by the fans for the fans

Discontent Seeps Into Japan's Anime Studios
Low Pay, Long Hours and Dwindling Demand Change the Plot for Animation Juggernaut


The Wall Street Journal
NOVEMBER 21, 2009

online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487...d=wsj_share_facebook


By YUKA HAYASHI

TOKYO—Anime, Japan's stylized animation that has become hugely popular around the world, helped reshape the country's image as a cultural trend-setter. But behind the scenes, things aren't so rosy.

Japan's animation industry is struggling. Anime workers are unhappy, toiling long hours at low pay. Sales have been declining. On top of that, there is fast-growing competition from across Asia. Studios in China and South Korea now churn out high-quality anime-style programs, helped by cheaper labor and, in some cases, government subsidies.

In a nation once known for its manufactured goods, anime has grown into Japan's most popular cultural export, influencing animation artistry world-wide, with a following among adults as well as children. The anime movie "Spirited Away" won the 2002 Academy Award for best animated feature, and before that the Pokemon franchise was a television staple and box-office success in the U.S., not to mention a trading-card and merchandising frenzy.

A shrinking population of children in Japan has discouraged toy makers, television networks and other traditional sponsors from funding new programs. That has driven many anime studios—most of which are small shops—toward making animated soft porn and violent movies targeted at adult audiences. At the same time, YouTube and other free Internet services have hurt sales of DVDs. Sales of Japanese-made anime DVDs slid 18% from a year earlier to 72.8 billion yen (about $800 million) in 2008, after peaking at 93.7 billion yen in 2006, according to the Japan Video Software Association, a trade group.

Morale is low. Industry executives estimate nine out of 10 new workers quit within three years, with the many talented employees leaving for better-paying jobs in areas like videogames. A survey conducted this year for industry executives showed that animators in their 20s made just 1.1 million yen ($11,000) a year on average, while those in their 30s earned 2.1 million yen.

Yasuna Tadanaga, 23 years old, left her position as an animator at a small Tokyo studio last year, only six months after landing what she thought was her dream job. To meet deadlines, Ms. Tadanaga worked 13 to 14 hours each day. During one month, she was given just one day off.


"The unspoken understanding was we worked on weekends because we loved the work," Ms. Tadanaga said. "We had to have a very good reason to take a day off."

Most young animators work as freelancers and often lack benefits. Many are paid by the number of sketches they produce, and that price has changed little in three decades.

Rie Otani, 22, grew up watching anime after school and dreamed of becoming an animator. After two years of training at a trade school, she joined Telecom Animation FilmCo., a Tokyo studio that participated in the production of "Spirited Away."

But like creative professionals starting out in competitive industries elsewhere, she discovered that the job involved more drudgery than glamour. Her contract position as an entry-level animator requires her to stare at a computer screen for nearly 12 hours a day.

Ms. Otani's goal is 300 sketches a month, and her monthly take-home pay sometimes falls below 100,000 yen ($1,050).


"I enjoy working with all these people who all love anime," says the tall, pony-tailed Ms. Otani, who draws pictures that connect key sketches to create moving images. "But I make so little money, and I worry if I can ever leave my parents and start on my own."

Even the president of Telecom Animation expresses some dismay about the state of the anime world. "The industry has become decadent and fatigued," says Koji Takeuchi, president of Telecom Animation, which is housed in an aging suburban building above a grocery store. "So many pieces are dark and oppressive, and the message of hope and fun is no longer there."

Mr. Takeuchi says his studio has taken steps to help its young employees, such as providing a more affordable health-insurance plan. He says he also promotes skilled animators to permanent positions.

The Japanese government says it is trying to support the industry, with plans to increase spending on education and training young animators and allocating more funds toward film marketing. But nurturing home-grown talent has become more difficult as Japanese companies increasingly outsource anime drawing to studios in China, South Korea and Vietnam, where labor costs are lower.

Osamu Yamazaki, a 47-year-old director of anime films, worries that moving the production process overseas will diminish Japan's ability to cultivate creative talent.

"People have tremendous power by just being young," he says. "Without young blood, we'll lose our ability to think flexibly and creatively."

One of the largest problems is trully the shrinking population of young people to watch anime in Japan. Japan has the fastest aging population in the world with over 20% over the age of 60 I believe. Not enough to sustain the current population. Japan's population is expected to decrease over the next 50 years also. Another problem is piracy. Fansubbig and what not. Another major problem in my opinion is the over abundance of studios. Many studio heads worked on major projects such as Gundam, Macross, Evangelion etc etc etc, and then went and formed their own studio. This may have worked in the short term but now it is not feasible. Also the cost to license anime is far to high. nearly $20,000 per episode.If they lowered the cost to their foreigh subsidiaries, the anime would be more widely available for consumers which means more profit sharing. Sad day for me in hearing the anime industry is strugling.

truly sad news indeed

Richardmvela

WOW. DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THAT. FROM WHAT I HEAR ARGENTINA IS IN THE SAME PATH AS WELL. I THINK I REMEMBER BACK IN THE DAY THERE WAS A POPULATION GROWTH THAT THE ECONOMY COULD NOT HANDLE AND STARTED THAT ONE CHILD PER FAMILY THING. AND NOW YOU SEE THE EFFECT.

I KNOW FEW COMPANY'S ARE OUTSOURCING COMIC BOOK ART AND SUCH TO THE PHILIPPINES NOW. WORK THAT IS CHEAPER AND EQUALLY AS GOOD AS AMERICAN VERSIONS. WHY ARTIST HERE IS NOT A WELL PAYED JOB LIKE IT USED TO BE. THERE ARE SPECIFIC ARTIST THAT I KNOW FROM SOUTH AMERICA, ONE IN BRAZIL, CHILE AND ARGENTINA WHO DO SPECIAL COVERS OR ART PANELS.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE AMERICAN ARTIST AND THE DOWN FALL OF COMIC IS WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ANIME INDUSTRY IN JAPAN. IF PRICE DOES NOT GO DOWN, ALL WORK WILL BE OUTSOURCED.

AND AMERICAN COMPANY'S ARE CATCHING ON TO THESE NEW ANIMATION INDUSTRY'S OUTSIDE OF JAPAN. WHY PAY A FEW WHEN YOU CAN GET A WHOLE STUDIO FROM KOREA OR PHILIPPINES JUST ABOUT THE SAME PRICE.

Richardmvela wrote:

One of the largest problems is trully the shrinking population of young people to watch anime in Japan. Japan has the fastest aging population in the world with over 20% over the age of 60 I believe.

I thought that was Pennsylvania. (Fastest aging state in the U.S., and second oldest behind Florida.)

This news is kind of depressing.

It reminds me of what's happening to the toy train market. The manufacturers released a slew of new products a few years back (and the big three - Lionel, MTH and K-Line - all had pretty thick catalogs), the market couldn't absorb it all, weaker companies have since collapsed and been bought out by larger companies (or opted to merge to prevent such an occurrence). The product lines are all still there, but the quantity of each SKU has dropped. Makes life tough to be a toy train fan.

Richardmvela wrote:

One of the largest problems is trully the shrinking population of young people to watch anime in Japan. Japan has the fastest aging population in the world with over 20% over the age of 60 I believe. Not enough to sustain the current population. Japan's population is expected to decrease over the next 50 years also.

Looks like a worthy mission for my next holiday. 9months after that, it will only be 18% as over 60.

khoroshen

Looks like a worthy mission for my next holiday. 9months after that, it will only be 18% as over 60.

YOU KNOW, WAS TALKING ABOUT THIS AT WORK. WAS TOLD BY MY CO WORKER WHO HAD A RECENT TRIP TO JAPAN FOUND THAT WOMEN ARE STARTING TO PICK UP MEN AT MEETING BARS. (FORGOT THE JAPANESE WORD) YOUNG RICH GIRLS AND UP TO COUGARS ARE SURE LOOKING FOR MEN AS WELL. AND THE BAR OWNERS LOVE THE NEW TREND. OTHER THAN PROFITABLE FOR THE SHOP BECAUSE OF THE BUSINESS OF ALCOHOL

WELL ANYWAYS, HE WAS TOLD THAT THE WOMEN ARE LOOKING NOT JUST FOR FUN BUT TO ALSO GET PREGNANT. I THOUGHT HE WAS PULLING MY LEG TILL HE SHOWED ME A FEW EMAILS. AND HE SAID THAT WAS JUST FROM ONE BAR.

JUST MAKE SURE YOU TAKE A BOX... OR BETTER YET BOXES OF CONDOMS.

One of the largest problems is trully the shrinking population of young people to watch anime in Japan. Japan has the fastest aging population in the world with over 20% over the age of 60 I believe. Not enough to sustain the current population. Japan's population is expected to decrease over the next 50 years also.

They're probably sick of the all the weeaboos
which is one of the reasons we can't have nice things

HappyPenguins wrote:

They're probably sick of the all the weeaboos
which is one of the reasons we can't have nice things

Nani? HappyPenguins-chan, are you baka?
Japanese young people-tachi are not weaboos!

Gubaba wrote:

HappyPenguins wrote:

They're probably sick of the all the weeaboos
which is one of the reasons we can't have nice things

Nani? HappyPenguins-chan, are you baka?
Japanese young people-tachi are not weaboos!

nope but the american weeaboos who are obsessed with japan and anime probably drive them batshit insane on the tubes or when they actually manage to get over there.