Japanese animator’s first monthly wage is barely over $100

On March 2, an animator working in Japan’s anime industry took to X to show exactly how low the initial wages are, sharing photographs of their monthly invoices. As reported on Otakomu, the (now deleted) thread attracted over half a million views and many comments expressing concern over the shockingly low payments.

Japanese anime industry inbetween animator low starting wages tweet — ***Post translation:*** *Here’s an animator’s (inbetween animation) first month of earnings.*
*Video 1: 4 frames, total: 880yen*
*Video 8: 63 frames, total: 13,860yen*
*ED video: 15 frames, total: 3,300yen*
*Added tax: 1804yen*
*Total: 19,844yen*

As the post above shows, in their first month, the animator made only 19,844yen (approx. 132 USD). For the second month, their workload increased but they were still only able to make 35,640yen (approx. 238 USD). They then shared a month in which they were not able to work as much due to health conditions, and thus only managed to make 1,452yen (about 10 USD).

Commenters reacted with shock to the revelations saying that “this is hell,” “the anime industry is a joke for paying such a meagre salary yet suffering from a shortage of workers,” and “From here on out, animators will be competing with AI, so pay will be reduced even more.” Others advised that animators should try to establish a presence on social media and the creator community Fanbox so that they have a possible sideline to fall back on.

One person was more positive, pointing out that “This animator was suddenly entrusted with doing the ending animation, so I think they are a star in the making.” A more critical commenter explained that “Entry level animators are made to do inbetweens to see if they have what it takes to be an animator or not. Not everyone can be an animator. It’s a job that requires skill and speed. If you don’t think you are cut out for it, then get a new job ASAP.”

Others shared similar experiences:

全部やっても16250円
そんなに急いでてもクオリティ上げたいならせめて3倍以上出したらいいのに。
本当に動画さんを大事にしないといけないと思う
— うさf大行進 (@usaf5081) March 1, 2024

Post translation: When I received a request to do inbetweens for a famous anime title that everyone knows, they told me “The deadline is in 3 days, but we want to have it done domestically instead of outsourcing the work abroad, so that the quality doesn’t drop.” However, the unit price was only 250yen.
The payment for the entire job was only 16,250yen. If you want high quality in such a short timeframe, you should pay at least 3 times that amount.
I think people need to value inbetween animators more.

This is not the first time that such practices have come to our attention. Last year, we looked into other examples of the tough working conditions and low pay for animators in Japan’s anime industry (Related Article), as well as the exploitative practices that affect manga artists (Related Article). Therefore, it’s not surprising that almost one fifth of animators in the industry apparently suffer from depression (Related Article).