Studying anime

The number of students at special schools aspiring to become professionals in the anime and manga industries is increasing with Nippon Engineering College having educated around 180,000 students in the years since opening their doors in 1947.

Those looking for careers in anime, manga / comic, gaming, design and other entertainment fields can study in the manga / animation department of the Nippon Engineering College Creator's Faculty.

Students in the manga / animation department will be able to study in a comic / anime lab housing all the very latest equipment to improve and instill knowledge on anime and manga character design as well as communicative abilities and the all important issue of creativity.

The curriculum itself will include a wide range of related skills such as digital animation, manga production, artwork and character design and is now taken by a number of non-Japanese students (10) studying alongside their local counterparts.

A Taiwanese student - Ms. Huang Wei-Ni - says; "After graduating from college in Taiwan, I came to Japan to study to become an animator. I studied Japanese for a year and entered Nippon Engineering College where I've been studying the basics of anime in this, my first year. I'll move up to more practical and specialized content in the second grade starting this April. I do like the practical training and am currently in the middle of production work needed to graduate from the first grade with 20 other faculty members. Together we start from scratch to produce a final scenario with my own area of work the drawing of celluloid pictures; 50 having been completed already.

All the students in the Creators College are good at drawing but it is said that Ms. Huang is among the best. She is always accompanied by her trusty sketch book to while away idle hours when not watching films by her favorite director Satoshi Kon - 'Tokyo God Fathers' in particular.

Ms. Huang's dream is to become an animator in Japan.

 Studying anime in 'Akiba'
"Akihabara English tour" was held on February 13th as a part of the "Yokoso! Japan Weeks" campaign. Foreigners interested in Akihabara, the most famous electric city in Japan, walked around the city and experienced the cutting edge digital technology.

A female tour participant from Australia says; "I found out about this tour at the tourist center in Akihabara UDX. This is my second visit to Japan, this time on a vacation. I started learning Japanese when I was in my Jr. High, and I thought it would be better if I knew more about Japan."

On the Akihabara tour, guided by students from the University of Digital Content (located in Akihabara), the participants dropped by Tokyo Anime Center and ASOBITCITY (a shop selling CD, DVD and Action figures), to enjoy shopping as well as to try out the latest computer games.

One of those participants, a British man who has lived in Japan for 9 years and is now running a company in Tokyo, said; "Interesting place. Although I've spent quite a long time in Japan, I've not had much chance to come to Akihabara. Everything in this town interests me a lot."

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