Studio Signpost

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You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (March 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Japanese article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 1,289 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:スタジオ サインポスト]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|ja|スタジオ サインポスト}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

St. Signpost

Native name	株式会社スタジオ サインポスト
Romanized name	Kabushiki-gaisha Sutajio Sainposuto
Formerly	Studio Kikan (1993–2009) Pierrot Plus (2009–2019)
Company type	Kabushiki-gaisha
Industry	Animation studio
Founded	March 10, 1959; 65 years ago (1959-03-10)
Founder	Keiji Kusano (as Studio Kikan) Yoshikazu Tochihira (as Studio Kikan)
Headquarters	2-19-5 Igusa, Suginami, Tokyo, Japan
Key people	Ken Hagino (CEO)
Revenue	¥ 1,160,000,000 (2018)
Total equity	¥ 10,000,000
Number of employees	38 (as of August 2023)
Parent	Pierrot
Website	www.st-signpost.co.jp

St. Signpost Co., Ltd. (Japanese: 株式会社スタジオ サインポスト, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Sutajio Sainposuto) is an animation studio subsidiary of Pierrot. The studio is an associate-member of The Association of Japanese Animations.^[1]

The company was founded in 1959 as a magazine advertising agency and stepped into the anime industry in 1989 by Keiji Kusano and Yoshikazu Tochihira. In 1993, the company took on the name Studio Kikan and released their first animated works Shima Shima Tora no Shimajirou. In 1996, the company established Arms as a separate studio to focus on adult animation and subcontracted animation work.

The studio became a subsidiary of Pierrot in 2008 and changed its name to Pierrot Plus in 2009. Kusano stepping down as CEO to become a chairman, and was replaced by CEO of Arms, Osamu Shimizu.

On September 20, 2019, the company changed its name to Studio Signpost. Ken Hagino, who had worked at Pierrot as animation producer was appointed as the new CEO. In conjunction with this change, the official website of Arms was closed down, and the company was later dissolved on October 6, 2020.

Series in which Studio Signpost, Pierrot Plus, or Studio Kikan served as a gross (full) outsourcing studio, either for singular episodes or across entire series.

• Keiji Kusano (co-founder, president of Studio Kikan (1989~2009))
• Yoshikazu Tochihira (co-founder and animation producer)
• Osamu Shimizu (Studio Kikan producer (1991~2009), president of Pierrot+ (2009~2019))
• Ken Hagino (president of Studio Signpost (2019~present))

• Shintarou Nozaki (1994~present)
• Shingo Chiba (2007~present)
• Yuuya Kumagai (2013~2019)
• Kazuyoshi Ozawa (2013~present)
• Osamu Koshinaka (also a part of ARMS)
• Yasuyuki Ogoshi (also a part of ARMS)

• Keizō Kusakawa (1991~2002)

• Maya "Rin Shin" Suzuki (1991~1996; moved to ARMS; has been working with Signpost since ARMS' dissolution)

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Studio Kikan at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Pierrot Plus at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• St.Signpost at Anime News Network's encyclopedia