Animation Schools

There are a few different types of animation schools in Japan. Some universities and colleges offer animation programs, there are art/technical schools with animation courses and there are animation specialty schools. (The school I went to - the International Animation Institute - is gone now.)
A list of specialty schools is here. I do not endorse or recommend any of these schools over the others and interested parties should contact the schools directly at the addresses given.
The animation schools listed here will give a student enough instruction that he/she can get an entry level job at an animation company. All of the schools offer placement services which will, naturally, be modified in some way for foreign students. Some companies depend on the animation schools for new employees but a few never hire anybody who went to an animation school at all. Many companies do not feel that the student can work after coming right out of school so they spend a few months retraining them.
My advice when going to animation school would either be to specialize in a broad field like drawing animation or to try and get a good sample of all the different kinds of fields possible.

Caveat...

Note: All these schools provide animation training only in Japanese so good language skills are a prerequisite.
Visa note: The schools listed will not be able to provide student visas as they are all specialty, trade and technical schools. Students wishing to attend them will probably be able to go under a Japanese language or other cultural visa.

I have not seen tuition rates for any of the schools for quite some time. Please contact the schools directly for their current rates.

This page last updated: 01/03/06