Extremely Low Salary of Japanese Animators

by dtshyk
May 22, 2009 7:45 AM | 86 Comments

Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA) held a symposium about the working environment of Japanese animators in Tokyo on May 22nd. They reported that the average annual income of animators is considerably lower than that of normal office workers and 47% of them haven't signed an employment contract with the production studios.

Average Annual Income ($1 = 93 - 100 yen)
Animators
20 - 29y: 1.10 million yen
30 - 39y: 2.24 million yen

Male Office Workers (2008)
20 - 24y: 2.71 million yen
25 - 29y: 3.81 million yen
30 - 34y: 4.63 million yen
35 - 39y: 5.60 million yen

JAniCA concluded that it's impossible to foster young animators in such a poor working environment and there is a great fear for the future of the anime industry.

Sources:
NHK news
Nensyu-lab

20 of 86 Comments Recent Comments

art is quickly gaining status as being unneeded, while tech. jobs are said to be more important, though i reject this assumption

May 28, 2009 2:46 PM by renjikuchiki1

I knew it was low, but not THAT low. Poor people :/

May 28, 2009 6:47 AM by Itachi-san

little corruption Einstein
you cant even make an inference right...

May 27, 2009 6:34 PM by renjikuchiki1

renjikuchiki1 said:
there are many a man who miss the days of established wages and little inflation and corruption

People miss corruption? Sounds like they have their priorities screwed up.

May 27, 2009 6:02 PM by Drunk_Samurai

there are many a man who miss the days of established wages and little inflation and corruption

May 27, 2009 1:49 PM by renjikuchiki1

renjikuchiki1 said:

V3gas said:

ladyxzeus said:
What is fantastical is that their salary is still 4 times higher than the minimal salary here. It's more than enough to live and be happy, maybe they can even raise a family only based on that salary.

It's low, but it's not that low. I mean, there are doctors here that get less than that.

As Aeiou said, it depends on where you live. In rich countries like Japan, everything costs a lot more than in poor countries, meaning that you have to get paid more to get by.

Also, renjikuchiki1: I doubt communism is the way to go for Japan. Or any other country, for that matter. History has proved that communism looks perfect on paper, but it doesn't work.

many would beg to differ with you my friend

Oh really? Ask about any man (as in human) from former Soviet Union, and I doubt they will be that happy about communism.

May 27, 2009 8:45 AM by V3gas

or that you're wrong

May 27, 2009 4:04 AM by renjikuchiki1

renjikuchiki1 said:

V3gas said:

many would beg to differ with you my friend

That would mean many are wrong then.

May 27, 2009 1:38 AM by Drunk_Samurai

V3gas said:

many would beg to differ with you my friend

May 26, 2009 6:58 PM by renjikuchiki1

May 26, 2009 10:36 AM by V3gas

*gets back up*
I wonder how much the outsourced Korean animators get paid. I don't think I even want to know.

May 25, 2009 3:25 PM by Fui

They get payed so little for all of their work. It's really unfair to them...

May 24, 2009 1:12 PM by Leah

Wow!! pretty low huh? In Japan where everything is like super expensive that's practically nothing. But in the country I live that income would give you a medium-low quality life. Cosidering my country is in the "third world" classification and Japan in the "first world" (considering the country's total annual income) this is VERY sad and shocking.

May 24, 2009 9:32 AM by vault2049

And cost of living in Japan (at least as far as rent goes) is higher than stateside. Sucktastic.

May 23, 2009 9:34 PM by Torisunanohokori

I feel baaaad for them.

May 23, 2009 8:46 PM by celery96

renjikuchiki1 said:

death1001 said:
they need an itunes for anime. digital down loads will save them from making dvds and distributing thus saving them money
and since they don't have manufacturing prices they can make the show cost much less thus more people buy. means even more money for the industry

but its easier to copy and sell files then it is DVD's.....

im not sure what you mean?

if your worried about 1 person dling it then copying it and giving it to his buddys then yes it will happen but you can do that with a dvd also.

its easier for a company to put a file up for download then it is to have a factory and infrastructure to make a dvd. with the file being download all they need is a server that can handle the work

May 23, 2009 8:28 PM by death1001

panda_general said:
Sucks to be them.
They REALLY need to change how they work things cause it's obviously not working.

saying "sucks to be them" isn't rlly constructive...perhaps hav a little sympathy?

May 23, 2009 8:12 PM by renjikuchiki1

Fui said:
THIS IS BECAUSE YOU PEOPLE DON'T BUY ANIME DV*gets shot*

oh it hit

May 23, 2009 7:44 PM by Neverender

THIS IS BECAUSE YOU PEOPLE DON'T BUY ANIME DV*gets shot*

May 23, 2009 7:43 PM by Fui

Sucks to be them.
They REALLY need to change how they work things cause it's obviously not working.

May 23, 2009 7:41 PM by panda_general

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