Japanese Studios Admit Financial Victimization

The Japan Fair Trade Commission last week issued a report detailing findings of potentially illegal contract manipulation imposed on Japanese anime production studios by anime sponsors. Out of 114 anime production studios that responded to inquiries from the Trade Commission, 42.4% admitted that companies that have commissioned the production of anime have insisted upon paying unreasonably low compensation and demanded production schedules that ignored reasonable holidays and time off for animation studio employees. Furthermore, according to some responses, commissioning companies canceled work requests without explanation and refused to compensate animators for work already completed. These “preposterously low” commission payments and unreasonable demands for work from sponsoring companies, if true, violate Japanese anti-monopoly laws.

62.8% of the anime production studios that replied to the Trade Commission inquiry are small companies with less than $100,000 in capital. 63.7% of the responding companies employ 100 or less workers. 30.1% of the companies have 10 or less employees.

Yet another sad piece of evidence that Japanese animators work for love of the art form and not for living wages. While the number of anime productions being made is at an all time high, corporate sponsors are evidently paying animation studios slave wages to produce all these anime.

Source: Anime News Network