Mainichi News Reports on Japanese Anime Industry Woes

The Japanese language Mainichi Newspaper has published an article reporting on the crisis affecting the Japanese animation industry. While a handful of successful animators including Hayao Miyazaki and Yoshiyuki Tomino earn salaries worthy of their celebrity, most animators in Japan are now paid less than two million yen ($18,100 US dollars) annually, and many animators in Japan earn less than a million yen per year while having to work long hours and holidays. “One animation school said that because of the low incomes, 90% of its graduates change jobs within five years.” Director Sugii Gisaburo (Night on the Galactic Railroad, Street Fighter movie) states that if some of the profits from hit shows don’t come back to the animators, the development of new talent will decline and smaller animation companies will close. The Japanese government recognizes anime as a growth industry and has taken steps to reduce international piracy, but the anime industry in Japan may face its biggest threat from the structure of the Japanese video distribution industry itself.

A more extensive translation of the article is available from the June 11, 2004 update at Natsume Goushin Ryu Dojo.