[ASK]why most AV are cencored?

Kuroi Tenshi

Banned
Jan 23, 2009
27
0
Since the end of the Second World War Article 175 of the Japanese Penal Code, known as the obscenity law, has represented the only official restriction on freedom of expression, which is nevertheless guaranteed by Article 21 of the 1947 Constitution. Paragraph 2 of this article reads how "no censorship shall be maintained". The term obscenity (in Japanese waisetsu) first appeared in the Article 259 of the 1880 Penal Code. However, it is Article 175 which remains as the main legal base to regulate obscenity. If there is a law in Japan that regulates what it can be read in newspapers and other kind of publications and be seen in paintings, manga and films that is, without any doubt, Article 175 of the Japanese Penal Code. This, changed several times since its implementation in 1907, stipulates that "any person who distributes, sells or publicly displays an obscene writing, picture or other materials shall be punished with penal servitude for not more than two years or be fined not more than two million and a half yen or minor fine. The same shall apply to any person who possesses the same with the intention of selling it.".

Nevertheless, there is not a clause in this article, which defines the term "obscenity" and "neither government administrators nor the courts were legally compelled to specify what constituted "obscene material". It is little wonder that multiple interpretations have been given to this article with regards to its application. If we consider visual material such as manga or cinema, the law has interpreted the term obscenity in this article as the exposure of pubic hair, the adult genitals and the sexual act. Thus, if this should happen the exposed parts in any kind of visual material should be hidden with what in Japan is called bokashi (blurring or fogging) or with a digital mosaic. This extremely vague definition of obscenity has created numerous inconsistencies in court decisions, which are central to the current debate on freedom of speech in Japan.


Porn was first seriously restricted in Japan in the Meiji Era, when materials deemed “injurious to public morals” were banned [thanks to the introduction of Victorian morals from the West]. After Japan’s defeat in WW2, American occupation authorities changed many of Japan’s laws to guarantee freedom of speech and expression. Sadly, the occupation authorities decided that the pre-existing law regarding pornography didn’t need to be changed. It has remained in effect to this day.

While the 60 years after World War II saw the acceptance of uncensored pornography as freedom of expression in the West, Japan continued to consider it “injurious to public morals.” One still cannot legally buy a movie featuring fully visible hardcore action.

In recent years it seems that the definition of “injurious to public morals” has been relaxed. Ten years ago, pubic hair was censored: now it is not. Last year, the American film Kinsey was allowed to air in Japanese theaters uncensored. The scene in which Dr. Kinsey is giving a slideshow of penis/vagina picture made history as the first ever scene showing human genitalia allowed by the censors.

Does this mean we will be seeing uncensored porn anytime soon? Probably not; the display of genitalia in a serious educational setting is a far cry from pure porno. Until then most porn consumers within Japan cannot legally buy uncensored porn.

The uncensored Japanese porn that exists does so because 1) It was made for foreign export, or 2) It was illegally produced/uncensored. Certain machines, such as the one pictured above are supposedly capable of removing certain types of mosaic censoring. Various knobs are used to adjust settings to match the mosaic censoring, while a small joystick is used to target a certain area of the video. As one Japanese guy explained to me, “it is kind of hard to whack” when you have to concentrate on using your other hand to move the joystick and make sure the de-mosaic is centered on the action. This doesn’t stop Japanese guys from shelling out hundreds of bucks for such machines. Smarter men go onto the internet, where the uncensored movies made for export are downloadable from sites hosted outside Japan.

Censorship is enough to completely turn off most Americans to Japanese porn. They are so used to seeing hardcore penetration shots that the fact that they can’t actually see the genitals make the porn useless to them. It’s a shame, since some out there think that Japanese pornography is often far superior to American adult videos. Japanese porn doesn’t focus on the penetration shot, instead using a variety of direction styles to create a sex scene. Without censorship, most Japanese directors would be as lazy as their American counterparts, who rely heavily on close-ups of penetration. It is possible that Japan’s wacky and innovative porn is a partial response to censorship.
 

S2X

New Member
Apr 4, 2007
25
1
Censorship is enough to completely turn off most Americans to Japanese porn. They are so used to seeing hardcore penetration shots that the fact that they can’t actually see the genitals make the porn useless to them.

I think the turn-off is seeing a screen full of pixels not the actual lack of seeing penetration. Many Japanese porn vids are filmed as if they were to be shown uncensored with plenty of close ups that just get pixelated anyways.
 

tabrisfreewill

New Member
May 17, 2008
152
0
You know who benefits the most here out of all these censored videos? The guy that's doing the after effects applying the mosaic to all the raw videos. That guy must have dupped a copy of all the uncensored, raw videos before applying the censorship and store them at home. Think of all the uncensored videos of Rio, Akiho Yoshizawa, Sora Aoi that he must have collected. Gotta find him out and make friends with him. haha. :rofl:
 

vincent_z

Low Angler
Nov 27, 2007
324
203
New government

This is the forum thread where to pose this question.
I believe most of you here know that Japan elected a new government in the past month.
The DPJ broke the run of the LPD which went back to the late 1980s.
Except for a short spell in 1993-94.
I hope I am getting the dateline synched. The preliminary point I attempt to use as a basis for my main query is:
Was the last time when the LPD was out of office when the ban on pubic hair being shown in books and videos was lifted? :surprised2:

Because the main query I have for you is thus - Might the new DPJ government finally allow uncensored genitalia to appear in above-ground Japanese videos, movies, and books?
Could it earnestly state that uncensored imagery is getting into the country via "other means"? That it believes time and money should not be expended attempting to enforce a law which has never been specific as to what is being prevented?
I think there is a chance of this. This is a new government. The new government will want to demonstrate that some things in Japan shall change. :virtuous:
I'll conclude by noting that, in some fields, Japan likes to emulate France.
When the long-time (think C. DeGaulle) French government finally went out of power in 1974, France's movie-makers plunged deeply into the production and release of explicit movies, seeing it as another art form which France's neighbor countries had discovered before it.
 

elgringo14

Survived to Japan
Super Moderator
Apr 28, 2008
9,094
337
I would date the ban lifting on pubic hair from around 1991, but I may be wrong. This is early 90s for sure.

I'll conclude by noting that, in some fields, Japan likes to emulate France.
When the long-time (think C. DeGaulle) French government finally went out of power in 1974, France's movie-makers plunged deeply into the production and release of explicit movies, seeing it as another art form which France's neighbor countries had discovered before it. [/size] [/font]

Lol at this.

In fact, in 1974 the newly elected president was still on the right side, but not gaullian for sure, something like a liberal. He "allowed" x-rated movies on theaters (in reality he abolished the censorship as it was done before). Within few months the porn movies market exploded (15 to 20 % share). But the government did not like this very much, and created a new law in December 1975 giving very high constraints for x-rated movies to be on theaters, and the market slowly collapsed. But the movement was launched and never stopped since.

That was the french cultural minute :snicker2: