A recent report from the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA) has revealed a major issue surrounding contracts for new animators entering the industry. According to the 2023 report, animators were surveyed to find out how many options they had in their first employment contracts when they first started working in the industry. The data revealed that of the 428 animators surveyed, a staggering one in five animators (21.7%) received no explanation of the terms of their contracts when they entered the industry, leaving them unaware of their rights and exposed to potential abuse. This represented the largest percentage of animators.

The data also highlighted the relative lack of permanent employment opportunities. The second largest group (18.7%) stated that they were not offered an employment contract when entering the sector and could only opt for a subcontracting contract. (without working directly for the studio).

• The rest of the data showed that Of the artists hired under employment contracts, 6.5% said they intentionally sought such an arrangement.1.2% said they opted for an employment contract after exploring both options with the company, 2.3% said they had no negotiations but were offered both options, and 12.9% said they only received an employment contract.
• Of the subcontractors, 7.7% stated that they intentionally sought this arrangement.1.6% opted for this option after exploring both options, 2.6% did not participate in the negotiations but received both options, and the aforementioned 18.7% stated that they were only offered subcontracting work. 9.6% said they didn't know.

The animation director of “Kingdom“Jun Arai recently explained the lack of permanent jobs in the anime industry. He noted that since animation studios often do not own the copyright to the series, (they do not collect copyright revenue from the anime they produce), But the big investors, the anime studios, cannot afford to retain workers permanently. This leaves big investors to make profits from licensing, events and Blu-ray sales, while animators are often paid per frame, with one animator recently revealing that he was paid just US$$1 per frame.

As the JAniCA survey suggests, currently 47.3% of animators are freelancers or self-employed, compared to 40.5% of permanent employees. Despite the notoriously low salaries in the anime industry, with 40% of animators earning less than US$ 16,000 annually, industry figures point out that no one has the courage to speak out.

Terumi Nishii, chief animation director of “Jujutsu Kaisen 0,” refers to the “village company” system as a cause. As Shiji Zero explained, “village companies” are a category of Japanese businesses that prioritize harmony over good ideas, where final action can only be taken after all members agree. Given that the anime industry has a long history of verbal contracts based on trust, Nishii cites the reluctance to fully review as a major factor in why Japanese animators have much worse pay and labor rights than their foreign counterparts. In his words, “common sense is determined by the environment,” which means that no one will want to raise their voice on their own.

With more animation studios securing anime copyrights, the industry could see wage increases and improved job security in line with other countries. However, the increase in the number of anime productions, resulting in more freelance animators being hired at low wages to meet demand, makes the fight for better conditions more challenging.

Source: Japan Animation Creators Association