Top 15 Most Successful Japanese Animators

Japanese anime or animation industry is world famous for Japan-based animation, which includes anime television series, anime book series, anime movie series, daily-based magazines, and so on.

Top 15 Best, Famous & Successful Japanese Animators, All-Time

Currently, Many outstanding Animators now present in Japan, and they are well-known for their talent, skills, and significant project design in the Anime entertainment industry.

You know, the animators work all day and night to bring their ideas, creativity, thoughts, and adventure to their followers all the time. Here, we are going to bring the top 15 most successful animators to this list and all listed animators are well-known in the anime industry for their work.

1. Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki is an awards-winning Japanese Animator who won the Oscar award for the movie "Spirited Away", and in 2016, "Spirited Away" was voted the fourth-best film of the 21st century by the BBC, as picked by 177 film critics from around the world, making it the highest-ranking animated film on the list.

Full Name: Hayao Miyazaki
Occupations: Animator, filmmaker, screenwriter, author, manga artist
Years active: 1963–present
Employers: Toei Animation (1963–1971), A-Pro (1971–1973), Zuiyō Eizō (1973–1975), Nippon Animation (1975–1979), Tokyo Movie Shinsha (1979–1982), Topcraft (1982–1985), Studio Ghibli (1985–present)

2. Katsuhiro Otomo

Katsuhiro Otomo received the Winsor McCay Award at the 41st Annie Awards in 2014 and the 2015 Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême, the first manga artist to receive the award. On October 4, 1973, Otomo published his first work, a manga adaptation of Prosper Mérimée's short story Mateo Falcone, titled A Gun Report.

Full Name: Katsuhiro Otomo
Occupations: Animator, screenwriter, manga artist, director
Years active: 1973–present

3. Satoshi Kon

Satoshi Kon is best known for his acclaimed anime films Perfect Blue (1997), Millennium Actress (2001), Tokyo Godfathers (2003), Paprika (2006), and the TV series Paranoia Agent (2004). He died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 46 on August 24, 2010.

Full Name: Satoshi Kon
Occupations: Film director, animator, screenwriter, and manga artist
Years active: 1984-2010
Other Names: Yoshihiro Wanibuchi (鰐淵良宏)
Alma Mater: Musashino Art University

4. Atsuko Ishizuka

Atsuko Ishizuka made a number of short animated films for her own enjoyment, often set to music. One of these films, Gravitation, which was later featured at the 2005 Tehran International Short Film Festival, caught the attention of both the Japanese broadcasting giant NHK and Madhouse.

Full Name: Atsuko Ishizuka
Occupations: Animator, storyboard artist, director
Years active: 2004-present
Other Names: いしずかあつこ, Ishizuka Atsuko

5. Hiroyuki Imaishi

Hiroyuki Imaishi worked at Gainax in 1995 as an in-between animator for Neon Genesis Evangelion. Some of his early works include animation direction, storyboarding, and key animation for Kare Kano, FLCL, Diebuster, Oval X Over, and the ending animation of Paradise Kiss. He went on to direct Dead Leaves, a 2004 anime film produced by Production I.G., and the first episode of Re: Cutie Honey.

Full Name: Hiroyuki Imaishi
Occupations: Anime director, animator, character designer
Years active: 1995-present
Other Names: 今石洋之, Imaishi Hiroyuki

6. Yutaka Nakamura

Yutaka Nakamura is known for his dynamic and unique action sequences that often make very heavy use of impact frames, and is considered in animation circles as one of the greatest action cinematographers of his generation.

Full Name: Yutaka Nakamura
Occupations: Animator, designer, and cinematographer
Years active: 1988-present
Other Names: 中村豊, Nakamura Yutaka

7. Hiroko Utsumi

Hiroko Utsumi is a very famous Japanese animator who first started her career with 'Kyoto Animation" in 2005 and she received global success in 2013 with her directorial work in "Free! Eternal Summer".

Full Name: Hiroko Utsumi
Occupations: Anime director, animator, storyboard artist, and manga artist
Years active: 2005-present
Other Names: 内海紘子, Utsumi Hiroko

8. Makoko Shinkai

Makoto Shinkai his longstanding association with CoMix Wave Films, Shinkai then released the science-fiction OVA Voices of a Distant Star in 2002 and followed this with his debut feature film The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004).

Full Name: Makoto Shinkai
Occupations: Animator, filmmaker, author, and manga artist
Years active: 1996-present
Other Names: Makoto Niitsu, 新津誠, Niitsu Makoto

9. Naoko Yamada

Naoko Yamada directed the original net animation The Heike Story under Science SARU. The series premiered on Japanese television in January 2022. She has won multiple awards for her work, as well as become world-renowned for her stylistic choices in anime.

Full Name: Naoko Yamada
Occupations: Animator, television & film director
Years active: 2004-present
Other Names: 山田尚子, Yamada Naoko
Employee: Kyoto Animation (2004–2020)

10. Shoko Nakamura

Shoko Nakamura is well-known for her works in the Japanese anime entertainment industry with her feature debut work in Doukyuusei as well as several other projects.

Full Name: Shoko Nakamura
Occupations: Animator, director
Years active: 2003-present
Other Names: 中村章子, Nakamura Sōko