Veteran Japanese animator, Hayao Miyazaki, had to come out of his retirement to do "How Do You Live?" (Image via: Japan Info)

Japanese Animation Industry Faces Challenges

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Sports & Culture
Arts
Jun 24, 2019
4651
When the world hears the word “Japan”, various things pop up in their minds. One of those things is Manga or Anime. Yes, Japan is also well known for its impeccable art in forms of animation and its own distinctive comic art.

Recently, Japan’s animation shook the world by releasing a heart-touching, tear-jerking animation by Makoto Shinkai called “Your Name”, hailed to be the most grossing Japanese animation of all time. Shinkai’s fans and the world are anticipating the next breakthrough from Makoto Shinkai, “Weathering with You”, which was set to release around 2019.

Aside from the rising animation industry from Asia continent, the only nation that the Western – represented by Hollywood - sees as a challenger is only Japan. While Japan’s development in the animation industry seems to be threatening to kinds like Pixar or Disney, there are issues that the Japanese artists and animation industries are facing. Ranging from low wage to depression, these problems are feared to be the obstacles that will hinder Japan from its animation glory. To solve the problem, first, you have to know that there is a problem. Japanese artists know it.

Keiichi Hara, a famous Japanese animation artist known for his work “Miss Hokusai”, is yellow when he was asked regarding the future of the Japanese animation industry. He shared that the problem with the Japanese industry was that it needs youngsters to execute its visions. In other words, there are too many old animators in Japan. Especially by the rise of technology and CGI, many animators nowadays cannot draw by hand as well as the artists used to then.

If we want to see a remarkable Japanese animation company, then it is none other than Ghibli Studio, headed by Hayao Miyazaki. However, even a company as big as Ghibli is facing the same issue, as their artists complain about the low pay with long hours, approximately 12-18 hours of work. Hayao Miyazaki himself even had to come back from his peaceful retirement to work on his upcoming project, “How Do You Live?”, set to release in 2020.

One of its Ghibli’s animators, Yoshiaki Nishimura, complained that Ghibli had too long work hours, too low wages, and also lacked creativity at the moment. Hayao Miyazaki himself once testified that he wanted to abandon animation from his life because the future of Japanese animation was beyond help.

Many Japanese animators and artists even had to abandon their family and their life, in order to dedicate themselves fully to their work. Now, we know that behind the masterpiece and the remarkable quality of their art, there are anxiety and depression which keep on pressing them to the edge.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2019/06/23/films/japans-anime-industry-crisis-despite-popularity/#.XRCB4OgzbIU

Culture , Japan , Art , Manga , Anime , Ghibli , Hayao-Miyazaki , Animation