Ishihara adamant on manga censorship ordinance

I couldn't care less about what happens to manga or its censorship. But I do know that that picture is great!

Too many pervert scum that need to be castrated.

They should just ban it nationally to stop any nonces going to another prefecture just to buy comics/cartoons of child rape.

Just ban it from trains and make it only available by ID.

The girl is cute and 20

Just sell to JT readers

Guys, guys.....this is more serious than it looks. I'd like to remind you again, that Japan likes to boil things real slowly. They control a society by taking away their civil liberties and rights inch by inch. Keeping it very under the radar that the masses don't even realize it's happening. I bet only a small percentage of this society even knows about this little manga issue. Furthermore, as the same story gets passed from one person to another much of the main message is lost or distorted.

I do NOT support the overly suggestive manga that circulates throughout Japan's society day after day. I would agree with him that it's too suggestive but then again so is EVERYTHING else in Japan.

They are in fact, writers, illustrators, and a huge part of their daily lives is Creative design. With that said, manga could be deemed as artistic in nature and thus should NOT be censored.

Don't get me wrong, I don't LIKE it but the girl sitting across from me on the train is much more SUGGESTIVE than any comic book. There are women walking around who should have a public ordinance in place against the way they dress.

This is David and Goliath. Not even a Goliath really. Just some bully politician picking on anybody he think he can beat. Life imitates Art and Art imitates Life. With that said, Ishihara should be going after the Ministry of Education and DEMAND that school girl uniforms be decent with longer skirts, and NOT those god-awful Playboy socks.

Stop attacking Freedom of Speech and make the immoral, MORAL.

Hmmm, a smart reporter would investigate Mr. Ishihara's family. This might be a case of the The Preacher's daughter.

I think the chick is hot. Great legs and a nice tummy. I say she is at least 12. hahahaha

The ONLY intellectual argument in Japan in the last two years is 'Why can't we have comics about raping little girls?' What does that say about a society? Why are there women-only carriages on so many trains? This culture is designed to stunt the intellectual development of it's people to the level of 12-15 year olds, to make them easier to control. How many things, from sumo, to politicians, the police, to their fantastically self-serving interpretation of history, to their disaster preparedness have been revealed to be a sham? Societies generally fall into three categories: the 'participatory democracy', 'the iron fist', and 'the grand illusion'. Japan is mostly the latter.

Whether you agree with it or not, this should be legislated at a national level and not at a city level. Ishihara should have left this one alone.

Wow that is not the best poster, sort of promote it... really dont like this.

Anyways, while I can't say I have seen anyone openly reading the kind of manga this ordinance purports to ban, I remain leery about heavy handed government involvement in certain aspects; it's a pretty complex issue on the whole, that touches on problems larger than what it seems on the surface -- privacy, enforcement, freedom of expression etc. Agreed that the content of some manga are blatant in their appeal to the lowest common denominator though; puerile at the very least and far beyond disgusting in extreme cases.

I don't know, but I'd be willing to bet that if everybody stopped watching TV, most of this nonsense would disappear.

There are many Japanese households where the only communication is "Ohayo gozaimasu," in the morning, "Oyasumi nasai," at night, and "Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu," once a year. Though these are ritual greetings and cannot probably be counted as actual communication.

The TV is on, from breakfast until the last person goes to sleep.

It's very difficult to say anything when it's on, because it screams for attention.

It has largely taken the place of family communication, which is probably why a lot of programs are just a bunch of guys sitting round having a conversation, embellished with canned laughter "oos" and "aahs."

There's very little content in it, but it does push the sex angle and many of the watchers don't have a release for their feelings.

We've been TV free for five years now, and it's SO MUCH BETTER!

The more important issue is why is rape/kiddie porn manga so popular in Japan?

@JohninNaha

I agree totally. No TV is the way to go. We do have educational dvds for the kids, though.

I wonder how old the model in the picture is. She looks anywhere between 13 and 33 to me. And in turn, I wonder if that while most people can clearly see that a cartoon character is meant to be a child, will the artists and publishers not get around some of this by claiming the characters are adults who just happen to look young?

Actually the characters age looks harder to determine than the models, as is common with many anime characters.

Ishihara wants to quit being governor, and start editing manga???

Well he couldn't really do WORSE, now could he???

He has already distinguished himself as a feeble minded racist governor. He has publicly offended more groups than I can tally.

@JohninNaha Great post!

I agree with the Bill on censorship... Though I wish they'd turn their efforts more towards the Lolita gravure idol scene and cut off that child porn they pass 'art' rather than manga, or both. But I think imprisoning / castrating / torturing those sick perverts who produce and view that lollicon garbage need to be attended to immediately!

On another note, in actual mainstream porn (of legal age), the mosaic crap has to go!

However, if the ordinance only includes Tokyo, then it seems rather strange because Saitama Prefecture is only 11 minutes away by train from Ikebukuro and within around 18 to 19 minutes, you can get to Kanagawa from Shinjuku. Similarly, Chiba is not so far away from Ueno; therefore, if the entire region is not included, then the ordinance appears rather limited and open to be manipulated.

Ikebukuro and Shinjuku are major rail terminals, but naming them gives a mistaken perception of Tokyo's distance from its neighbors. Saitama Prefecture is only 3 minutes away from Akabane, Kita-ku and Kanagawa Prefecture is the same distance from Kamata, Ota-ku. Likewise for Chiba and Koiwa, Katsushika-ku, etc. Since half of Tokyo's daytime working population comes from outside the prefecture, and there's no way to screen who brings in porn, this law is only going to hit small retail stores, which have already been going under in record numbers as Japanese have practically stopped buying printed matter anyway, preferring instead to squint at the screens of their cell phones (usually while negotiating a pedestrian crosswalk).

great pic but it provokes the perv

A significant amount of the anime / manga created nowadays is targeted towards 18-and-above year old male audiences, and usually contains strong sexual overtones which may or may not be expressed through characters portrayed as minors, apparently.

I'm curious if any of this is true?

its a toucy subject, How much is too much? where are the fathers of these Girls? Japan is a very Free nation BUT theres alot of sexuality in its, posters, adds, videos, Anime, & More. I like Gilrs / BUT when i see a 13 yr old dressed skimpy im like what the heck? But yeah Bring on the J-idols & Racing queens who are 18 & Older.

If I started talking about rape fantasies and sex with minors on this page, it would certainly be censored so why would anyone object to it in the societal aggregate?

I do not know what it is about sexual topics, but its like asking someone to do math problems after a major car accident. Any other time you would get good responses. But when the topic turns to sex, suddenly no point no matter how small can be gotten fundamentally wrong by so many.

I don't see anyone here asking what the devil this move is meant to accomplish. You can't even begin to form a reasonable opinion or comment without that basic question being answered. Well? What do they hope to see with this censorship?

Seems for some its just a question of "Well I hate nonces and enjoy taking away their fun." Not an intelligent game at all. Japan is a pretty safe place as it stands. But if actual sexual crimes against minors go up in the near future, will anyone pay attention to the data? Probably not. For most people their fantasies of protecting minors are more real than the data proving they failed. Thus is the power of fantasy, and what happens when you take away people's fantasies. They get mad. Not smart, not smart at all.

But Ishihara did not get where he is by being stupid. Either he does not care and only seeks political brownie points or he sees profit in creating new problems.

For most people their fantasies of protecting minors are more real than the data proving they failed. Thus is the power of fantasy, and what happens when you take away people's fantasies. They get mad. Not smart, not smart at all

Wise words, chewit, but the hysterical paedo-hunters won't approve.

.

I am with Ishihara on this one. Go to international porno websites filled with a million Japanese ANIME stories. This should be banned totally. What was a name of Manga PM of Japan? LOL