Taihei Imamura(今村太平Imamura Taihei) (21 August 1911 - 26 February 1986) was a Japanese film critic and film theorist. Writing from a left-wing perspective, he was a strong advocate of the realistic aspects of cinema and thus a champion of documentary film. He was also the first in Japan to pursue an extensive study of animated film. Anime directors such as Isao Takahata have expressed their debt to Imamura and Studio Ghibli has republished his book on animation. In his later years, he penned a study of the novelist Naoya Shiga. He published over 27 books during his career.