Japanese Animators Form Union

Ashida Toyoo, chairman of Studio Live, has organized the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA) in order to petition for improved working conditions for Japanese animators and combat the ongoing decline of Japanese artists working in anime production. The JAniCA site reveals facts including:

• An anime storyboard artist may earn up to 3.36 million yen ($28,541 USD) annually if the artist works every day of the year.
• A key animator may work 10-15 hours a day and earn only 2.16 million yen ($18,354 USD) annually if the artist works every day of the year.
• An estimated 20% to 30% of Japan’s animators earn roughly 1 million yen ($8,500) annually.
• Typical anime artists receive no vacation pay, health insurance, retirement plan, or other similar benefits.

Leaked internal documents from Anime International Company Inc. (AIC) including this budget for the current 26 episode Bamboo Blade television series put the production cost of an average anime episode at around ten million yen. The budgeted production cost for the Bamboo Blade television series is 9,554,000 yen ($81,750 USD) per episode.

Source: Canned Dogs & 2 Channel