Japan FTC Flags Contract and Payment Issues in Anime Industry

The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) published a report on Dec 24, 2025, detailing systemic transactional and contractual problems in Japan’s anime and film sectors, based on a large-scale industry survey of studios, creators, and production staff. JFTC studied the multi-layer transactions among production companies, primary and subcontractors, along with freelance employees in the anime industry, and highlighted long-standing inconveniences faced by workers.

According to the JFTC’s findings, 89.4% of film directors and production staff and 52.1% of animators said they were unsatisfied with their compensation, underscoring long-standing concerns that anime’s global commercial success has not translated into stable incomes for its workforce.

Beyond payment issues, the regulator identified recurring problems with unclear contract terms, delayed disclosures, and unilateral changes imposed by commissioning parties. These practices, the JFTC said, are often driven by structural power imbalances between production companies and the animation studios or freelancers who execute the work.

The findings come amidst the labor strain in Japan’s anime industry, where working conditions consistently remain precarious. Previous reporting has described an industry boom that masks a workforce crisis, marked by low margins at studios and limited negotiating leverage for employees and freelancers.

JFTC Cites Vague Contract Terms and Power Concentration

The Japan Fair Trade Commission surveyed 130 companies and 165 freelancers, as well as production companies, production committee members, lawyers, and industry groups. The JFTC identified a number of contractual and transactional practices in its analysis that it believes violate Japan's Anti-Monopoly Law. These include inadequate or delayed disclosure of contract parameters, which are worse in the case of subcontractors and freelancers.

The study also detailed order cancellations, late payments, and reduced payments, with little to no reimbursement for extended production cycles. There are reported cases of not paying surcharges, even for orders placed at short notice. In the event of redone work due to the client’s demand, no additional compensation was paid.

The reported incidents violate not only ‘abuse of a dominant bargaining position’ and ‘low-price bargaining’ provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law, but also stand against Japan’s Freelance Act and the Fair Trade Act’s (amended Subcontract Act) ‘unfair change in benefits’.

The JFTC claims that the organization, along with other relevant government bodies, will take relevant measures against any entity that would violate the Anti-Monopoly Law or any other related law.