On January 20, Yahoo! Japan broke a story about Toei Animation (Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Precure) and their alleged power harassment of A-san, a former unit director [1]. In turn, A-san allegedly discriminated against B-san, a non-binary union representative. A-san claimed that B-san “broke trust by operating under a false name”.
However, this was not a “false” name but a name B-san chose that best represents their identity:
“…There are many married people who work under an alias. The name I use for collective bargaining has nothing to do with the name on my family registry.
-B-san, Precariat Union Representative Toei Animation Refuses Labor Negotiations with LGBT Union Member, Anime News Network
Collective bargaining is an obligation established by the labor union, not a matter of a trust relationship and so forth. They refused to give me a seat at the discussion because they have no desire to resolve the dispute.”
This started when the company stripped A-san, a former unit director, of his work. He then attempted to enter negotiations with the union about his next plan of action. In his initial report, A-san claimed that the company overworked him during his seven years at Toei Animation. He further alleges that Toei demoted him after an incident with an animation director.
Worker’s Rights and LGBT Discrimination
In addition to being overworked, animation studios are notorious for using unpaid freelancers to handle most of the grunt work. (In other words, slave labor.) Click To TweetAfter an initial unsuccessful encounter with Toei’s union, A-san then reached out to the Precariat Union, where he connected with B-san. However, according to the article, the union at Toei has strong ties to the company and its management. It took the company’s side in the dispute.
The case has given rise to two important but separate issues: workers’ rights in the anime industry and LGBTQ discrimination in Japan.
Though people all over the world treasure anime, it’s well documented that animators’ working conditions are dismal. In addition to overworking their staff, animation studios are notorious for using unpaid freelancers to handle most of the grunt work. (In other words, slave labor.) Many animators receive only a measly 200 yen per drawing. According to the linked article, it takes an hour to make a single drawing. The minimum wage in Japan is 900 yen. But because freelancers aren’t legally entitled to minimum wage, employers can get away with shorting them.
On top of that, as of 2019, Japan is the only G7 nation to not have laws protecting against discrimination based on “sexual orientation and gender identity”. Even though outright discrimination may be seemingly uncommon in Japan, LGBTQ workers are often passed over for jobs and promotions in the workplace. Companies don’t see them as the “ideal” image of a heterosexual, married person with a nuclear family. And, as we’ve discussed here before, LGBT people in Japan are still often the target of outright discrimination.
Toei Animation denies any wrongdoing in the matter. But whatever way this case goes, it’s important to recognize the faults of the animation industry and how it fails to protect its workers’ integrity for the sake of productivity and entertainment.
Sources
[1] 東映アニメ、性的マイノリティの通称使用は「偽名」交渉拒否「子ども向けの作品作ってきた会社がまさか」. https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/matsuokasoshi/20210120-00218541
