Japanese Animators Poor Working Conditions
I always thought that being the capital of anime, Japan would treat its animators very well. In fact, I assumed that many otakus out there would dream to become an animator. Unfortunately, Japanese animators have to endure poor working conditions in reality.
The truth: They are required to work everyday without weekend off (ZOMG, then how are they going to watch anime), draw 200 key frames (no idea what is that) and only get paid only tens of thousand yen every month (thats really pathetic). In addition, they have no promise of job security or retirement pension.
Therefore, now the animators have banded together to form a sort of union – (Japan Animation Creators Association) in a bid to protect their own interest and try to get the industry to improve working conditions. There is an increasingly number of animators leaving the industry and if the industry continues in this unhealthy direction, I would say that anime fans are #@&%ed!
Interviewed animators said that some had to move back in to live with their parents because they could no longer afford the rent. Sometimes they wouldn’t even go see a doctor because it costs money!! (This sounds like the working conditions of sweatshops in those 3rd world countries!)
Source of news: Mainichi
I was thinking, if the report is true, imagine getting a pay of 50,000 yen. Thats like 400 USD. How can they survive with so little money?!
I can’t understand why the animators in Japan must endure such as poor working condition while the business seems to run very well, profitable and seems will last forever? Anime fans come from very wide age range, from small children to senior adults. New animes are being released all the time, so what is wrong?
I really hope that the condition will be improved soon. It’s a pity if the anime industry in Japan come into a halt because of this.
It really reminds me of the way programmers in a lot of the computer game companies are treated, too. They work the longest hours (sometimes 80 hours a week), and with little or no overtime pay. The turnover is very high as is burnout. It’s partly a reflection of the fierce competition in the field, which is also true of anime, and that being an animator I suppose is considered grunt work. Much like programming in some ways…(I was a programmer for 2 years, and it certainly felt like it).
If they can successfully unionize they will be doing better than the game programmers, then. I wish them well.
Except nowadays and more often, businesses run like this. If you don’t like the way they work, they can just fire you and outsource to some other country for cheaper prices and no more complaints.
I feel for the Japanese animators. I was also captivated by that image you used. That girl is very cute. Is crying because she is concerned about the animator’s poor working conditions? If only we could all comfort her
@Mike: Seems like the situation is not limited to only animators. I wonder this is the same for alot of other creative jobs.
@ Amgine: I wonder if anime can be outsourced to cheaper countries since the art style of Japanese anime are pretty unique.
@DS: I think if i have a monthly pay of 50,000 yen (400 USD), I would cry like the girl too. =P
AFAIK, the outsourcing of in-between work has already happened and has happened for a long time now. It’s one of the main reasons why South Korea has such a thriving indigenous animation and manhwa industry of their own now. Favorite outsourcing locations now are China and the Philippines; it’s why you see so many Chinese names (in Romanized letters, for some reason) in so many credit sequences nowadays.
ANN had something on their salaries…
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-11-02/animator’s-salaries
I hope the union can get better salaries for them.
http://www.riuva.com/?p=111
One of my earlier posts, where I basically compiled info on this.
is that 50k yen monthly?
@ Endz: Yeah I would think so.
Here’s the stats from the Daily Yomiuri Survey in 2005:
26.8% earn less than 1 million yen (US$8,500 approx.) annually, 19.6% earn between 1 million yen and 2 million yen (US$17,000 approx.) annually, 18.6% earn between 2 million yen and 3 million yen (US$25,700 approx.) annually. 65% of Japanese animators earn less than 3 million yen annually.
i read bout it before from riuva’s link..
And it was all thanks to the creator of astro boy. He set the trend for shitty working conditions and lousy pay. As the production of 1 episode of anime is already quite high, the production house has to cut money. sending in-betweens to china/korea is cheap but quality might not be there(see “welcome to nhk”)..The next thing they cut: animator’s salary.
As there are 3 different levels of animators in japan, the lowest class(clean up “artists”) gets the lowest pay (they count by per piece..100 yen or so..). The highest class of animators would be the keyframers. they think of the animations and draft them out on the paper. after animating the main impt keyframes, the job is passed down to in betweeners (whose pay is in between the highest and lowest class)..and then it’s the mentioned clean up artists..
it was even reported that the producers get an unknown but high pay. as in the person who thought up of the story and character designs..etc..
i think odex xysing briefly mentioned it before..which lead to the current hunt.
sadly this is the state of animation all over asia as it is a very drastic cost cutting measure…