Yasuji Murata

Yasuji Murata (24 January 1896 - 2 November 1966) was a pioneering animator who helped develop the art of anime in Japan. Studying the animation techniques of Sanae Yamamoto, Murata produced dozens of mostly educational films at the Yokohama Cinema studio featuring such characters as Momotarô and Norakuro. Along with Noburô Ôfuji, he was renowned as a master of cutout animation. Among his students were such animators as Yoshitarô Kataoka. He was in his early years assistant of Seitaro Kitayama, a pioneer of Japanese animation, and worked with him in his animation studio (Kitayama Eiga Seisakujo). But after the Kanto Earthquake of 1923 that destroyed the studio, Murata then invests in the production company Yokohama Cinema Shokai. He was very prolific during the decade (between 1926 and 1936) he spent in the studio, performing forty films. At the end of his career, he still participates in some projects as a facilitator or writer, and directed his last film in 1947.