CATDOLL: Japanese animation company welcomes new employees who can become independent in just half a month

Currently, there are very limited jobs that people with disabilities in Japan can do. In order to encourage them to find employment, Japanese welfare agencies have started to cooperate with the animation production company "アメアール". The animation company provides some outsourced work to these people with disabilities and at the same time trains them to have a skill.

This program has not yet been expanded, but if it goes well, in the future it may be possible to allow disabled people with these skills to work directly with the industry to increase employment opportunities for more people.

Workplace environment for people with disabilities

This welfare institution in Kyoto, Japan, was originally a printing factory, but it declined with the decline of the printing industry. It has been transformed into an animation studio since 2009. After the director Hideaki Nishimura went around negotiating, he finally got orders for game software production and animation for corporate PR. The physically and mentally disabled trainees who come here only need to undergo six months to a year of training to successfully complete the designated work.

Animation production must be done on a computer

The entire animation production process uses computers, and students must carefully correct the lines of the digital original drawings and add color. Although they feel tired after working for a long time, they still have a fulfilled smile on their faces. The most important thing is that after completing a work, seeing it broadcast on TV or the Internet, and having your name appear in the ED staff list, the sense of accomplishment and pride is irreplaceable.

Currently, one 30-minute episode of animation requires about 3,000 original drawings. The training content includes the modification and coloring of the original drawings that must be completed within a certain time. Modifying the original drawings not only has rigid requirements on the technical level, but speed is also important. At the same time, painting the designated colors on various parts of the original drawings may seem simple, but it is a big challenge for people with disabilities, and it is a great test of patience and willpower.

Modifying the original painting tests the speed and accuracy of people with disabilities

Coloring requires great patience and willpower

Although outsourcing projects with animation companies seem promising, there are still salary issues that need to be improved. These disabled people work from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the maximum salary they can get a day is only 800 yen (about 48 yuan), which is very difficult to pay for their living expenses.