Erotic Manga to be Banned?

[Karo Rushe]

Japanese publishing giant Kadokawa has announced they intend to boycott the Tokyo International Anime Fair to protest against the Tokyo government’s extreme hostility towards the anime industry.

Shinichiro Inoue, the CEO of a number of companies in the Kadokawa group, tweets thus:

    Kadokawa has decided it will not be participating in next year’s Tokyo Anime Fair – the attitude of the Tokyo government to mangaka and the anime industry simply won’t do.

Due to the size of Kadokawa’s vast publishing empire and its many subsidiary publishers, the move would see everything from Haruhi and Ore no Imouto to Gundam and Index removed from TAF (although anime adaptations of certain titles published by Kadokawa might still be present if produced by independent companies), denuding it of many hit titles and probably devastating the event, even without any other companies following suit.

taf-ishihara.jpg

Tokyo’s governor Ishihara for his part previously warmly endorsed the event in a lengthy passage published in their own promotional material:

    “I’m hopeful the event will prove a place where the Japan can proudly showcase the charms of its animation industry to the world, and where new business can be pursued – it is after all one of Tokyo’s great regional industries.”

This from the man who is now leading the charge against the industry, denouncing the industry as being “out of control” whilst dismissing all critics as crazed child abusers.


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The Democratic Party of Japan is reporting that its legislators in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly have agreed to support the looming ban on the sale of unhealthy anime, manga and games.

Masaki Ito, a DPJ Tokyo assemblyman, reports all the cliques in his party are in agreement that will support the Tokyo government’s efforts to restrict the sale of manga, anime and games featuring fictional sex crimes:

    We will support it, with the addition of a supplementary resolution [...] which requests the prudent application of the law.

Naturally, there is no objective standard for what is “prudent application” of a restriction on the sale of “harmful literature,” and no legal process or independent assessment of what should be banned.

Doubtless governor Ishihara would now be delighted to see the pesky manga industry disappear completely; indeed, it could only help sales of his own rape novels, which are exempted from any sort of restriction, along with films – so conspicuous an exemption that many cannot help but conclude the law is aimed solely at persecuting the anime, manga and game industries.

The whole fiasco also exposes some rather alarming deficiencies in the publishing industry; in most democratic countries a coalition of publishers would have little trouble protecting their interests from the marauding populism of a single local politician backed only by a zealous PTA, but Japan’s major publishers seem to have failed to secure the support of a single major party even at a local level in the national centre of the industry.

Ito goes on to politely explain how much public opposition to the bill his party has received, and how he will be ignoring it all completely:

    We’ve received lots of mail about this. I haven’t had a chance to read it all, but I’ve seen much of it. Maybe we haven’t fully addressed your concerns, but I am grateful you have displayed such passion towards the Tokyo metropolitan government.

It would appear the Democrats will support the ban despite unanimous opposition from mangaka and publishers, a petition with 150,000 signatures opposing the law and what appears to be overwhelmingly negative public opinion – Japanese democracy at its finest.

Due to the self serving nature of politicians, the shady backroom nature of Japanese politics, and the complete lack of reliability in mass media reporting in Japan, it is difficult to say whether this member’s public statements will reflect how matters play out – previously parts of the DPJ were said to be vehemently opposed to the bill – but it certainly does not sound promising.

The actual vote is due on the 15th of December, and efforts to dissuade politicians from supporting the ban continue – vainly, it seems.

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http://img1.sankakustatic.com/wp-content/gallery/safe-ix/taf-boycott-before-and-after.jpg

The helpful graphic above demonstrates the expected devastating effect of the anime industry’s boycott of the 2011 Tokyo International Anime Fair in protest against the Tokyo government’s campaign against manga.

The event itself looks to be in danger of cancellation, but far more damaging is the effect on the reputation of both Ishihara and the Tokyo government – some companies, such as Pixiv below, already seem to be hedging their bets


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10 publishers, including Kodansha, Shogakukan and Kadokawa, have announced they will have nothing to do with the Tokyo International Anime Fair due to the persecution the Tokyo government has been directing at them.

It now appears the event may as well be cancelled – if they are lucky Disney will show up, but not much else is left.

The publishers do not mince words:

    �

Links (Not Safe for Work):
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2010/12/09/kadokawa-to-boycott-tokyo-anime-fair-over-ishihara/
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2010/12/13/dpj-backs-manga-ban/
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2010/12/12/tokyo-anime-fair-before-after/
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2010/12/10/10-publishers-boycott-taf-ishihara-just-keeps-lying/


For one, this might mean the end of Hentai . . . @___@ I have mixed feelings on this. Also Hello Guys ~ long time no See!

[Flyvåpnet]

Thank you very much, Karo, for your excellent report on this distressing matter.  We seem to be entering an Age of Bans:  first there was the smoking ban, which was gleefully enacted by politicians the world over - ostensibly for "health reasons" - and now a ban on genres of art is imminent, supposedly for "moral" reasons.  We're possibly witnessing the beginning of a new Dark Age where - rather than education being locked away from the public (more than it is now, via absurd tuitions) - expressions of individualism and all media of communication are put under lock and key by fascist power-elites and their handmaidens in ignorance and intolerance, the politicians.  

Perhaps AnimeCouncil's role in defending freedom of art will assume a new importance, similar in many ways to WikiLeaks' role in defending freedom of the press.  I'm reminded of the notorious Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) exhibit in 1937's Greater Germany and wonder if a new manifestation of the Reichskammer der Bildenden Künste (Reich Chamber of Visual Art) will go door to door worldwide confiscating anime, games and manga.  We shall see.  At least a First World nation other than the U.S. - Japan - is getting a taste of what it's like living under the iron fist of conservatives, fascists and reactionaries.  I'm sure the Japanese people will find it's no fun at all.



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[Karo Rushe]

What worries me is that, we might even see cancellations of manga depicting school settings or using school uniforms & anything that has 'erotic scenes' in it, to say, reprints of works would not come & the end of some good (and some bad) mangas, all for them to kinda attack the whole 'Imaginary children that do not exist at all' crap they've been wanting to ban for so long. :V Ironically for me to find they are killing themselves since Manga is kinda a strong industry over there. (Dunno what else keeps japan's economy aside from that.)

I'm seen a bit of Panic on other forums regarding on this.

[Flyvåpnet]

Indeed, Karo, once fascists get a foot in the door there's no keeping them out.  I'm not a fan of hentai either, but that doesn't mean I want it banned!  But it will be, if this Japanese proposal becomes law.  As you point out, other genres of anime/manga would soon be banned as well:  ecchi, for example, which is harmless.

People can protest against freedom-of-expression restrictions, but the fascists who run corporations (and thus governments) tend to get their way because they're dealing with citizenries which are getting stupider by the minute - due to mass brainwashing via corporate mainstream media of communication.  Power elites much prefer stupidity over intelligence, bans over freedoms, obedience over tolerance.

When a war breaks out, people say: "It's too stupid; it can't last long." But though the war may well be "too stupid," that doesn't prevent its lasting. Stupidity has a knack of getting its way; as we should see if we were not always so much wrapped up in ourselves.

-- Albert Camus.  La Peste.  (Paris:  Librairie Gallimard, 1947.)

(At least in this present freedom-of-speech scenario regarding anime and manga, relevant Japanese corporations are taking a stand in opposition.  Here in the U.S., that would never happen.)



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[CapeBarnes]

Hmmm, erotic manga, let alone anime itself being banned. For some reason, this thread reminds me of Joe's Garage by Frank Zappa. Iirc, Zappa created that album to describe a world in which music is made illegal.

Therefore, I wonder if any Japanese musicians will write protest songs in light of the proposed law? 

I don't know, just a thought.

[Karo Rushe]

More info:

tenshi-beako-by-akiba-hideki.jpg

Tokyo’s ban on anime, manga and games featuring “virtual crimes” or which are “likely to interfere with the healthy development of youth” has passed after the DPJ agreed to support it.

The DPJ’s only addition to the critical portion of the law was a short rider which requests “prudent application of the law in light of any artistic, social, scientific or satirical merits the work might express” – it does not however add any legal obligation to consider these, or establish any clear or indepdently enforced criteria for judging whether a work can be declared “harmful” or not.

Even more bizarrely, the final draft actually removed a passage that imposed “a duty not to possess [photographic] child pornography” on Tokyo residents, whilst leaving the section banning erotic manga and anime (and explicitly excluding photographic materials) all but unchanged – that the bill is intended exclusively as an “anti-otaku” law seems to be beyond doubt.

It is very difficult to objectively assess the scope of the law – along with vague and subjective terms like “interfere with the healthy development of youth,” the law also includes “etc.” on the end of most of its examples, leaving it quite unclear, for example, whether the “improper glorification of illegal sexual activity, etc.” applies to only virtual sex crimes, or all crimes in general – presumably the interpretation adopted will be whichever is convenient to censors.

Similarly, the ban’s mention of “rape and other sexual acts which violate societal norms” seems inevitably to point to a ban on depictions of homosexuality, considering who was behind the law.

The generally expected form the law will take is that of a “amakudari” (a pervasive system of sinecures for retired bureaucrats) body which will inspect all anime, manga and games, with only those titles receiving approval as “healthy” able to be sold regularly in Tokyo shops – the rest will be relegated to the “adult corner.”

The most immediate and direct effect of the law will almost certainly be to see ecchi manga such as To Love-Ru, bishoujo titles such as Champion Red and most BL manga, as well as any seinen manga with especially mature themes, banned from general sales – presumably most will then be cancelled due to a lack of suitable magazine or tankobon distribution channels, with a few perhaps being resurrected as 18+ ero-manga.

As has already been seen, publishers will also likely be purging future anime, manga and games of any content liable to fall foul of the law, and removing older titles from distribution.

The law probably also spells the end of most late night anime in Tokyo (and by extension, everywhere else), which it would appear to ban under its distribution clause; given the vague wording of the current season alone it seems Ore no Imouto, Panty & Stocking, Yosuga, Sora no Otoshimono, Milky Holmes and others would all fall foul of its various stipulations.

There is also some doubt as to whether Comiket will be able to be held under the new regulations – if not, its cancellation or removal to another prefecture seems likely, although a lack of sufficiently large spaces may severely complicate this.

The law comes into effect in July of 2011, so with magazine, tankobon, anime and game release schedules being what they are, it seems likely its effects will be felt much sooner; in a genuinely democratic state there might be scope to overturn it before then, but from what has been seen so far it seems unlikely publishers have the guts or savvy to do anything about it.

I thought the bill was to pass in two days but it's already creating quite melodrama.

[Kov]

This may be extremely vague but I'm all for this stopping depictions of incest, rape and paedophilia. Those are 3 areas that get me quite angry.

[Captn' Red]

^Agreed.


There's way too much fucked up shit getting out from the japanese manga society nowadays.

Not really sure if legislating it is the right move though.

[Flyvåpnet]

Thanks again, Karo, for reporting this situation to us.  It's interesting to note the new law's use of the term "erotic manga and anime" - which means what, exactly?  Also bamboozling is the removal of "a duty not to possess [photographic] child pornography" from the law.  Photographs, which obviously depict actual persons, are permitted whereas drawings of fictitious characters are not.  What's that all about?

Another phrase included in this law - "improper glorification of illegal sexual activity, etc." - is so open-ended as to be laughable.  "Improper glorification"?  "Etc."?  Freedom of expression will obviously become an endangered activity in Japan beginning next year.

It apparently hasn't occurred to Japanese politicians that "rape and other sexual acts which violate societal norms" are prevalent throughout literature - fiction and non-fiction alike - and have been for millennia.  Lately I've been listening to The Iliad (Prince Frederick, Maryland:  Recorded Books, 1994) attributed to Homer (circa 8th century BCE) and all manner of violations of societal norms - including rape - are depicted.

Suffice it to say Japanese politicians have their heads up their rectums, which makes them just like politicians the world over.  "Representative governments" represent corruption, greed and intolerance - period.  They're not working for us, folks!  If you enjoy repression, you'll applaud this latest stifling of artistic freedom.  I for one am not clapping.



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[kaznokrad]

I saw the Sankaku Complex article this morning and thought to myself, "Oh, shit. Guess I just lost one of my hobbies..." It will be interesting (and most likely depressing) to see how this law will impact the anime and manga industries as a whole. I just don't understand why regular art, literature, and live-action movies remain immune to this ridiculous law, while anime and manga are subject to it. So, I could write drivel like Danielle Steele does and not receive any negative pushback, but if I draw for Shonen Jump, as of July of next year I can't portray anyone that even POTENTIALLY LOOKS underage doing anything that may be "detrimental to Japan's youth?" What a crock of shit.

It seems that the law is worded so vaguely as to encompass anything that any one person may find offensive. As Fly has stated above, this is going to be a disaster for freedom of speech. What will be left to write/draw if no one can discuss any potentially sordid topics? I understand people being disgusted or offended by rape and the like, but part of advancing a country's culture is being able to discuss societal taboos through various media and realizing they will always be a part of people's lives (underage sexuality, murder, crime in general, etc.) I'm in no way condoning these actions, but it's important to discuss topics like these in order to completely understand a particular society and how these actions are dealt with.

I'm also surprised the section of the article about the BL mangaka that can't incorporate school uniforms into her work. I can't believe shit like that is already happening.

Now I have a question:

How do you folks this will impact AnCo^2 and fansubbing/scanation in general?

[Karo Rushe]

Japan’s prime minister Naoto Kan has deplored the devastation Tokyo governor Ishihara has wrought on the Tokyo International Anime Fair, stressing the importance of spreading anime to the world and urging all sides to come to an accommodation even as Shueisha announced it will be blocking any Shonen Jump anime from appearing there.

The prime minister made the remarks in a recent post on his official blog:

    “Another thing is the matter of Japan, the brand. Currently a great many people are raising concerns about the Tokyo International Anime Fair as it relates to the matter of youth welfare.

    Raising children healthily is an important matter. But at the same time, transmitting Japanese anime to the world is also important.

    I want to see the parties concerned endeavour to avoid causing the Tokyo International Anime Fair to be unable to be held in Tokyo.”

Presumably the comment is intended as both a warning to Ishihara (who has refused any sort of compromise with the publishing industry) not to abuse his position in a manner which will gut both Japan’s “soft power” and its economy and culture, and an exhortation to the Tokyo DPJ to reconsider their support of the law – they have pledged to support it, but the bill has not yet been fully signed into law.

There is unlikely to be any love lost between Kan and Ishihara – Kan is left-wing Democrat with a noted aversion to confrontation, whilst Ishihara is an abrasive populist on the far-right of the political spectrum, so much so that he felt compelled to start his own party of fellow senile geriatric right-wingers as the LDP apparently did not hate foreigners enough for his taste.

Kan’s approval rating is currently under 20% after his handling of the recent Senkaku affair, and it is expected he will not last much longer – thus it may simply be possible nobody will take any notice of him, particularly Ishihara, who actually made the accusation that “many[Democrats] are descendents of non-Japanese” and even urged people to physically attack Kan if he did not stand at a recent military parade.

That it is the likely cancellation of the Tokyo Anime Fair which elicited his comments seems a vindication of the industry’s belated decision to fight back – though an additional threat to cancel Comiket and emphasis on the crushing effect on the Akiba tourist trade are still unstruck targets.

The statements come just as Shueisha declared outright war on the event – their CEO announced that not only would none of their manga titles be appearing, they would be blocking any of the anime based on their titles from appearing as well.

Shueisha publishes Shonen Jump, which is of course the source of One Piece and Naruto, along with so many other internationally renowned anime titles.

So it's what appeared this morning ~ =w=

Btw Guys, you do know what's actually affected is Freedom of expression, not freedom of speech? >_>

[Flyvåpnet]

If I understand this latest report correctly, Karo, Ishihara Shintarō - the governor* of Tokyo - is a fascist.  Why would a bunch of smart people support such a despotic reactionary - and for the past eleven years no less?  I mean, Tokyo is home to many international corporations which deal with "foreigners" all the time.  Is chauvinism/jingoism so ingrained in Japanese culture that even otherwise-intelligent people in one of the world's largest cities support or at least tolerate such right-wing extremism?  Ishihara is no more sane than was Adolph Hitler, yet a cosmopolitan electorate keeps him in office.  George W. Bush, who was kept in office by a rural and suburban electorate, was a moderate in comparison.  It's amazing!



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*Here in the U.S., government heads of cities use the title "mayor" whilst "governor" is reserved for government heads of individual states.

P.S.:  "Freedom of speech" tends to be used interchangeably with "freedom of expression" over here.  I understand there's a difference, but in practice you can't have one without the other.

[Tragic]

To answer what Kaz asked at the end of his post, I don't think it will effect much on our part. AnCo typically does fairly "safe" projects, rather than risqué ones. If I'm thinking right, this only affects fanservicely and the like shows correct? If it did affect us in anyway, it'd probably just change the projects we work on in the future.

I think things will work out though. Japan has too much culture based around anime/manga/games to just snuff out what's there. ^^

[Kov]

The bill passed today making it law in Japan.

Find out more :
http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/

I've been keeping up to date with the reading the blog posts there.

[Flyvåpnet]

I heartily approve of AnimeCouncil's avoiding hentai releases!  However, I'm hoping that wise policy won't be stretched to include ecchi.  Or has it already?  *wonders*  Hopefully the staff won't confuse make-believe with reality, else releases depicting sword fights and other types of warfare will have to be re-thought.  Rhetorical question:  What's more evil, a girl's bum or a war?



Regarding the fascist government of Tokyo, I continue to be amazed that an otherwise-sophisticated urban electorate supports such an oppressive regime.  Let's see:  What influential group in Japan is traditionally supportive of right-wing policies?  Oh, right, it's the yakuza!  Well, there you go.  Apparently yakuza have serious investments in pornographic films and photographs, hence the exemption of those media from this new law.



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