Despite the success and popularity achieved worldwide, the anime industry in Japan is the constant target of complaints about poor working conditions and low wages.
To try to better understand this situation and what happens behind the scenes, the Japan Research Institute (The Japan Research Institute) carried out a detailed study of the case.
The final report is called “The current situation and problems of the animation industry in our country”. He points to government intervention as one of the possible solutions.
Data reveals distortion
Anime industry in Japan is the target of complaints about poor working conditions – Photo: Internet/Reproduction
The document details the worker turnover rate and questions the legality of subcontracts concluded with film studios. anime. The big revelation, however, is about the industry’s profits.
According to the data, studios collect only 6% of the total earnings of a project abroad and 16% of domestic sales. Such averages, in themselves, already reveal the reason for the financial difficulties.
In short, the studios are practically left out of the profits obtained by the projects they themselves developed. As a result, it is difficult to expect employees to be well paid or that there is not high turnover.
Appointments
The report aims to think about how the anime industry works and the effects of this on the reality of work.
If it wants to continue advancing without facing crises, the research indicates that the ideal would be to adopt unions, as already exists in certain sectors of the U.S.
The simple creation of unions, combined with an insurance reform and increased wages, would help to greatly reduce professional turnover rates.
For all of this to happen, studios first need to earn a greater percentage of the profits made by projects.
As per the report, they should receive at least 30% IP ownership regardless of the size of the production.
To implement such suggestions, however, it would be important to have some government intervention and monitoring.
Insurance reform and an increase in the minimum wage are considered complicated topics, but, according to the Institute, improving the situation necessarily involves them.
If executives and industry bosses want to keep the sector functioning and constantly growing, they need to open a dialogue about the notes made in the report.
