Ask John: Is Translating Anime a Good Job?

Question:
I am about to enter university and will be, hopefully, getting a degree in East Asian Studies and majoring in Japanese. I would like to get a job as a translator upon completion of my classes. I was looking around on various anime and manga licensing company websites and noticed that most companies offer free internships as translators, but none as a paid job. I would think that with the rising popularity of anime and manga this would be an in-demand job. Do you think that a job as a translator is something that I should seriously pursue, or is there a low chance of employment for me?

Answer:
AN Entertainment has worked with a Japanese/English translator who also works as a translator for the United Nations. She let us know that her pay as a translator for the UN was much higher than any pay she ever received from working on an anime. So if you’re seriously interested in Japanese culture and becoming a Japanese/English translator, you may find more lucrative employment in the international business or politics fields rather than the entertainment industry.

The American anime industry is profitable, but not so profitable that the industry pay scale is high. Translators in the anime industry are generally not paid a lot. I know of at least one professional Japanese/English translator who no longer accepts work from the anime industry because he doesn’t believe that the anime industry pays a reasonable wage to its translators. As a Japanese/English translator, your chances of finding employment in the American anime industry are probably good. Your chances of being paid well are not good. Because anime is rising in popularity, there’s no shortage of bilingual speakers interested in working in the anime industry. That, in part, is why the American anime industry doesn’t need to pay translators well. There’s always someone else available to do the job cheaply. Furthermore, the American market doesn’t insist upon skilled translations. In fact, AD Vision’s recent dub of “Ghost Stories” was intentionally mis-translated on the assumption that average American consumers are more likely to purchase an incorrectly translated dub than a faithful, accurate translation. So there’s little motivation for American anime companies to pay extra for skilled, competent translators if poor translations are acceptable or even preferable. (No offense intended to conscientious professional translators.)

I respect you for seeking a skilled career that involves assisting global communication. I encourage you to pursue your goal of becoming a professional translator. However, if your goal is motivated by a desire to work in the anime industry, I advise you to seek employment in the anime industry because you love anime and want to be involved in translating it; not because you’re hoping to be handsomely compensated for your ability. To be honest, if you’re looking for a job that pays very well, I’d recommend avoiding the anime industry altogether.