Animation discussion by the dialectic materialism 09（2015）

In 1991 and 1992, the animation industry (staff, voice actors, small and medium-sized business owners, etc.) and the general public made a joint appeal at the Ginza Animation Demonstration in 1991 and 1992, and after that, the production costs of television animation, which had remained flat despite rising prices, rose slightly in some areas. (The average production cost of a 30-minute program was about 5 to 6 million yen, but it went up to 8 million yen. Since 2000, with the introduction of CG technology, the average production cost of a 30-minute program is now about 10 million yen.)

However, the unit price per animation frame, which is the foundation of animation, has only risen by about 100 yen in the past 40 years, and the current average unit price is about 200 yen per frame.

Furthermore, with the digitalization and the entry of the business world, the precision of drawing per animation frame and the amount of work required have increased by about five times. Animation companies do not have time cards or social insurance, they have almost no days off for a year, and they do not receive overtime pay. Even if they get sick, animation workers do not have time to go to the hospital. Many people die every year from overwork or illness.

According to calculations by several labor unions, production costs would have to be three times higher than the current level in order for all staff to live the minimum standard of healthy and cultured living as defined by the Constitution. However, advertising agencies and others cited lack of funds as the reason, and one broadcasting station stated that "if we paid three times the production costs, anime culture would be wiped out."

In recent years, the business world has countered by saying that "some animators earn high salaries," but this is only a minority.
The poor working conditions of the "animators" and "production assistants" who support animation have not improved at all.

Although the public referred to them as "employees," their employment was outside the scope of labor laws.
Under the far-right, neoliberal LDP Koizumi administration, the business world, which had been united with the government since 1981, believed that animation would be a target of criticism if it remained outside the law as it had been in the past, when it was used as a national policy.
Since 2001, large companies and the business world have ignored the historical background of these illegal working conditions and started to promote their own theory that "animators are not originally employees, but were on 'contract work'."
In front of the business world's capitalist propaganda, animators and young workers who had no political knowledge quickly followed the definition.

Originally, young Japanese creators felt that the words and existence of labor unions and workers were outdated.

The business world and the government promoted the idea that "young Japanese creators are free. That's why they can work in a free style called a contract."

This business world's "contract for work" theory spread widely beyond anime workers to film and theater, and gradually to other industries.
The way it spread was similar to the way the message "protect the strong, and the weak are responsible for themselves" that Prime Minister Koizumi advocated in 2001 quickly spread throughout Japan.
Japan is originally a backward country in terms of human rights, and schools do not teach the original rights of humans or the recent political and social situation.

Since 2002, the Koizumi administration has made animation into law one after another with its own interpretation, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry have praised young anime creators by inviting them to festivals and giving them awards. The government, the country, and the business world were intoxicated with their own self-praise of "Cool Japan."

However, in response to criticism, requests, and lawsuits from some labor unions and workers, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare re-announced the previous legal definition of a worker.
The business world's large-scale PR of the contract for work theory has decreased. After that, in two Diet questions, the minister in charge also acknowledged the low-income environment of young animators, known as "dougaman," and production assistants.

When the government started projects such as "young animator training" at the request of the field, some of the animation field staff joined the government's projects in the hope of receiving government compensation.

In addition, suit-wearing businessmen who had newly entered the anime field after 2002 spread a threatening opinion to labor unions and individuals who complained about the plight of the anime field, saying, "Don't spread the negative image that the anime field is poor."

Around this time, the black situation of the animation field was conveyed to the general public through the Internet, and in 2010, the NPO Animator Support Organization and others were established. *1

*1 This is written for the record, but Harada does not necessarily agree with this. In Japan, many people try to solve problems without recognizing that politics and social structures are issues. However, Harada says that this is not a solution. However, he says that it is better than not taking any action at all.