Tokyo Anime Awards Festival 2017 announces honorees in the category of Distinguished Contributions to Animation, including Leiji Matsumoto!　Pre-period events also announced!

The winners of the Animation Merit Category at the Tokyo Anime Awards Festival 2017 have been announced.

Tokyo Anime Awards Festival 2017 is an international animation film festival organized by the Japan Animation Association and co-sponsored by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and will be held for four days from March 10 (Fri.) to 13 (Mon.) at the main venue in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.

The "Animation Merit Category," announced on January 19, honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of the animation industry and culture. 10 people, including manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, known for his "Galaxy Express 999," have been selected for this year's award.

In addition, a "Special Screening of Takashi Furukawa" will be held on March 4 (Sat) at the Ogikubo venue with animation artist Taku Furukawa on the stage, and on March 8 (Wed) at the Iidabashi venue, a special screening of "Gobelins," a prestigious French animation school, will be held. On Wednesday, March 8, a special program "Best of Gobelins (tentative) " by the prestigious French animation school "Gobelins" will be held at the Iidabashi venue.
For more details, please check the official website of "Tokyo Anime Awards Festival".

Honorees in the Animation Merit Category] (* Alphabetical order, titles omitted, representative works introduced)
Sound Director: Susumu Akutagawa (representative works: "Knight of the Ribbon", etc.)
(Director) Hiroshi Ikeda (Representative works: "Sally the Wizard", etc.)
Yoshifumi Kondo (Deceased) (Representative Works: "Mimi wo Summaseba" etc.)
Producer: Sumio Goto (Deceased) (Representative works: "New Movie: 3 Stories" and others)
Tadanao Tsuji (Art Director)
Animation Artist: Taku Furukawa (Representative works: "Surprise Board", etc.)
Singer: Yoko Maekawa (Best known for the opening of "Hyokkori Hyotanjima" and others)
Eiko Masuyama (Voice Actor) (Representative works: "Lupin the Third (2nd season)" as Fujiko Mine, etc.)
Reiji Matsumoto (Major works: "The Galaxy Express 999", etc.)
＜Michiyo Hoda (Deceased) (Representative works: "Grave of the Fireflies", etc.)