The local government of Tokyo's Nerima-ku, the birthplace of Japanese animation, started broadcasting its own anime-themed cable TV program this month, with a first run lasting until next spring.

"Neritan Anime Works" will be aired via cable service J:COM Tokyo three times a day on weekdays, and twice a day on weekends. Program content will be updated every two weeks until its 12th and final installment.

Nerima-ku's roster of anime kingpins includes the Toei Animation Company, their forerunners Toei Doga -- producer of Japan's first color animated feature film, "Hakujaden" -- and the late Osamu Tezuka, Nerima resident and creator of Japan's first animated TV serial "Astro Boy."

Since the late 1950s, when the above two animated works were being made, many animators and animation companies have put down their roots in the ward, and Nerima Ward Office started planning its own TV broadcasts last fall to celebrate the area's cultural history.

Guests will include Yasuo Otsuka, chief animation director of "Future Boy Conan," and Leiji Matsumoto, author of "Galaxy Express 999" and "Space Battleship Yamato," who also lives in the ward.

"Neritan Anime Works" will be made available to around 1.2 million households, including those in Suginami-ku, Itabashi-ku and part of Setagaya-ku in Tokyo, as well as in 11 other cities including Wako, Niiza and Nishi-Tokyo.

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