Short answers, pulled from the story.
Animation Kobe was an annual event established by the city of Kobe in 1996 to promote anime and other visual media. It ran from 1996 to 2015 and combined an awards ceremony with talk shows and screenings of prize-winning works.
Hideaki Anno won the first Individual Award at the inaugural Animation Kobe event on the 8th of December 1996, recognised for his direction of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Most winners were chosen by a panel of chief editors from anime magazines such as Newtype, Animedia, and Animage, typically joined by a city employee from Kobe City. The panel voted among itself to appoint a chairman each year. Only the Theme Song Award used fan votes to narrow candidates before the committee made the final decision.
Yasuki Hamano chaired the organising committee from 1996 through 2005. Akira Kamiya then served as chairman from 2006 through the final event in 2015.
Winners included Ghost in the Shell in 1996, Princess Mononoke in 1997, Spirited Away in 2001, Millennium Actress in 2003, Paprika in 2007, and WALL-E in 2009. The final Theatrical Film Award in 2015 went to Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie, directed by Kazuya Nomura.
The Animation Kobe awards considered candidates from outside Japan in all major categories, including the Theatrical Film, Television, Packaged Work, and Network awards. However, the committee placed greater weight on promoting young Japanese creators.