While recent events have made fans more aware of the poor working conditions of animators, anime workers in general are suffering more, with a new report by The Nippon Anime Film Culture Association (NAFCA) revealed that the average hourly wage is only 7 USD.
NAFCA surveyed 323 anime employees, of whom 191 (59%) were animators, with 44 unit directors (13.6%), the latter responsible for a divisible production unit. division, such as opening or ending songs, or an entire episode/part of a series. a movie. This number also includes 35 production staff (10.8%), 27 character/mechanical designers (8.4%), 23 voice actors (7.1%), 20 directors, 15 people did color, 14 people did art, 14 people did cinematography, 11 people did CG, 10 people did sound and 4 people wrote the script. NAFCA data concluded that the overall average hourly wage was 1,111 yen ($7.33 per hour), with 14% earning only about $5.23 per hour. The earnings report excluded voice actors for this segment, adding that the way voice actors work in the anime industry sets them apart from other professions. The organizers reportedly plan a specific survey on voice actors in the future.
Related
New Anime report suggests widespread contract scandal
The recent 2023 Anime Industry Report by JAniCA (Japan Animation Creators Association) revealed a major problem surrounding animation contracts.
Anime workers continue to face harsh overwork and shockingly low wages
The figures also show that the average monthly working hours are 225 hours. Assuming an 8-hour working day, a month will have 28 days. The maximum number recorded is 336 hours or 42 days in a month. Based on NAFCA's quoted figure of 162.3 average monthly working hours in Japan, this indicates particularly harsh working conditions in the anime industry.
While these figures may surprise many, NAFCA's animator-specific report last month revealed that 40% of animators surveyed earned around $16k. $ per year, or $8 per hour, assuming a 40-hour work week for 50 weeks per year. An animator's starting salary slip was similarly viral last month for its shockingly low salary. Last month, many big-name experts in the anime industry, such as Kingdom animation director Jun Arai and Jujutsu Kaisen animation director Terumi Nishii, highlighted how anime salaries often flout minimum wage laws under by law, frequently using freelance contracts.
Related
Japan Think Tank: Government intervention must improve labor conditions in the Anime industry
A new report proposes drastic solutions to the serious problem currently plaguing Japan's struggling animation industry.
NAFCA's new report also compares freelancers to permanent employees; While the salary ceiling for freelance workers is much higher than the fixed salary, their average salary is lower. Permanent employees work significantly longer hours. However, positive gender trends are also highlighted, with the anime industry showing lower working hours and income disparities compared to society at large. The report also concluded that the anime industry can be said to be merit-based.
NAFCA continues to promote reform through surveys, lobbying, instructional resources, and social media. Nishii called for salary reform so that older animators have more time to pass on skills she says are being lost. Additionally, she and NAFCA are pushing for studios to have a minimum mandatory ownership of anime copyrights, allowing for secondary income such as licensing and merchandise. Copyright-related projects in MAPPA and Pierrot have recently been highlighted as studios strive to become more sustainable in the long term.
Source: NAFCA