Amin Abbas

A Japanese animation learning event was held on Feb. 28 and March 5 at the Japanese restaurant Mitsuba in Dubai.

Presented by the Uemo Animation School, the event featured an introduction to the Online Lecture System Learning from Japanese animation creators.

CEO of Umeo Animation School Yoshihisa Otani told Arab News Japan that students “listened to a Japanese teacher teach via video and performed the practical skills on a tablet. The language is Japanese, but with subtitles.”

“Participants said they were able to learn at a good pace,” he explained.

Otani mentioned that they have received many encouraging comments from the attendees about the online learning service.

“One particularly memorable moment occurred during our figure drawing course. After watching the lecture video, participants spontaneously started drawing on their own. It was a powerful example of ‘learning by watching, creating by doing’ happening right before our eyes. Additionally, we received valuable feedback on the purpose of our service and its pricing, which will be useful as we continue to refine our offerings,” Otani said.

“Some attendees mentioned that they had previously only watched anime. However, after the event, they realized that “learning more about anime enhances the experience and makes watching even more enjoyable. This reaffirmed that our approach and vision for this service are on the right track, and we are excited about its potential to further cultivate interest in Japanese anime culture,” Otani added.

Otani said that they are aiming to create more opportunities to share the joy of learning and creating with a wider audience.

“As a first step, we will proceed with our planned online expansion while gradually adding more lecture content. In the future, we plan to enhance our offline anime education programs, including workshops and events.”

Uemo is an online service where people can learn the mindset, approach and techniques from creators active in the Japanese anime industry.