by The United Nations pointed out that the Japanese anime industry has a problem with
Labor exploitation. If this leads to boycotts by overseas distribution companies and consumers, Japanese anime will not grow. The median hourly wage of animators is 1,316 yen, lower than the 2,220 yen in 145 other industries. Source: Japan Research Institute On September 9, 2024, the government held the first meeting of the Content Industry Public-Private Council, the first public-private organization to strengthen the anime and film industries.
At the meeting, then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, “In the content production field, the environment in which creators can work with peace of mind in terms of the working environment and payment of wages has not been established.” The background to the Prime Minister’s remarks is a research report released by the United Nations on May 28.
The report results from a survey conducted by the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Business and Human Rights from July to August 2011. Along with the entertainment industry, including the former Johnny & Associates (now Smile Up), another industry was pointed out in the report. It is the animation industry. The report pointed out low wages for animators, excessively long working hours, unfair contractual relationships, and contracts that do not protect the intellectual property rights of creators, concluding that “an environment that is easy to exploit has been created.”
The “constant risk” of works being excluded In recent years, the Japanese anime industry has grown with foreign demand as the driving force, and the market size exceeded 3 trillion yen in 2022. In June 2012, the Japanese government announced the “New Cool Japan Strategy,” which positions the content industry, including anime, as a core industry and aims to increase the overseas market size to more than 20 trillion yen by 2023.
The UN’s recent criticism could fundamentally destroy these expectations for growth. If Japanese anime are deemed works created in violation of human rights, it could lead to a boycott by overseas companies that provide video distribution services, such as Netflix and Amazon.com, and overseas consumers who are highly conscious of human rights. On July 2, 2012, Pichamon Yeofangtong of the United Nations Human Rights Council, who was in charge of the investigation, revisited Japan and had a forum to exchange opinions with related parties.
Makoto Uchiyama of the Japan Anime Film Cultural Federation, an industry group, asked Yeo Fantong if there was a possibility that Japanese anime works would be removed from Netflix or Amazon. Yeo Fantong reportedly responded, “That’s always a risk. Human rights violations need to be fixed.” The UN pointed out a unique Japanese custom in the anime business called the “production committee.”
The production committee is a consortium of companies related to anime production, including anime production companies, goods manufacturers, TV stations, film companies, advertising agencies, publishers, etc. It receives profits according to its investment ratios.
Anime production requires a large amount of capital. It generally costs 20 to 30 million yen to make a 30-minute anime, and about 300 million yen is needed to make one course (broadcast once a week for three months). Of the many anime produced, only a limited number are hit works. The production committee system is convenient for doing work while sharing the risk among the parties involved.
