Abstract
This chapter examines the conditions necessary to promote the growth of the animation industry in local regions through a case study of an animation studio in Okinawa. The investigation specifically focuses on the background behind a Tokyo studio’s decision to establish an Okinawa branch and the cooperation between these two related studios. The government of Okinawa Prefecture implemented a promotional policy to support their local industry. The Okinawa studio was required to collaborate with local industries to create new employment and generate industrial development through the production of an animated film. Daily working hours and workdays at the studio had to be regulated at the Okinawa animation studio because the studio was run with governmental support. However, Tokyo studio staff regularly work through the night. The Okinawa studio was unable to communicate rapidly enough with the Tokyo studio to produce animation and lacked much of the technology used by the Tokyo studio. Hence, the Tokyo studio’s extensive experience and access to technology ensured that they were responsible for a large part of the production.
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Notes
- 1.
For example, 79 % of animation studios in Japan are located within Tokyo, and 37 % of these studios are agglomerated specifically in Nerima and Suginami wards. In addition, the contractors or partners of animation studios also agglomerate in Tokyo (see Chap. 2 for more information).
- 2.
Detailed information can be found in the example of Studio B in Yamamoto (2012).
- 3.
According to “the 100 Index of Okinawa, 2011 version” by Okinawa Prefecture (http://www.pref.okinawa.jp/toukeika/100/100_index.html, Accessed on April 12, 2014), the unemployment rate in Okinawa in 2009 was 7.5 % compared with 5.1 % for the rest of Japan. The ratio of job offers to job applications in 2008 was 0.38 in Okinawa compared with 0.88 in all of Japan.
- 4.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s document “List of minimum wages by prefecture” (http://www.mhlw.go.jp/seisakunitsuite/bunya/koyou_roudou/roudoukijun/minimumichiran/index.html, Accessed on May 5, 2012), the minimum wage in Okinawa is 645 yen compared with the 737 yen national average and was one of the lowest wages in Japan, along with Iwate and Kochi, in 2011.
- 5.
The business entities were chosen by the public and a review board. The Okinawa studio moved into the startup incubator facility at Uruma City. Though the manager of the studio did not specify an amount, he said that he rented two-thirds of the facility’s second floor for a bargain price.
- 6.
Although the productivity of the Okinawa studio is not high, it is often necessary to transport half-finished products between the Studio M and Okinawa studios. This transportation is realized by a package service and through the Internet. File transfer protocol is used for electronic transportation of products, especially for colored animation pictures.
- 7.
Because the number of staff at the Chinese studio is unknown, the productivity of the animation picture and coloring departments is given as 900 sheets of paper per day.
- 8.
This director is worker t7 in Fig. 6.4.
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Yamamoto, K. (2014). Promoting the Animation Industry in Local Regions: A Case Study of Working Conditions at an Animation Studio in Okinawa. In: The Agglomeration of the Animation Industry in East Asia. International Perspectives in Geography, vol 4. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55093-8_6
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