Sure if you want to broaden the definition to “anything that has ever been animated in Japan ever” then sure they’ve been doing anime for decades, but the stuff we would colloquially call ‘anime’ generally kicked off after the war, inspired by American culture. The signature ‘anime’ style is directly inspired by Disney cartoons, and it wasn’t even called anime until the 60s.
Sure if you want to broaden the definition to “anything that has ever been animated in Japan ever” then sure they’ve been doing anime for decades, but the stuff we would colloquially call ‘anime’ generally kicked off after the war, inspired by American culture. The signature ‘anime’ style is directly inspired by Disney cartoons, and it wasn’t even called anime until the 60s.