For illustrators and Writers in Japan

I started writing a blog:
"Working for Children's books as an illustrator and a writer --- the reality and problems ".
http://ehonsakka.exblog.jp/
Sorry, this is in Japanese only at the moment, but if you read Japanese, please check it out.
This blog is to discuss about the money mainly, because it used to be almost a taboo for freelancers to talk about money with publishers, for a long time. As a result, many illustrators and writers are forced to be poor, or to have another job.

These days, many female illustrators of younger generation are popular among young women in Japan, on the other hand there are no many male illustrators who are of younger generation. The fact show us the jobs as writers or illustrators of Children's books don't pay enough to live on. Especially for a family.
Actually you can see this situation in other countries, too. I personally think that this is a problem.
There used to be a good time for children's books writers in some developed countries. Some publishers guaranteed writers'living. Maybe in the U.S. writers can live on their career. In Japan or in Europe, too, we should be able to.

I started to write about percentage of royalty. Some publishers of children's books in Japan pay only 8% per price, although other genres pay 10%.
There are some more problems such as publishers don't make enough copies to pay good remuneration, (they don't promote books well and many writers have to sell by their own),
writers and illustrators need to finish their works 100% before they get their contract (and often, have to wait some more months to get payed), on the other hand editors ,who work with them, get salaries every month. Isn't it unfair?

I think I'll translate the blog, though it must take some time for me.
If you are interested in working in Japan, why don't we share useful information?
And If you read and write Japanese, please don't hesitate to write comments and ask questions.

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