Celebrating the International Animation Day (IAD) 2023 - the 22nd Anniversary !

On behalf of ASIFA-JAPAN, I am most pleased to celebrate this year's International Animation Day (IAD). We would like to celebrate this “day for animation” together with all animation professionals around the world, all lovers of animation art, and all students who are studying and working hard to become active in animation field.

International Animation Day, now in its 22nd year, was established by the Association Internationale du Film d'Animation (ASIFA) in 2002, to promote the development of animation art, and it is celebrated on and around October 28th, the day when Emile Reynaud (1844 - 1918) is said to have the first public showing of animation in 1892. In Japan, ASIFA-JAPAN has been celebrating this day since 2005, by holding animation screenings, exhibitions, lectures, workshops, etc.

This year, IAD in Japan will be held in three cities, Nishi Maizuru, Kyoto and Atsugi.

In “IAD 2023 in Nishi Maizuru”, “ASIFA-JAPAN Film Collection Vol.1” will be shown at Seis x Cine Grulla, with efforts made by Ryusuke Imai, ASIFA-JAPAN member, and supported by Kyoto University of the Arts. In “IAD 2023 in Kyoto”, a retrospective program of Renzo & Sayoko Kinoshita will be held as an open class of the Graduate School of Kyoto University of the Arts. There will also be an exhibition of illustrations by Renzo Kinoshita as well as precious materials such as a trophy from New York International Animation Festival. And, in “IAD 2023 in Atsugi”, a film program and a lecture will be held as a special class of Kanagawa Institute of Technology, planned and organized by Takashi Fukumoto, ASIFA-JAPAN member.

On this occasion, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those people who kindly cooperated to realize our IAD.

Although the Corona pandemic has finally subsided and people have resumed exchanges, the war still shows no sign of ending, and international relations seem to be becoming increasingly tense. On a personal note, in June of this year, I visited Nicole Salomon, an ASIFA member since its inception and who was also involved in the establishment of the Annecy Festival, and interviewed her about the state of the animation world at the time the Hiroshima International Animation Festival (1985 - 2020) was established. Through this interview, I was reminded of the spirit of LOVE & PEACE that was carefully nurtured by ASIFA founders and their successors, and that the importance of sharing this spirit with people around the world through the art of animation is most required today. Thus, again this year, it is my wish to organize IAD as one of these attempts to pursue LOVE & PEACE ceaselessly.

October, 2023

Hiroshi Onishi
Acting President of ASIFA-JAPAN