Line by line, page by page, Nobuki Mitani has been eking out a living for six years.

"Every day I work about 10 to 12 hours", says the 27-year-old animator, "often we work on Saturday and if it's busy we work Sunday, too."

Japanese animation is a more than 2-billion-dollar-a-year industry, but for those who painstakingly draw each figure, the in-between animators, it's anything but lucrative. Nobuki is paid by the page or cel, each worth about 2 dollars. All told, he makes less than 1,000 dollars a month. This is home, one room, no shower, no air-conditioning. Nobuki says he avoids drinking water so as not to sweat and he is not the only one feeling the heat.

Since its peak in 2006, animation earnings have dropped off. Industry expert Yasuo Yamaguchi says the recession has caught advertising. That's meant less money for new programs. Even worse is Internet piracy.

"The spread of free Internet downloading is having a deadly effect", he says.

Toei Animation Studio has produced some of Japan's best-known TV shows and movies. It's here they are hand drawn, digitalized and colored. Though much of what they produce is for kids, the work is strictly for grown-ups.

"If you're thinking of doing this job just because you love drawing", says this animator, "that is a hobby. You'd better think of doing something else."

So what do you do if you are a talented young artist, but you haven't yet figured out how to make a living from it? Well, one option is to come here, the Tokyo Animator School, basically, a vocational school for those who wanna work in the animation industry.

These students are learning both key and in-between animation. Some will become relatively well-off key animators. Most will get low paid in-between work.

"Because there are always people quitting," says the school's director, "there are always hirings."

Nobuki says he's often thought of quitting. Marriage and a family are out of the question with what he earns. But for now, he'll keep at it. If there's anything the job's taught him, it's patience.

Morgan Neill, CNN, Tokyo.

词汇
eke out a living/existence: to manage to live with very little money or food 竭力维持生计,勉强度日

lucrative: 赚钱的,有利可图的
a lucrative investment
赚钱的投资

drop off: 减少;下降
The business of the company was dropping off.
这家公司的生意日益清淡.

Out of the question: 不可能的
We can't go out in this weather; it's out of the question.
这种天气我们不能出去。那是不可能的.