Mainstay anime supplier Toei Animation has opened a new studio in Osaka to expand its production output in Japan. 

Toei’s managing board director and head of production Kiichiro Yamada will oversee this new hub in the short term as he works to recruit talented artists from across the Kansai region. He’s also aiming to forge relationships with local schools and training facilities to cultivate more opportunities for younger creators to work with the studio. 

This launch is part of a bigger play by Toei to address an ongoing labor shortage in Japan’s domestic anime industry that has become a serious impediment to growth among major studios. According to a recent report published by Teikoku Databank, companies are racking up significant costs by outsourcing animation to more countries overseas, dealing with extended production delays and failing to attract and retain Japanese animators due to low wages. 

To incentivize more local talent to join its ranks, Toei will create a more accommodating and flexible work environment by allowing creators in the Kansai region to choose where they want to work. Initially, the Osaka studio will focus on background art production for animated projects as Yamada builds it from the ground up, but the goal is to layer on more functionality as the new team and pipeline develop. 

Toei also owns and operates more established studios in Tokyo and the Philippines that serve as the main production hubs for major anime franchises including One Piece (pictured), Pretty Cure, Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon and Digimon, as well as Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir (which Toei co-produces with ZAG in France).