@apprendere yeah i mean, the fact that we’re naming the aesthetic after a japanese animation style is maaaaybe a sign that the west did not in fact invent said aesthetic & the whole thing is just appropriation
but like you i’m not really knowledgable enough to talk about the history of the style past that point
@apprendere oooh those pieces are both lovely! sounds like a fun research dive
@Satsuma yeah, this specific post was inspired by learning about the shin hanga print style/movement (wikipedia says it mostly happened 1915-1942) and how easily some of those pieces could be passed off as "ghibli". E.g. the two attached pieces here by Hiroshi Yoshida from the 1920s (both now public domain by japanese copyright).
But also I've read iust enough about manga and anime to know that the artistic inspiration and crosstalk has gone both ways between japan and the west since japan opened more, so the full history has gotta be a bit complicated and interesting!