The issue of worker rights for animators in japan (Gold Opinion Piece)

An arts issue I would like to focus on is why Japanese animators are overworked and underpaid, this is a widely controversial issue that has been around in Japan for many years.

I’ve chosen this topic because I have started to see an increase in a lot of videos and news. This piqued my interest to research and find out more about this topic. Once I had learned what was happening to the animation industry in Japan. I figured it would be an important topic to discuss.

This is mainly caused by the increased quality in anime which has forced a lot of animators to work overnight and into the next day without any sleep because of constant redrawing frames and scenes. A studio in particular which has been outed for this same thing is Studio Mappa which is a highly regarded and popular anime studio for many of its popular releases such as Attack On Titan, Jujitsu Kaisen and Chainsaw man. 

The recurring issue that has been mentioned above is that Mappa continuously overworks employees and makes them stay overnight till the sun rises to fix drawings and not even properly training animators before assigning them to do the task. According to one worker called Teruyuki Omine who was an episode director for Attack on titan when it was still on air tweeted that he was not able to go home for three days straight. 

"The worst thing is when all the staff work hard to complete a schedule that would normally be impossible to meet in time, and the people above them look at the results and think, 'I can't say anything,' and fail to make improvements. I guess the cycle started when I completed one movie in four months..."

"I didn't think so much about the previous work, but it makes me really uncomfortable to hear people praise the company's name for the good things about the current work. Those who should be praised are the director who moved around to gather outside contractors and people, and each department within the company, including production and filming, who persevered."

Jujutsu Kaisen Animator Meltdown Proves a Fundamental Problem With Anime's Biggest Studio (screenrant.com)

This was further backed up when Mappa started producing the second season of Jujitsu Kaisen. In the middle of the season, it came to light that Mappa made animators sign a NDA contract about the production of the season and many employees did in fact confirm that Mappa was still forcing an unreasonable workload for an unreasonable amount of pay.

This then brought a meltdown for several different animators for Mappa during the production of the 14th episode in which several animators went to X to complain about the working conditions with some even calling to disband altogether. However in Mappa’s defence, before this Mappa attempted to provide a non toxic environment by creating a building called Studio Annex. Studio Annex was supposed to cultivate a positive environment for animators to work. This included warm, wooden desks, an open-space lounge, a shop and a cafe located on the site also. Even though this came off as something along the lines of damage control, It was obvious Mappa was indeed trying to become a better company. 

I had asked some friends what they had thought about this issue that I had presented to them and here is what they said. One person said “How many people are there ro even know about the Japanese animation industries paying absolute pocket change to its animators? Very, very few people even watch anime to begin with. Let alone care about the animation studios, on top of underpaid workers. Because this issue isn’t well known, I feel like we should bring more attention to animators as a whole, as people do go to school and major in a whole art subject into making animation from just insane deadlines and various art styles you need to master, there's insane detail and hard work and time that go into making animation from just drawings.”

Another said “I am unsure why Japanese animators are overworked and underpaid, afterall, I have yet to experience the work culture and offices first hand. However, from what I had heard from several reliable sources, the Japanese workforce has a strong sense of work culture which promotes more work, while vacations, paid leave and other such days are deeply frowned upon by co-workers and bosses. Another reason could be the high demand japanese animation has in not only Japan, but also abroad in america, europe and other eastern asian countries. Because of this high demand, higher ups schedule more jobs for shorter times. This results in overworked animators, since they often go into crunch due to so many projects. As for why they are underpaid, currently the Japanese yen is not very valuable but also, the job of an animator had the same pay turnout as it had years ago, whilst the yen was more valuable and products cheaper. Furthermore, there are far more animators today than long ago, companies pay less per person to have more people animating.”

In terms of my final argument. I do believe that as much as animation companies need to meet deadlines, it is highly important that the working conditions are not unfair as your employees are still people with lives and families and forcing them to work in poor conditions constantly is very bad for their health and their mental state. 

In conclusion, I believe that companies should be held responsible for their employees health and safety, just because they work for you does not mean you own them. I had asked for feedback on my conclusion. My mum said that to a degree that they agree with the conclusion but that as a company and an employee both sides expect the other to do something for them to function so if one side isn’t providing that, it causes an issue. Another thing they said was that culturally in the western world how working conditions are for the rest of the world and Japan may be different so it is not fair to say that a company is being unfair when culturally that's how businesses function.

In my opinion. This does not put off my desire to be an animator, however it does help shed light on how strict and how bad environments can be for animators at certain companies. Therefore it causes me to make sure to double check if I was to work for an animation company, how they treat their employees and if the workflow is fairly handed out and not in an unfair manner.

Author

Joriy O' Neale

Joriy O' Neale

Gold Arts Award Student

8 Comments

  • Emrys Green

    On 12 July 2024, 13:18 Emrys Green Voice Team commented:

    A superb assessment of a terrible practice. In our 'fast' society now we do expect entertainment to come abound, and clearly studios want to capture this for profit. I'm sure it's a problem elsewhere too, and society should frown on practices like this. There's many examples of boycotts and even marches in other parts of the entertainment industry (and work in general) - greater awareness of the issues may well be helpful in garnering support.

  • Dayna Jeynes

    On 12 July 2024, 13:27 Dayna Jeynes commented:

    Wow! I hadn't realised any of this before. Incredibly well researched and i'd be interested to see if the industry changes over time. Thank you for sharing Joriy and keep us updated!

  • Andi Selaenos

    On 14 July 2024, 05:20 Andi Selaenos commented:

    Hey Man, cool article. It never once occurred to me that this could happen, I lived in my dream world that animators lived a great life. Your article has brought a new perspective on how animators really maybe living and it is not ok. If more people do not out studios and stand behind animators then we will all be in trouble as less and less people who can help innovate anime and character development will stay in the field or job it. This article raises issues with labour laws in Japan, are there any? The animators seem exploited - sweatshop style. Thanks for the eye opening article - keep writing these, I will look out for them. Peace my fellow anime lover

  • Gerard Holden-Marling

    On 17 July 2024, 10:35 Gerard Holden-Marling commented:

    Great article, shedding light on the lesser known side of the things we love. I agree that they are underpaid and overworked, however there are benefits, these industries being in place open many job opportunity's for those who want to pursue this type of career. "Do what you love and you'll never work another day in your life". Amazing research and strong points, well done.

  • Pat Kavanagh

    On 17 July 2024, 17:43 Pat Kavanagh commented:

    Great article with some solid research as well, let’s hope the industry makes the changes it needs to before we start to lose the creative geniuses behind what we love so much.

  • Naomi Dragon

    On 19 July 2024, 21:38 Naomi Dragon commented:

    Informative, and highlights that even in highly developed countries very poor working conditions can still exist.

  • Afshaan Taj

    On 21 July 2024, 14:42 Afshaan Taj commented:

    Wow who would have thought in the world of animation there would be disadvantages too, this article has given me a different outlook on the industry by reading that some countries do have very poor living conditions still and maybe the talented animators themselves should definitely be acknowledged.
    very well researched topic here I look forward to be reading more! X

  • Ravi Dattani

    On 21 July 2024, 14:49 Ravi Dattani commented:

    An outstanding critique of a harmful practice. In our fast-paced society, we expect constant entertainment, and studios exploit this for profit. This issue likely exists elsewhere as well, and society should condemn such practices. Your insight is spot on, and there's a rich history of boycotts and protests in various parts of the entertainment industry and the workplace. Your analysis highlights how raising awareness can effectively garner support and drive change.

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