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Japanese Cabinet Meeting Discusses Anime Industry Wages

The low wages for animation industry workers in Japan is an internationally recognized problem. The subject was brought up in a Cabinet meeting in Japan on Friday, when assembly member Hiroyuki Moriyama asked the following question: "I have heard that wages for animators in China are an order of magnitude higher compared to Japan. Are you aware of this situation?"

In response, the Cabinet speaker brought up the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA)'s 2019 report, which indicates that the mean average yearly income across the industry has been rising, but which also indicates that younger people in their 20s are underpaid as a group.

To deal with this, he explained that the Agency for Cultural Affairs is investing in on-the-job experimental training programs aimed at young talent. In response, assembly member Moriyama stressed that although wages overall might appear to be rising, the entry level wages for people in their early 20s is as low as 1.1 million yen (approximately US$9,500). He urged Cool Japan to tackle this problem earnestly.

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan posted a clip of the exchange on its Twitter account:

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood director Yasuhiro Irie, who is a representative for JAniCA, commented on the exchange, pointing out that the "average yearly wage" used in this context also includes the amounts earned by directors and producers. JAniCA's focus is on the in-between animators and key animators who earn around one million yen a year. Nevertheless, he does see worth in the comparing average wages across industries, and hopes to keep working to provide more accurate and nuanced data through the surveys in the future.

"Due to the dangers felt by makers and production companies, as well as the changes in animators' consciousness, reforms have started to take place, but there's still much work to be done," he remarked.

The Japanese government's Agency of Cultural Affairs launched its "Young Animator Training Project" in 2010 with the aim of fostering the growth of domestic animation studios, and tackling the concern that more of the Japanese animation process is being outsourced overseas. The project has spawned such works as Little Witch Academia, Death Billiards (which inspired the Death Parade television anime), and Ongaku Shōjo.

The anime shorts train young animators on-the-job as part of the Agency of Cultural Affairs' "Young Animator Training Project." The project was previously known as "Anime Mirai."