japan against underage manga? go figure, i think america is "rubbing" off on them

[garrendesares]

TOKYO - Japan, which has long been relatively tolerant of the open sale and consumption of sexually oriented material, could now face tighter restrictions on the provocative depictions of young girls - which some public officials say exploit children and may even encourage paedophilia.

A newly-revised ordinance by Tokyo's metropolitan government - which restricts the sale of such material - has prompted a national debate between its publishers and critics inside and outside Japan.

Other local and regional governments, including the Osaka prefecture, are also considering similar restrictions.

One particularly big target is the manga comic books that depict pubescent girls in sexual acts. It is a lucrative segment of the US$5.5 billion ($7 billion) industry for manga, illustrated books drawn in a characteristic Japanese comic-book style.

"These are for abnormal people, for perverts," said Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, who spearheaded the ordinance changes that take effect in July.

The new law, which applies to anyone under 18, bans the sale of comics and other works - including novels, DVDs and video games - that depict sexual or violent acts that would violate Japan's national penal code, as well as sex involving anyone under the age of 18.

The ordinance also requires guardians to prevent children younger than 13 from posing for magazines or videos that depict them in sexually suggestive ways.

To protest against the ordinance, 10 of the biggest publishers in Japan have said they will boycott the Tokyo International Anime Fair next month, Japan's premier event for manga and animated films.

"There are no victims in manga - we should be free to write what we want," said Mr Yasumasa Shimizu, vice-president at Japan's largest publishing company, Kodansha, which is participating in the boycott.

While some worry that the government pushed through the new regulations without ample debate, others are concerned that the new regulations will harm an industry whose fortunes have dropped by a third over the last decade, to US$24.3 million in 2008.

Source: http://www.todayonline.com/World/EDC...n-up-anime-act

well here is the topic, discuss! personally, i think it is rediculus.

[Devi]

Hmm, I can see why the publishers would be upset. Pornographic material brings in a lot of money, so they'll be losing a lot of profit.

But I support the changes they're wanting to make. Porn, fine, whatever. Keep selling that, sure. But underage porn? That's just disturbing, in my opinion.

Although, I'm sure there are psychologists out there who will say reading manga like that is a safe outlet and by removing that, you're opening up the possibility that people will act in violent ways in real life due to mental problems and whatnot. I dunno, it's all hard to say. I think it would be interesting to look at some statistics that show Japan's sexual crime rate compared to other countries that don't allow distribution of underage sexual material.

But then, those statistics have many factors to consider, so nothing would be hard evidence for anything.

[Raype]

Finally, someone's thinking of the (nonexistent) children involved in this horrible (victimless) crime.

[garrendesares]

what i think is rediculus is how they actually find anything to hate. "hmm, japan has hentai, well that is cartoon porn, oh wait they have naked kids? shut them down" you know what started this? moms who were over protective in the us wanted shows to be censored for thier kids and have no nudity. exception are scary movies and if you look, some of those actresses are actually under 18.... sad.

[Lee]

Finally, someone's thinking of the (nonexistent) children involved in this horrible (victimless) crime.

But those pixels!

How do you think those pixels feel about it HUH?

[JKDarkside]

Wait, didn't someone already try to ban lolicon last year and failed?

[Lee]

Wait, didn't someone already try to ban lolicon last year and failed?

They failed at banning it, but all the sites i know of that had any completely dropped it all.

I'm pretty sure they passed a new law that was just ambiguous enough to scare most non-hardcore(i.e. hosting the real stuff as well) hosting sites.

[Devi]

I don't think it's a matter of victims and crimes. Really, I think it just comes down to "what kind of people want child pornography?"

I mean, think about it, the people who are upset over this don't just want porn. They want pictures of little kids having sex. I find that messed up. It's not just the hentai or cartoon porn - it's specifically the child porn they're trying to ban.

I think the ban is a good idea. I'm not saying censor everything in the world, but there's no need to encourage something like kiddy porn by providing it easily and legally. Ban that shit. The culture will gain more respect, anyway - I can't even count how many people I know who think anime is all hentai. Allowing kid hentai just encourages that kind of negative thinking.

[Lee]

I don't think it's a matter of victims and crimes. Really, I think it just comes down to "what kind of people want child pornography?"

I mean, think about it, the people who are upset over this don't just want porn. They want pictures of little kids having sex. I find that messed up. It's not just the hentai or cartoon porn - it's specifically the child porn they're trying to ban.

I think the ban is a good idea. I'm not saying censor everything in the world, but there's no need to encourage something like kiddy porn by providing it easily and legally. Ban that shit. The culture will gain more respect, anyway - I can't even count how many people I know who think anime is all hentai. Allowing kid hentai just encourages that kind of negative thinking.

There are really two ways to look at this.

1. Japan: "This isn't moral, ban it."

2. Japan: "We look really bad lately, lets ban something so people will think we care."

Honestly the whole conversation can boil down to, "what's next?"

Because drawn child pornography is hardly the worst thing that goes on in japan.

[Ragnar]

Bans of this nature accomplish nothing. Have the US 18+ laws stopped a single bit of hentai from being released here? No, it's fiction, meaning we can make up anything we like. Meaning the authors simply need to state at some point that the obviously underage girl is in fact 18... Seriously, she's going to collage, she's just flat for her age, she's just cosplaying as a pre-schooler, she's actually a 1000 year old demon pretending to be 10. Who here that looks at hentai hasn't heard these excuses a million times already?

[Lee]

Bans of this nature accomplish nothing. Have the US 18+ laws stopped a single bit of hentai from being released here? No, it's fiction, meaning we can make up anything we like. Meaning the authors simply need to state at some point that the obviously underage girl is in fact 18... Seriously, she's going to collage, she's just flat for her age, she's just cosplaying as a pre-schooler, she's actually a 1000 year old demon pretending to be 10. Who here that looks at hentai hasn't heard these excuses a million times already?

There is that as well.

I've actually seen people use the "All models at least 18 years of age, U.S.C. 2257 Compliant" blurb at the bottom of the page, made me lol.

[Colamisu]

Bans of this nature accomplish nothing. Have the US 18+ laws stopped a single bit of hentai from being released here? No, it's fiction, meaning we can make up anything we like. Meaning the authors simply need to state at some point that the obviously underage girl is in fact 18... Seriously, she's going to collage, she's just flat for her age, she's just cosplaying as a pre-schooler, she's actually a 1000 year old demon pretending to be 10. Who here that looks at hentai hasn't heard these excuses a million times already?

She's the older sister, even though she's 3'2" and completely flat.

[JKDarkside]

She's the older sister, even though she's 3'2" and completely flat.

Every other comedy series.

[Devi]

La. I can see what you're saying completely, but it just disturbs me that there's a demand for it.

I mean, yeah, there are ways to say "this isn't child porn" when obviously the characters look like little kids, and the ban might have zero effect, and the reasons for banning it in the first place are all wrong (mostly for appearances' sake), but man, it's just creepy.

[luffy4]

finally, no more little girls in anime and manga!!!