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 recognise animation excellence. A specialist in silhouette animation, Ōfuji was one of the earliest Japanese animators to gain international recognition, winning accolades at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival and the 1956 Venice Film Festival. This award was first presented in 1962 for by Osamu Tezuka.
With the growth of the animation industry in Japan in the 1980s, the award 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. Th Animation Grand Award was first presented in 1989 for by Hayao Miyazaki.
The award encompasses a wider variety of animation, including stop motion. Two of the most frequent winners over the years, and , specialize mainly in stop motion. Russian animator Aleksandr Petrov also won for his paint-on-glass animation film, The Old Man and the Sea.
Winners 1962 - by Osamu Tezuka 1963 - Wanpaku Ōji no Orochi Taiji by Yugo Serikawa/Toei Doga 1964 - Murder (殺人 MURDER) by Makoto Wada 1965 - Love (愛 Ai) by Yoji Kuri and The Mysterious Medicine (ふしぎなくすり Fushigi na Kusuri) by Tadanari Okamoto 1966 - Pictures at an Exhibition (展覧会の絵 Tenrankai no E) by Osamu Tezuka 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 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 Tadanari Okamoto 1971 - Tenma no Torayan (てんまのとらやん) by Video Tokyo 1972 - Oni (鬼) by Kihachirō Kawamoto 1973 - Praise Be to Small Ills (南無一病息災 Nanmu Ichibyousokusai) by Tadanari Okamoto 1974 - A Poet's Life (詩人の生涯 Shijin no Shougai) by Kihachirō Kawamoto 1975 - The Water Seed (水のたね Mizu no Tane) by Tadanari Okamoto 1976 - Dojoji Temple (道成寺 Dojoji) by Kihachirō Kawamoto 1977 - Towards the Rainbow (虹に向かって Miji ni Mukatte) by Tadanari Okamoto 1978 - Not awarded 1979 - The Castle of Cagliostro 1980 - Speed (スピード) by Taku Furukawa 1981 - Gauche the Cellist 1982 - The Magic Ballad (おこんじょうるり) by Tadanari Okamoto 1983 - Barefoot Gen 1984 - Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 1985 - Night on the Galactic Railroad 1986 - Castle in the Sky 1987 - Legend of the Forest Part 1 (森の伝説) by Osamu Tezuka 1988 - My Neighbor Totoro 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 Kihachirō Kawamoto 1991 - The Restaurant of Many Orders (注文の多い料理店 Chuumon no Ooi Ryouriten) by Tadanari Okamoto/Kihachirō Kawamoto 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 (「MEMORIES」大友克洋) by Katsuhiro Ōtomo 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 2001 - Kujiratori (くじらとり) by Studio Ghibli 2002 - Millennium Actress (千年女優 Sennen Joyū) by Satoshi Kon/Madhouse 2003 - Winter Days (冬の日 Fuyu no Hi) 2004 - Mind Game (マインド・ゲーム) by Masaaki Yuasa/Studio 4°C 2005 - tough guy! by Shintarō Kishimoto 2006 - by Michael Arias/Studio 4°C 2007 - A Country Doctor (カフカ 田舎医者) by Kōji Yamamura 2008 - Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ, Gake no Ue no Ponyo) by Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli 2009 - Denshin-Bashira Elemi no Koi by Hideto Nakata/Sovat Theater 2010 - Not awarded 2011 - 663114 by Isamu Hirabayashi 2012 - Combustible (火要鎮) by Katsuhiro Ōtomo 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 (この世界の片隅に) by Sunao Katabuchi 2017 - Lu Over the Wall (夜明け告げるルーのうた) by Masaaki Yuasa 2018 - Liz and the Blue Bird (リズと青い鳥) by Naoko Yamada 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 2022 - Inu-Oh (犬王) by Masaaki Yuasa 2023 - The Boy and the Heron (君たちはどう生きるか) by Hayao Miyazaki 2024 - Watashi wa, Watashi to, Watashi ga, Watashi o, (私は、私と、私が、私を、) by Rina Itou 2025 - Ordinary Life (普通の生活) by Yoriko Mizushiri
See also
List of animation awards
References