand Prix of the Festival w ...

and the 1956 Venice Film Festival. This award was first presented in 1962 for by

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu''; – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such ...

. With the growth of the animation industry in Japan, the award in the 1980s came to be dominated by big budget studio productions, over the work of the independent animators for whose efforts it was originally established. To address this concern, the Animation Grand Award was established to reward large scale cinematic animation, enabling the Ōfuji award to focus on shorter pieces again. This award was first presented in 1989 for by

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

. The award encompasses a much wider variety of animation than many western anime fans would consider. Two of the most frequent winners over the years, and , specialize mainly in

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

rather than

cel animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Proce ...

. As well as being an adaptation of the

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

novel, ''

The Old Man and the Sea ''The Old Man and the Sea'' is a novella written by the American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cayo Blanco (Cuba), and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction written by Hemingway that was published during his lifetime. ...

'' is the winning work of Russian animator Aleksandr Petrov.

Winners

*1962 - by

*1963 - ''

Wanpaku Ōji no Orochi Taiji is a Anime, Japanese animated Fantasy film, fantasy adventure film, the 6th feature produced by Toei Animation (then Tōei Dōga), released in Japan on March 24, 1963. English-dubbed versions have been released under several titles, including ''T ...

'' by Yugo Serikawa/ Toei Doga *1964 - ''Murder'' (殺人 MURDER) by

Makoto Wada (10 April 1936 – 7 October 2019) was a Japanese illustrator, essayist, and film director. Biography Wada was born in Osaka on 10 April 1936. He attended Tama Art University, where he won the Japan Advertising Art Award in 1957. As an illust ...

*1965 - ''Love'' (愛 ''Ai'') by Yoji Kuri and ''The Mysterious Medicine'' (ふしぎなくすり ''Fushigi na Kusuri'') by

Tadanari Okamoto was a Japanese independent animator. From 1965 until his death he completed at least 37 short subject films in a wide variety of mediums, many of them winning award-winning, his honorific nicknamed "Sheldon Cohen and Hans Fischerkoesen of Japa ...

*1966 - ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' (展覧会の絵 ''Tenrankai no E'') by

*1967 - ''Two Pikes'' (二匹のサンマ ''Ni-Hiki no Sanma'') and ''The Room'' (部屋 ''Heya'') by Yoji Kuri *1968 - ''The Ugly Duckling'' (みにくいあひるのこ ''Minikui Ahiru no Ko'') by Gakken *1969 - ''Yasashii Lion'' (やさしいライオン) by

Mushi Production or Mushi Pro for short, is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Fujimidai, Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. It previously had a headquarters elsewhere in Nerima. The studio was headed by manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka started it as a rivalry wit ...

*1970 - ''The Flower and the Mole'' (花ともぐら ''Hana to Mogura'') and ''Home My Home'' (ホーム・マイホーム) by

*1971 - ''Tenma no Torayan'' (てんまのとらやん) by Video Tokyo *1972 - ''Oni'' (鬼) by

Kihachirō Kawamoto was a Japanese puppet designer and maker, Independent film, independent film director, screenwriter and animator and president (corporate title), president of the Japan Animation Association from 1989, succeeding founder Osamu Tezuka, until his ...

*1973 - ''Praise Be to Small Ills'' (南無一病息災 ''Nanmu Ichibyousokusai'') by

*1974 - ''A Poet's Life'' (詩人の生涯 ''Shijin no Shougai'') by

*1975 - ''The Water Seed'' (水のたね ''Mizu no Tane'') by

*1976 - ''Dojoji Temple'' (道成寺 ''Dojoji'') by

*1977 - ''Towards the Rainbow'' (虹に向かって ''Miji ni Mukatte'') by

*1978 - Not awarded *1979 - ''

The Castle of Cagliostro is a 1979 Japanese animated action-adventure comedy film co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, with animation produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS). It is the second feature film featuring Monkey Punch's master thief Arsène Lupin III, f ...

'' *1980 - ''Speed'' (スピード) by Taku Furukawa *1981 - ''

Gauche the Cellist is a short story by the Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa. It is about Gauche, a struggling small-town cellist who is inspired by his interactions with anthropomorphized animals to gain insight into music. The story has been translated into English, ...

'' *1982 - ''The Magic Ballad'' (おこんじょうるり) by

*1983 - ''

Barefoot Gen is a Japanese historical manga series by Keiji Nakazawa. Loosely based on Nakazawa's own experiences as a Hiroshima survivor, the series begins in 1945 in and around Hiroshima, Japan, where the six-year-old boy Gen Nakaoka liv ...

'' *1984 - ''

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind may refer to * Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga), ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'' (manga), a manga series by Hayao Miyazaki * Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film), ''Nausicaä of the Valle ...

'' *1985 - ''

Night on the Galactic Railroad , sometimes translated as ''Milky Way Railroad'', ''Night Train to the Stars'' or ''Fantasy Railroad in the Stars'', is a classic Japanese fantasy novel by Kenji Miyazawa written around 1927. The nine-chapter novel was posthumously published in 1 ...

'' *1986 - '' Castle in the Sky'' *1987 - ''Legend of the Forest Part 1'' (森の伝説) by

*1988 - ''

My Neighbor Totoro is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten. The film—which stars the voice actors Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, and Hitoshi Takagi—tells the story o ...

'' *1989 - Not awarded *1990 - ''Briar Rose, or The Sleeping Beauty'' (いばら姫、またはねむり姫 ''Ibarahime Mata wa Nemurihime'') by

*1991 - ''The Restaurant of Many Orders'' (注文の多い料理店 ''Chuumon no Ooi Ryouriten'') by

*1992 - Not awarded *1993 - ''Ginga no Uo ~Ursa Minor Blue~'' (銀河の魚 ~URSA minor BLUE~) by Shigeru Tamura *1994 - Not awarded *1995 - ''

Memories Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

'' (「MEMORIES」大友克洋) by

Katsuhiro Ōtomo is a Japanese manga artist, screenwriter, animator and film director. He is best known as the creator of '' Akira'', in terms of both the original 1982 manga series and the 1988 animated film adaptation. He was decorated a ''Chevalier'' of t ...

*1996 - ''Rusuban'' (るすばん) by N&G Production *1997 - Not awarded *1998 - ''Mizu no Sei Kappa Hyakuzu'' (水の精河童百図) by Shirokumi *1999 - '' Rōjin to Umi - The Old Man and the Sea'' (「老人と海」アレクサンドル・ペトロフと技術スタッフ) by Aleksandr Petrov *2000 - '' Blood: The Last Vampire'' by Hiroyuki Kitakubo/

Production I.G is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...

*2001 - ''Kujira Tori'' (くじらとり) by

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and ha ...

*2002 - ''

Millennium Actress is a 2001 Japanese animated drama film co-written and directed by Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse. Loosely based on the lives of actresses Setsuko Hara and Hideko Takamine, it tells the story of two documentary filmmakers investigating the ...

'' (千年女優 ''Sennen Joyū'') by

Satoshi Kon was a Japanese film director, animator, screenwriter and manga artist from Sapporo, Hokkaido and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association (JAniCA). He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art Univer ...

/ Madhouse *2003 - ''

Winter Days is a 2003 Japanese anime film directed by Kihachirō Kawamoto. It is based on one of the ''renku'' ( collaborative linked poems) in the 1684 collection of the same name by the 17th-century Japanese poet Bashō. The creation of the film followe ...

'' (冬の日 ''Fuyu no Hi'') *2004 - ''

Mind Game Playing mind games (also power games or head games) is the largely conscious struggle for psychological one-upmanship, often employing passive–aggressive behavior to specifically demoralize or dis-empower the thinking subject, making the ag ...

'' (マインド・ゲーム) by

Masaaki Yuasa is a Japanese director, screenwriter, and animator affiliated with Science SARU, a Japanese animation studio which he co-founded with producer Eunyoung Choi in 2013. Yuasa previously served as president of Science SARU, but stepped down from th ...

Studio 4°C is a Japanese animation studio founded by Eiko Tanaka and Koji Morimoto in 1986. The name comes from the temperature at which water is most dense. History Studio 4 °C has produced numerous feature films, OVAs, and shorts. Early film t ...

*2005 - ''tough guy!'' by Shintarō Kishimoto *2006 - by

Michael Arias Michael Arias (born 1968) is an American-born filmmaker active primarily in Japan. Though Arias has worked variously as visual effects artist, animation software developer, and producer, he is best known for his directorial debut, the anime f ...

*2007 - '' A Country Doctor'' (カフカ　田舎医者) by

Kōji Yamamura is a Japanese independent animator who, after leaving a career as a background artist at an animation studio, directs, writes, edits, animates, creates the model sheets and background art for and sometimes produces his own short films and ha ...

*2008 - ''

Ponyo is a 2008 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Mitsubishi, and distributed by ...

'' (崖の上のポニョ, Gake no Ue no Ponyo) by

*2009 - ''Denshin-Bashira Elemi no Koi'' by Hideto Nakata/Sovat Theater *2010 - Not awarded *2011 - ''663114'' by Isamu Hirabayashi *2012 - ''

Combustible A combustible material is something that can burn (i.e., ''combust'') in air. A combustible material is flammable if it ignites easily at ambient temperatures. In other words, a combustible material ignites with some effort and a flammable mat ...

'' (火要鎮) by

*2013 - ''The Moon That Fell Into the Sea'' (海に落ちた月の話) by Akira Oda *2014 - ''Crazy Little Thing'' (澱みの騒ぎ) by Onohana *2015 - ''Datum Point'' (水準原点) by Ryo Orikasa *2016 - ''

In This Corner of the World is a manga series written and illustrated by Fumiyo Kōno which ran from 2007 to 2009 in ''Weekly Manga Action''. It follows the life of Suzu Urano, a young bride with her new family living on the outskirts of Kure City during the Secon ...

'' (この世界の片隅に) by Sunao Katabuchi *2017 - ''

Lu Over the Wall is a 2017 Japanese animated fantasy film produced by Science Saru and released by Toho about the eponymous ningyo. It was directed by Masaaki Yuasa, and written by Yuasa and Reiko Yoshida. The music was composed by Takatsugu Muramatsu. It is th ...

'' (夜明け告げるルーのうた) by

*2018 - ''

Liz and the Blue Bird is a 2018 Japanese animated drama film directed by Naoko Yamada and written by Reiko Yoshida, based on the ''Sound! Euphonium'' novel series written by Ayano Takeda and its eponymous anime television series adaptation by Yamada and Tatsuya Ishiha ...

'' (リズと青い鳥) by

Naoko Yamada is a Japanese animator, television and film director. Working at Kyoto Animation, she directed the anime series ''K-On!'' (2009-2010) and ''Tamako Market'' (2013), and the anime films '' A Silent Voice'' (2016) and ''Liz and the Blue Bird'' (2018 ...

*2019 - ''A Japanese Boy Who Draws'' (ある日本の絵描き少年) by Masanao Kawajiri *2020 - '' On-Gaku: Our Sound'' (音楽) by Kenji Iwaisawa *2021 - ''Pukkulapottas and Hours in the Forest'' (プックラポッタと森の時間) by Takeshi Yashiro

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ofuji Noburo Award Anime awards Lists of anime films Awards established in 1962 1962 establishments in Japan

Ōfuji Noburō Award The is an animation award given at the Mainichi Film Awards. It is named after Japanese animator Noburō Ōfuji. History Following the death of pioneering animator Noburō Ōfuji in 1961, Mainichi established a new award in his honour to recogni ...

Lists of films by award

History

Winners

See also

References