Out of the top ten highest grossing Japanese movies from last year, four were animated, including the highest grossing one,  Goro Miyazaki's "Tales From Earthsea". It's not like the US doesn't have it's own share of high grossing toons (Shrek anyone?), but I'm still always surprised by how popular home grown animation is in Japan.

Anyways, this Variety article has an interesting look at the bussiness side of Japanese animation, and some problems it faces. A little less in depth than I would have liked, but still interesting.