Wao Corp., an Osaka-based cram school managing company, has announced that in 2006 it will launch a school to teach students how to produce animated films and operate animation production companies, reports YOMIURI newspaper. The school will be the first of its kind in Japan and is being established in the Suginami Ward, Tokyo ward where nearly 70 animation production companies are located.

In 2004, the company approached the ward for assistance to set up a corporate graduate school. In response, the ward government filed an application with the Cabinet Office to register to become a special zone for structural reform. The application should be approaved by March 2006. If it is approved, the company will apply to the Education, Science and Technology Ministry's Council for University Chartering and School Juridical Persons for approval to start the school.

The school will offer two two-year courses each with a 30-student capacity. In the creative course, students will learn animation production. In the business course, students will learn planning and management skills.