Quote:
Originally Posted by SeijiSensei
Demographics pose a serious threat to the long-term health of the otaku market in Japan. The birth rate continues to decline, and Japan's population becomes older and older. Since anime viewing falls with age, the market for anime in Japan will inevitably shrink in the years ahead. Of course, this is a slow, extended process, not something that will force studios to close their doors in the next twelve months.
One compensating factor that's often discussed is the tendency for younger Japanese adults to remain at home with their parents. Nearly three out of five 25-29 year-old men are still living at home along with just under half of the women.* Young people living at home presumably have more money to spend on entertainment than they would if they were building a family and establishing a household.
__________
*Comparable data for the US were harder to find, probably because the incidence of adult children living at home is so much lower. From Table F1 in this report by the Census Bureau, roughly five million households had a child over 25 years of age at home, or some 6% of the estimated 78 million "family" households in 2008, with another 8% having a child between 18 and 25. |
its actually quite interesting to see how the declining birth rate affects the anime industry so adversely.. but is expected. I did hear that their birth rate picked up somewhat in 2007, but droppped again in 2008 (?). I am curious as to how they plan to solve this problem ( if they plan on solving it at all - i most certainly hope they do) but i guess thats irrelevant to this topic.
At any rate.. it would seem that demographics are playing a major role in eroding the anime industry.. apart from simply scaling down, and perhaps targeting a different audience, i wonder if theres a solution to this.