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Independent Animator Nobuhiro Aihara Passes Away
posted on by Egan Loo
Animator Nobuhiro Aihara passed away on April 30 while on a trip at a hotel in Denpasar on Bali, Indonesia. He was 66. He was discovered by a fellow traveller at the hotel, and the local police determined that he passed away due to natural causes.
Aihara was born in Kanagawa Prefecture during World War II, and starting in the mid-1960s, he worked on Osomatsu-kun, Moomin, and other titles at anime studios such as the influential Studio Zero and Oh production. However, he became more well-known in the local and international art communities for his experimental, independent animation works. His one-man animation shows travelled from Tokyo and Kyoto to Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Among of his works were "Stone," "Private," "Eizō (Kage)," "Line," and "Rain."
Aihara served as a judge at the Hiroshima and Seoul International Animation Festivals, and he also taught as a film professor at the Kyoto University of Art and Design.
Sources: Yomiuri, Sankei, Jiji Press, Anido
