Child Safety Bill Could Cripple Anime Industry
It's all the stranger (and more worrisome for the industry) that this bill specifically exempts things like photography, live-action film and TV, and novels. In other words, while a live-action production of Nabokov's Lolita would theoretically be fine under the law, an animated adaptation would be able to be classified as pornography.
What makes this even stranger is that in Japan as in the US, the government already regulates hardcore pornography to keep it out of the hands of youths. In fact, this bill has absolutely nothing to do with materials that are already classified as adult works. The only things affected by these provisions would be anime, manga and games depicting these issues, but not in a manner sexually explicit enough to be classified as porn.
In other words, this bill wouldn't cover the infamous RapeLay, but could potentially cover things like the groundbreaking Neon Genesis Evangelion (two words: hospital scene) or even "magical girl" shows that imply nudity on underage characters during transformation sequences. One could hardly classify long-running action manga Berserk as hentai, but under this bill the sexual scenes would make it vulnerable to reclassification - and in Japan as in the West, many retailers will opt not to stock adult material entirely. It could also hamstring entire genres that deal with same-sex romance (and given statements by Tokyo governor Ishihara calling gays and lesbians "deficient," [http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/the-governor-strikes-again-gays-deficient-and-bill-opponents-need-christian-morals/] this may be intended).
While Bill 156 will only affect the Tokyo area, given that the vast majority of anime and manga makers are located in the area around Tokyo, it could still have a potentially critical effect on the industry.
Naturally, the bill has faced harsh opposition everywhere outside of the Tokyo government. The Tokyo Bar Association and the Japan PEN Club have both opposed the bill, with the former criticizing it for unclear terminology and its use of the term "exaggerated" (since manga and anime are by their nature exaggerated), and the latter claiming that the bill could "warp the freedoms of speech and expression."
The strongest opposition, however, comes from manga and anime publishers themselves (understandably). The major publishers in the "Big 10" including media giant boycott the Tokyo Anime Fair [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadokawa_Shoten] (link NSFW), despite Governor Ishihara's claims that the event would "prove a place where the Japan can proudly showcase the charms of its animation industry to the world." Meanwhile, Shueisha, publisher of Shonen Jump - the serial magazine containing famous titles like Bleach and Naruto - affirmed its support for its writers and artists, and urged them to create works that would "blow [the legislature] away."
Japanese Prime Minster Naoto Kan in a blog post [http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/bill-156-locked-to-go-prime-minister-expresses-concern-as-final-vote-comes-on-wednesday/]. While the promotion of healthy development in the youth was important, wrote Kan, it was also important that "Japanese animation [was] broadcast to a global audience."
This is way too huge an issue to comprehensively cover in one news post - further reading is recommended at places like Dan Kanemitsu [http://www.japanator.com/fffuuu-tokyo-s-anti-loli-bill-passes-in-commitee-17722.phtml&mainnav=&track] - but one thing is certain: Fans of anime and manga may find the industry irrevocably changed as a result of this bill.
Or, the companies could just pack up and move to Osaka. That could happen, too.
Update: Bill 156 has officially passed [http://www.japanator.com/fffuuu-part-2-tokyo-anti-loli-bill-passes-for-real-17761.phtml]. Preliminary self-regulation will begin on April 1 2011, with the law going into effect on July 1.
(Source: Dan Kanemitsu [http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/crunch-time-three-days-until-bill-156s-fate-is-determined/])
(Supplemental Information: AnimeNewsNetwork [http://www.japanator.com/fffuuu-tokyo-s-anti-loli-bill-passes-in-commitee-17722.phtml&mainnav=&track])
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It's all the stranger (and more worrisome for the industry) that this bill specifically exempts things like photography, live-action film and TV, and novels. In other words, while a live-action production of Nabokov's Lolita would theoretically be fine under the law, an animated adaptation would be able to be classified as pornography.
What makes this even stranger is that in Japan as in the US, the government already regulates hardcore pornography to keep it out of the hands of youths. In fact, this bill has absolutely nothing to do with materials that are already classified as adult works. The only things affected by these provisions would be anime, manga and games depicting these issues, but not in a manner sexually explicit enough to be classified as porn.
In other words, this bill wouldn't cover the infamous RapeLay, but could potentially cover things like the groundbreaking Neon Genesis Evangelion (two words: hospital scene) or even "magical girl" shows that imply nudity on underage characters during transformation sequences. One could hardly classify long-running action manga Berserk as hentai, but under this bill the sexual scenes would make it vulnerable to reclassification - and in Japan as in the West, many retailers will opt not to stock adult material entirely. It could also hamstring entire genres that deal with same-sex romance (and given statements by Tokyo governor Ishihara calling gays and lesbians "deficient," [http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/the-governor-strikes-again-gays-deficient-and-bill-opponents-need-christian-morals/] this may be intended).
While Bill 156 will only affect the Tokyo area, given that the vast majority of anime and manga makers are located in the area around Tokyo, it could still have a potentially critical effect on the industry.
Naturally, the bill has faced harsh opposition everywhere outside of the Tokyo government. The Tokyo Bar Association and the Japan PEN Club have both opposed the bill, with the former criticizing it for unclear terminology and its use of the term "exaggerated" (since manga and anime are by their nature exaggerated), and the latter claiming that the bill could "warp the freedoms of speech and expression."
The strongest opposition, however, comes from manga and anime publishers themselves (understandably). The major publishers in the "Big 10" including media giant boycott the Tokyo Anime Fair [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadokawa_Shoten] (link NSFW), despite Governor Ishihara's claims that the event would "prove a place where the Japan can proudly showcase the charms of its animation industry to the world." Meanwhile, Shueisha, publisher of Shonen Jump - the serial magazine containing famous titles like Bleach and Naruto - affirmed its support for its writers and artists, and urged them to create works that would "blow [the legislature] away."
Japanese Prime Minster Naoto Kan in a blog post [http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/bill-156-locked-to-go-prime-minister-expresses-concern-as-final-vote-comes-on-wednesday/]. While the promotion of healthy development in the youth was important, wrote Kan, it was also important that "Japanese animation [was] broadcast to a global audience."
This is way too huge an issue to comprehensively cover in one news post - further reading is recommended at places like Dan Kanemitsu [http://www.japanator.com/fffuuu-tokyo-s-anti-loli-bill-passes-in-commitee-17722.phtml&mainnav=&track] - but one thing is certain: Fans of anime and manga may find the industry irrevocably changed as a result of this bill.
Or, the companies could just pack up and move to Osaka. That could happen, too.
Update: Bill 156 has officially passed [http://www.japanator.com/fffuuu-part-2-tokyo-anti-loli-bill-passes-for-real-17761.phtml]. Preliminary self-regulation will begin on April 1 2011, with the law going into effect on July 1.
(Source: Dan Kanemitsu [http://dankanemitsu.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/crunch-time-three-days-until-bill-156s-fate-is-determined/])
(Supplemental Information: AnimeNewsNetwork [http://www.japanator.com/fffuuu-tokyo-s-anti-loli-bill-passes-in-commitee-17722.phtml&mainnav=&track])
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