Artist Warns Foreigners NOT to Move to Japan to Work in Anime Because of Painfully Low Paychecks

A Japanese animator has completely rejected the idea of foreigners moving to Japan to work in anime for one crucial reason.

Terumi Nishii, whose major credits include “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable” and “A Town Where You Live,” explained her side on her second Twitter account, which reportedly functions as her primary connection to international otakus.

For the record, Nishii does not oppose internationalization, a phenomenon some citizens have actively rallied against.

Instead, she discourages foreigners from making the decision, as anime workers — like many of Japan’s employees — have been suffering from overwork.

Yesterday I did live drawing. Thank you to everyone who came (*^_^*) pic.twitter.com/HF9QsNipwT

— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) February 24, 2019

“No matter how much you like anime, it is not advisable to come to Japan and participate in anime work,” Nishii wrote in a tweet. “Because the animation industry is usually overworked.”

“Japanese animation is surprisingly low budget. But the quality is high. That is because they have low wages and work long hours. Even if it is impossible, the budget will not go up,” she added.

I am disappointed in the Japanese animation industry. . .

— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019

Nishii reportedly started as a rank-and-file animator. For the long hours she had put, she made a measly 2,800 yen ($25) on her first paycheck.

After her first year, that figure rose to 60,000 to 100,000 yen ($537 to $896), but such remains meager considering that the minimum wage in Tokyo is 985 yen ($8.80) per hour. And still, her promotion to character designer later did not improve her working conditions.

Japanese animation is maintained only by the feelings that the creators “like anime”. However, with the increase of the number of works in recent years, some people have broken mind and body.

— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019

Nishii pointed out that in order to survive, many animators rely on their parents’ money. For context, a 2016 survey conducted by the Young Animators Assistance Council revealed that 35% of employees with less than three years of experience still lived with their parents, while another 18% who lived by themselves still relied on some form of allowance.

“Japanese anime has nothing like royalty or revenue sharing for character designers. The material we drew is collected and discarded,” Nishii wrote.

If the cartoon sells, money will be paid. Anime is different. The animator doesn’t matter if the anime sells. There is no royalty or income distribution.

— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 24, 2019

For such issues that have long crippled workers in the industry, Nishii believes that foreign capital may provide a boost. Additionally, she anticipates a generational shift as more Japanese animators work with foreign talent.

For now, Nishii does her part in making change: she has worked on character designs for “Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac,” a reboot of the same title releasing on Netflix. Check out the trailer below: