Is transformers a cartoon with japanese or american background?
A bit of both. The toys which would be repurposed to become the first generation of Transformers were designed by a number of companies, some Japanese. The concept to unify them as 'Transformers' was American. Over the years, Transformers has been a joint project between American and Japanese companies, and their roles have been very fluid - although it's _usually_ the Americans who design the toys' looks and the Japanese who do the engineering, it can vary a lot. The writing for the shows is generally done in either one country or the other, and translated over to the other market. At the moment, the Americans have been doing the TV writing for just over a year.