Censorship in Japan

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Censorship in Japan has taken many forms throughout the history of the country. While Article 21 of the Constitution of Japan guarantees freedom of expression and prohibits formal censorship, effective censorship of obscene content does exist and is justified by the Article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan. Historically, the law has been interpreted in different ways—recently it has been interpreted to mean that all pornography must be at least partly censored, and a few arrests have been made based on this law. [1]

Contents

As of 2023, Japan is ranked 68th on the Press Freedom Index, up from 71st in the previous year. [2] Reporters Without Borders has noted that issues concerning Japan include self-censorship among its journalists, the national media broadcaster NHK maintaining close ties to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), as well as the exclusion of freelancers and foreign reporters in government events and interviews, fueling doubts about editorial independence. [3] In 2022, an "online insults" law was introduced that would regulate the kind of speech made in the online public sphere. [4]

History

Tokugawa/Edo Period

As publishing became more popular in the Edo Period, the Tokugawa shogunate began to turn to censorship. During this period, the shogunate, or military government, had a constant policy to censor anything deemed as indecent by the government. Initial targets included Christianity, criticism of the shogunate, and information on the activities of the Tokugawa clan. With the Kansei Reforms, any material deemed to be disturbing the traditional way of life, as well as luxury publications, came under scrutiny. Under the Tempō Reforms, printing blocks of erotic literature, as well as the novels of Tamenaga Shunsui and Tanehiko Ryūtei were among those seized. [5]

Their early bans focused on Christian books, military books (gunsho), mainly as a way to restrict regional Daimyo, feudal lord, from using Christianity as a political ideology and challenge the Bakufu's new rule while imposing their moral authority. As military and political instability settled, the shogunate turned their gaze on social unrest. They were noting an increase in civil disobedience and satirical criticism using literature and theater coming from ordinary people. [6] An edict for publications guidelines were issued on Kyoho 7(1722)/11 with an outline of themes that were banned. In addition to literature, the Shogunate also placed limitations on kabuki theater actors. The shogunate prohibited women and children from appearing in plays, but this law was often ignored by theater houses. These new laws resulted in the rise of male actors who would specialize in female roles called onnagata. [7]

Meiji Period and the Pacific War

After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, which marked a major political shift in Japan, the government began heavy censorship of Western ideas, pornography and any political writings critical of the Emperor of Japan and government, wanting to control the spread of information. Censorship of materials increased from this point, often using ongoing wars to increase police penalties. Episodes of newspaper suppression and imprisonment of editors occurred in 1868, 1876 and 1887. [8] Freedom of speech and the press was heavily restricted through vaguely worded laws. [8]

In 1930, the death penalty was added to the list of punishments deemed acceptable for certain violations. This continued, eventually to the Information and Propaganda Department (情報部, Jōhōbu) being elevated to the Information Bureau (情報局, Jōhō Kyoku) in 1940, which consolidated the previously separate information departments from the Army, Navy and Foreign Ministry under the aegis of the Home Ministry. The new Bureau had complete control over all news, advertising and public events. The following year revision of the National Mobilization Law (国家総動員法, Kokka Sōdōin Hō) eliminated freedom of the press entirely, doing things such as forcing papers in each prefecture to either merge into one paper or cease publication, with all articles by the paper having to be screened by government censors before they could be published. [9]

Occupation of Japan

After the surrender of Japan in 1945, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers abolished all forms of censorship and controls on freedom of speech. Article 21 of the Constitution of Japan was later integrated in 1947 to guarantee that the Japanese had the freedom to associate with each other and express their thoughts freely. However, press censorship remained a reality during the occupation of Japan, especially in matters of pornography, and in political matters deemed subversive by the American government. [10] Publications submitted by the press were monitored for criticisms about democracy or the problems such as starvation the Japanese citizens experienced during the occupation in the form of regulations set by The Press Code of 1945. [11]

Censorship of certain events related to the Allied forces left various groups of Japanese citizens to be subjected to discrimination by their peers. Hibakusha experienced life-altering physical changes as a result of the radiation they were exposed to and the lack of press explaining the effects of radiation poisoning made it difficult for Hibakusha to fit in. Unable to speak out against the results of the atomic bombs and to assimilate with other Japanese citizens, most Hibakusha had to live in isolation within the homes of their family. [12]

The three organizations established by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers and who were tasked with upholding press censorship were the Civil Communications Section (CCS), the Civil Censorship Detachment (CCD), and the Civil Information and Education Section (CIE). The CCS focused on monitoring what was being broadcast to the Japanese people while the CCD monitored printed and filmed works to ensure that no form of media was spreading messages against democracy. The CIE on the other hand, was primarily used to educate Japanese publishers and producers on how to integrate prodemocratic values into their publications to boost support for the new government. [11]

According to Donald Keene:

Not only did Occupation censorship forbid criticism of the United States or other Allied nations, but the mention of censorship itself was forbidden. This means, as Donald Keene observes, that for some producers of texts "the Occupation censorship was even more exasperating than Japanese military censorship had been because it insisted that all traces of censorship be concealed. This meant that articles had to be rewritten in full, rather than merely submitting XXs for the offending phrases".

—Dawn to the West [13]

Pornographic censorship

The sale and distribution of pornography in Japan is restricted under Article 175 of the Criminal Code (1907), which states the following:

A person who distributes, sells or displays in public an obscene document, drawing or other objects shall be punished by imprisonment with work for not more than 2 years, a fine of not more than 2,500,000 yen or a petty fine. The same shall apply to a person who possesses the same for the purpose of sale. [14]

The article was amended in 2011 to include "recording media containing [obscene] electronic or magnetic records", as well as materials distributed by electronic means. [15]

The definition of "obscenity", which is absent from the text of the code itself, has developed through a series of judicial decisions. In the 1957 Chatterley Case  [ ja ], the Supreme Court of Japan upheld the convictions of translator Sei Itō and editor Kyujiro Koyama, who were accused of violating the law with their 1950 publication of D. H. Lawrence's erotic novel Lady Chatterley's Lover . In its opinion, the Court cited a three-part test for obscenity previously established by the Supreme Court of Judicature in 1928; under this test, a work is considered obscene if it "arouses and stimulates sexual desire, offends a common sense of modesty or shame, and violates proper concepts of sexual morality". [16] Due to this legal interpretation, the majority of pornography produced in Japan undergoes self-censorship; the primary means are digital mosaics and/or censor bars placed over genitalia.

The first film after World War II to be prosecuted on obscenity charges was Black Snow, a 1965 pink film directed by Tetsuji Takechi and produced by Nikkatsu. [17] The politically and sexually explicit film, which depicts the lives of prostitutes on the outskirts of a US military base in Tokyo, was ruled as "not obscene" by the Tokyo District Court in 1966. The lower court held that the defendants, Takechi and Nikkatsu distributor chief Satoru Murakami, were not culpable because the film had successfully passed Eirin, Japan's self-regulating movie regulator. The ruling was upheld in 1969 at the Tokyo High Court, which deemed that the film was obscene but acquitted the pair on the basis of the approval the film had received from Eirin. The rulings were followed in 1972 by a series of prosecutions against Nikkatsu's Roman Porno film series, which similarly ended in acquittals of Nikkatsu employees in 1978 and 1980 on the basis of Eirin approvals. [17]

In January 2004, Yūji Suwa, Motonori Kishi, and Kōichi Takada were prosecuted for producing and distributing the hentai manga anthology Misshitsu , in the first manga-related obscenity trial in Japan. Police reports found the depictions of "genitalia and scenes of sexual intercourse" within the manga to have been "drawn in detail and realistically", and that the censor bars meant to obscure genitalia and sexual penetration were "less conservative" than usual. [18] Suwa and Takada pled guilty and were fined ¥500,000 each (about US$4,700), with Kishi receiving a one-year suspended prison sentence. [19] After appealing to the Tokyo High Court, Kishi's sentence was reduced to a 1.5 million yen fine (about US$13,750). [20] He then appealed the case to the Supreme Court, arguing that Article 175 violated Article 21 of the Constitution of Japan and its protection of freedom of expression. In its 2007 decision, the Court upheld the guilty verdict, concluding that Misshitsu satisfied the three-part obscenity test and was therefore subject to restriction. After the convictions of Kishi and Suwa, a number of retail bookstores in Japan removed their adults-only section, a phenomenon attributed to the chilling effect of the outcome. [21]

In July 2013, three people related to Core Magazine, a Japanese publishing company focused on adult material, were arrested for selling "obscene images" with "insufficient censoring". [22] [23] They later pleaded guilty in December. [24]

Internet censorship

Internet censorship in Japan generally focuses on pornography and controversial political material especially in regards to Japanese history during the Empire of Japan. [25]

In 2022, Japan introduced a law to revise its Penal Code that would mandate a jail time for up to a year and a larger fine for making "online insults". [26] Previously, insult charges apply when it is established that an "individual has insulted another in the public sphere to damage their social reputation". The penalty applied to the crime under the pre-revised law were "detention for less than 30 days" or "a fine of less than 10,000 yen. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court clarifying the legal definition of obscenity as material that lacks "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value". The ruling was the origin of the three-part judicial test for determining obscene media content that can be banned by government authorities, which is now known as the Miller test.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eirin</span> Movie regulating organization in Japan

The Film Classification and Rating Organization, also known as Eirin (映倫), is Japan's self-regulatory film regulator. Eirin was established on the model of the now-defunct American Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association's Production Code Administration in June 1949, succeeding the US-led occupation authorities' role of film censorship during the Occupation of Japan. It classifies films into one of four categories depending on their suitability for viewing by minors of different ages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pornography in Japan</span>

In Japan, pornography has unique characteristics that readily distinguish it from western pornography. Pornographic films are known as "adult videos" (AV) in Japan, so Japanese adult videos (JAV) refers to the Japanese pornographic film industry. Animated films are referred to as hentai in English, but in Japan the terms "adult anime" and "erotic animation" are used. In addition to pornographic videos and magazines featuring live actors, there are now categories of pornographic manga and anime, and pornographic computer games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PROTECT Act of 2003</span> United States law regarding child abuse and violent crimes against children

The PROTECT Act of 2003 is a United States law with the stated intent of preventing child abuse as well as investigating and prosecuting violent crimes against children. "PROTECT" is a backronym which stands for "Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today".

Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557 (1969), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that helped to establish an implied "right to privacy" in U.S. law in the form of mere possession of obscene materials.

<i>R v Butler</i> 1992 Supreme Court of Canada case

R v Butler, [1992] 1 S.C.R. 452 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on pornography and state censorship. In this case, the Court had to balance the right to freedom of expression under section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms with women's rights. The outcome has been described as a victory for anti-pornography feminism and the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, but a loss for alternative sexualities.

In Canada, appeals by the judiciary to community standards and the public interest are the ultimate determinants of which forms of expression may legally be published, broadcast, or otherwise publicly disseminated. Other public organisations with the authority to censor include some tribunals and courts under provincial human rights laws, and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, along with self-policing associations of private corporations such as the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film censorship</span> Films that are banned in a particular country

Film censorship is the censorship of motion pictures, either through the excising of certain frames or scenes, or outright banning of films in their entirety. Film censorship typically occurs as a result of political or moral objections to a film's content; controversial content subject to censorship include the depiction of graphic violence, sexual situations, or racial themes. Censorship standards vary widely by country, and can vary within an individual country over time.

<i>Misshitsu</i> Japanese adult manga

Misshitsu is a hentai manga anthology written and illustrated by Yūji Suwa under the pen name Beauty Hair and published by Shōbunkan in May 2002. In 2004, the anthology became the subject of the first manga-related obscenity trial in Japan, in which Suwa and his publishers Kōichi Takada and Motonori Kishi were found guilty of violating Article 175 of the Japanese Criminal Code, which restricts the sale and distribution of pornography. In 2007, the ruling was upheld by Supreme Court of Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetsuji Takechi</span> Japanese theatre and film director (1912–1988)

Tetsuji Takechi was a Japanese theatrical and film director, critic, and author. First coming to prominence for his theatrical criticism, in the 1940s and 1950s he produced influential and popular experimental kabuki plays. Beginning in the mid-1950s, he continued his innovative theatrical work in noh, kyōgen and modern theater. In late 1956 and early 1957 he hosted a popular TV program, The Tetsuji Takechi Hour, which featured his reinterpretations of Japanese stage classics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Censorship</span> Suppression of speech or other information

Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments, private institutions, and other controlling bodies.

Legal frameworks around fictional pornography depicting minors vary depending on country and nature of the material involved. Laws against production, distribution and consumption of child pornography generally separate images into three categories: real, pseudo, and virtual. Pseudo-photographic child pornography is produced by digitally manipulating non-sexual images of real minors to make pornographic material. Virtual child pornography depicts purely fictional characters. "Fictional pornography depicting minors", as covered in this article, includes these latter two categories, whose legalities vary by jurisdiction, and often differ with each other and with the legality of real child pornography.

An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin obscēnus, obscaenus, "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral repugnance and outrage in expressions such as "obscene profits" and "the obscenity of war". As a legal term, it usually refers to descriptions and depictions of people engaged in sexual and excretory activity.

<i>Love Hunter</i> 1972 Japanese film

Love Hunter is a 1972 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Seiichirō Yamaguchi and starring Hidemi Hara, Mari Tanaka, and Sumiko Minami. The film was banned for obscenity, and director Yamaguchi arrested. The resulting trials were the last time that a film was prosecuted for obscenity in Japan.

Pornography in Canada has changed since the 1960s when the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69 that suppressed various laws related to sexual norms was passed. There has been a shift in the mode of determining whether a material is obscene or not with the R v. Butler judgment. The obscenity laws were challenged as violative of freedom of expression in R. v Butler. Obscenity is defined as follows under the Criminal Code: "the undue exploitation of sex or of sex and one or more of the following subjects; namely, crime, horror, cruelty and violence." The court held that the term “undue” should be interpreted on the degree of harm which flows from such exposure that predisposes people to act in an anti-social manner. The court ruled that pornography is harmful if it contains violence or explicit sex which is degrading or dehumanizing and which creates a substantial risk of harm, as it harms a person's right to be equal. Therefore, there is a shift from the community standard's test to the harm test post the Butler judgment.

The Nihon Ethics of Video Association (NEVA), usually abbreviated as Viderin (official) or Biderin, was a Japanese video rating organization. It was a voluntary organization to ensure adherence to Japanese obscenity laws, which prohibit any display of genitals. This is accomplished by a mosaic pixelation that is applied to videos for sale in Japan, and the NEVA seal is placed on all videos produced by member studios, which included the larger and older adult video studios in Japan—including h.m.p., Kuki Inc., and Alice Japan, which belonged to NEVA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom of expression in Canada</span>

Freedom of expression in Canada is protected as a "fundamental freedom" by section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; however, in practice the Charter permits the government to enforce "reasonable" limits censoring speech. Hate speech, obscenity, and defamation are common categories of restricted speech in Canada. During the 1970 October Crisis, the War Measures Act was used to limit speech from the militant political opposition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Book censorship in Canada</span>

Book Censorship in Canada is primarily limited to the control of which books may be imported. Canada Border Services Agency is able to block materials considered to be inappropriate from entering the country, although this practice has become less frequent since the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was put into place.

United States obscenity law deals with the regulation or suppression of what is considered obscenity and therefore not protected speech or expression under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In the United States, discussion of obscenity typically relates to defining what pornography is obscene, as well as to issues of freedom of speech and of the press, otherwise protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Issues of obscenity arise at federal and state levels. State laws operate only within the jurisdiction of each state, and there are differences among such laws. Federal statutes ban obscenity and child pornography produced with real children. Federal law also bans broadcasting of "indecent" material during specified hours.

United States v. Handley, 564 F. Supp. 2d 996 (2008), was a court case in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa involving obscenity charges stemming from the importation of manga featuring pornographic depictions of fictional minors.

References

  1. ↑ Natsui, Takato (July 2003). Cybercrimes in Japan: Recent Cases, Legislations, Problems and Perspectives (PDF). NetSafe II: Society, Safety & the Internet. New Zealand: netsafe. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
  2. ↑ "Japan ranks 68th in World Press Freedom Index, lowest in G-7". The Asahi Shimbun. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "Japan | RSF". rsf.org. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  4. 1 2 Jessie Yeung, Emiko Jozuka and Kathleen Benoza (14 June 2022). "Japan makes 'online insults' punishable by one year in prison". CNN. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  5. ↑ Chang, Yu, 1969- (2001). Publishing culture in eighteenth-century Japan : the case of the Edo publisher Tsutaya Jûzaburô, 1751-97. National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada. ISBN   0-612-51565-6. OCLC   1006915828.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ Keirstead, Thomas. "The Cambridge History of Japan. Volume 4, Early Modern Japan (Book Review)". The American Historical Review 98.5 (1993): 1664-665. Web.
  7. ↑ Shively, Donald H. (December 1955). "Bakufu Versus Kabuki". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 18 (3/4): 326–356. doi:10.2307/2718437. ISSN   0073-0548. JSTOR   2718437.
  8. 1 2 Wildes, Harry Emerson (1927). "Press Freedom in Japan". American Journal of Sociology. 32 (4): 601–614. ISSN   0002-9602.
  9. ↑ Seidensticker, Edward; Rubin, Jay (1985). "Injurious to Public Morals: Writers and the Meiji State". Journal of Japanese Studies. 11 (1): 218. doi:10.2307/132243. ISSN   0095-6848. JSTOR   132243.
  10. ↑ Abel, Jonathan E. Redacted: The Archives of Censorship in Transwar Japan. Berkeley: U of California, 2012. Asia Pacific Modern; 11. Web.
  11. 1 2 "Sex and Censorship During the Occupation of Japan". The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  12. ↑ "'Give Back Peace That Will Never End': Hibakusha poets and public intellectuals". The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  13. ↑ David M. Rosenfeld, quoting from Donald Keene (Dawn to the West. New York: Henry Holt, 1984. p. 967.) in Unhappy Soldier: Hino Ashihei and Japanese World War II Literature, p. 86, note 5.
  14. ↑ "Article 175 of Act No. 45 of 1907 [Penal Code of Japan]". Japanese Law Translation. Japanese Ministry of Justice. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  15. ↑ "Law No. 74". Japanese House of Representatives . Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  16. ↑ "1953 (A) 1713". Supreme Court of Japan . Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  17. 1 2 Cather, Kirsten (2012). The Art of Censorship in Postwar Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN   978-0824835873.
  18. ↑ Nagaoka, Yoshiyuki (2004). The Obscene Comic Trial: The Whole Picture of the Shobunkan Incident. Tokyo: Michi Shuppan. pp. 247, 252–53.
  19. ↑ Joyce, Colin (14 January 2004). "Comics can be pornographic, rules Japanese judge". The Daily Telegraph . London. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  20. ↑ "Erotic manga publisher to take case to Supreme Court". Japan Today . Tokyo. 9 August 2005. Archived from the original on 23 November 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  21. ↑ Gravett, Paul (2004). "Chapter 09: Personal Agendas". Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics. London: Laurence King Publishing. p. 137. ISBN   1-85669-391-0 . Retrieved 10 March 2011.
  22. ↑ "Core Magazine's Head Editor, 2 More Arrested for 'Obscene' Manga, Photos". Anime News Network.
  23. ↑ "Japanese Editor Arrested for Distributing Obscene Images". Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
  24. ↑ "Core Magazine Pleads Guilty in Japanese Obscenity Case". Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
  25. ↑ "2016 Human Rights Report: Japan", Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  26. ↑ "Japan introduces jail time, tougher penalties for online insults". Kyodo News+. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.

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