Shimokawa Hekoten is considered to be one of the founding artists and pioneers of anime.
He was a political caricaturist and cartoonist, who worked for the magazine Tokyo Puck. He was hired by Tenkatsu to do an animation for them. The result was Imokawa Mukuzo, Genkanban no Maki - considered as the very first "true" animation film.
Being a first generation animator, he only managed to do five movies after withdrawing due to medical reasons.
