Seitarou Kitayama was a first generation animator who made animations on his own, not hired by larger corporations. He even founded his own animation studio which was closed due to lack of commercial success. He utilized the chalkboard technique, and later paper animation, with and without pre-printed backgrounds.
In 1923, the Great Kanto earthquake destroyed most of the Kitayama studio and the residing animators spread out and founded studios of their own, knowing that one could make money with the production of animations.
