Tokyo's Virtual Child Porn Ban
I've been watching this news unfold for awhile now, & so much has happened over the past week that I felt it was worth going over the main bullet points. See, Tokyo has been trying to pass a new amendment that would no longer allow any depictions of fictional characters that are underage or even appear to be underage (screwing the "as long as we say they're over 18 it's okay" rule) that would create a cause to harm or lust for real-life young girls.
In other words, any fan-service, ecchi, or erotic depictions of young-looking characters in anime or manga (whether official or unofficial) would no longer be allowed whatsoever. Because they will allegedly lead to real-life pedophilia or some nonsense like that (one study in Hawaii has even shown that an increase in loli hentai has lead to a decrease in sexual crimes against real children). The situation is kind of like a more extreme version of what FUNimation was trying to do with Vampire Bund. Keep in mind that in Japan, it's legal to have pictures of REAL children as long as they're 12 years of age or older. & even for those under 12, Idol videos (vids of girls prancing around in swimsuits & other revealing outfits) exist for girls as young as four. But cartoon versions? Nope, not allowed! Here's a translation of the full amendment:
Section 3: Restriction of the Sale of Unhealthy Literature
[A ban on sales, lending or distribution to, or viewing by, minors in the Tokyo area would cover:]
1. Items which stimulate sexual emotions, foster cruelty, encourage suicide or promote crime, or otherwise impede the healthy growth of youth. [This clause is identical to current legislation]
2. Items which through age, clothing, accessories, school year, setting, other people’s ages, or voice, seems reminiscent of a person who might be recognised as an under-18 (hereafter called a “a fictional minor”) engaged in, or appearing to be engaged in, sexual activity or activity resembling sexual activity, or which impede the development of healthy sexual faculties in youths, or which might be feared to obstruct the healthy development of youths.
Needless to say, many were furious about this proposal. While it was expected for fans & otaku to hit the Internet with their rage, what really got attention was when manga-ka, seiyuu, & other celebrities started speaking out against it. Yoshitoshi ABe, creator of Serial Experiments Lain & Haibane Renmei, was the first to truly vocalize his concern in a long blog entry, saying among other things "You don't raise a healthy mind by locking it up in a room sterilized of information." But he was just the beginning.
This past Monday, Tetsuya Chiba (Ashita no Joe) & Machiko Satonaka (Lady Ann) lead a press conference with other big names in the industry speaking out against the bill. Within hours, dozens upon dozens of manga-ka, seiyuu, & others in the anime & manga industry signed a statement saying they would not support the ban, including Go Nagai (Mazinger), Yun Kouga (Camie in One Piece), Yun Kouga (Gundam 00), Yasuhiro Nightow (Trigun), Keiko Takemiya (Toward the Terra), Hideki Egami (editor-in-chief of Ikki magazine), the Net Business Innovation Research Consortium (Google & Microsoft), Gosho Aoyama (Detective Conan), Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma 1/2, InuYasha), Tooru Fujisawa (GTO), Ken Akamatsu (Love Hina, Negima), Kaworu Watashiya (Kodomo no Jikan), & Fujiko Fujio A (Doraemon). Those are some big names listed there, & that's not even close to all of them. The legendary Tetsuya Chiba had the following to say:
“When new culture and expression comes about many types of flowers bloom. Pretty blooms like violets and sakura, but also more odious jungle blooms like Rafflesia.
However, these are all interconnected - merely saying ‘this one is dirty’ and cutting it down will only destroy the entire ecology.”
& Go Nagai had this to say:
“I came into the world with Harenchi Gakuen. People struck out at it back then, but if there’s a ban this would be impossible to put out now.
If you say something stinks and then try to put a lid on it by censoring it all you do is increase the number of warped people out there.”
Ultimately, all this protest against the ban has caused it to be put on hold for the time being. The General Affairs Committee was originally going to hold their vote on the ban tomorrow, but the the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) decided to postpone it in order to continue debate. Had the vote had passed, it would then move on to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, which the DPJ (which is largely against the bill) is the largest member of. But with this current hold, the first round of voting in the General Affairs Committee probably wont even happen until June now. So just like how Funi MAY not censor Vampire Bund, this is a sign that Tokyo MAY not censor loli anime. For now anymore, but things are looking good.
Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-03-16/asahi/tokyo-virtual-child-porn-bill-put-on-hold