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. 

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: 

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).