Kazuko Nakamura

Kazuko Nakamura (中村和子, Nakamura Kazuko, April 1, 1933 - August 3, 2019) was a Chinese-born Japanese animator and was born in the Kwantung Leased Territory. Nakamura was would remain one of Osamu Tezuka go-to animators.

Early life and education
Kazuko Nakamura was born in Manchuria, She began interested with arts from an early age and since there were no art schools in Manchuria, she intended to go to an art school in the mainland in the future. At the age of 12, she returned to Yamaguchi Prefecture to go to Yamaguchi Prefectural Ube High School and graduate there. After graduated from Yamaguchi Prefectural Ube High School, she entered Joshibi University of Art and Design. During there, she saw a French animated film The King and the Mockingbird and became interested in animators.

Career and death
Nakamura was a pioneer of animation in a time where female animators were not treated the same as their male counterparts and not given the same opportunities and after graduating from Joshibi University of Art and Design, she started working at Toei Douga in 1956. She soon transferred to Mushi Production in 1960 where she became the first female animation supervisor for an entire TV series, working on the first shoujo anime Ribon No Kishi (Princess Knight). She was well known for making the female characters she worked on authentic in their femininity, devoid of the oversexualization often created by male animators.

On August 3, 2019, she died at the age of 86. In the 2020 Tokyo Anime Award Festival, Kazuko Nakamura was honored for Hakujaden. Nakamura's family and friends held a private funeral about her.