Richard Smart: The positives in Ishihara's manga censorship policy

Manga appeal to ten-year-olds of all ages – but is it okay to sell the porno version to minors? The debate that’s gripped Japan is making its way around the world now that a ban has been proposed.

The emotive issue of censorship, however, means that there is still plenty of room for misunderstanding on what will happen and why some people support the new law.

In countries such as the United States or Britain, I would find it very difficult to say I supported the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s manga censorship ordinance: it has more than a faint whiff of The People Versus Larry Flynt or the Oz Trial about it. In Japan, however, Gov. Shintaro Ishihara’s decision to restrict the distribution of manga is admirable.

New movement

It brings debate over Japan’s censorship laws into the media and into social consciousness, and this was long overdue. Japan is one of only two countries in the Group of Eight nations, along with Russia, where the possession of child pornography is legal. Any action that moves Japan toward a discussion of its child pornography laws should be applauded.

With the new laws, it must be remembered that manga will not be banned, they will simply not be available to children. And while there are worries about the way obscenity may be interpreted under the new laws, Japan is a stable country politically, which tends to have faith in its judicial process.

It would be unsurprising to see courtroom controversies after the law comes into effect, but considering media coverage of the bill so far, any perceived judicial abuse will likely be brought into the public eye for debate.

Weeks after Tokyo looked to restrict manga, Kyoto Prefecture brought in laws against child pornography as a whole. The pros and cons of that legislation are well documented by journalists Sarah Noorbakhsh and Jake Adelstein over at the Japan Subculture Research Center website.

Japan's Westernization

Speaking of the Tokyo laws, Simon Scott pointed out in a recent article in Metropolis: “Japan’s new law, insofar as it strives to regulate more than just the surface images to look at the overall theme of the story, suggests that the country is moving in a Western direction.”

This is a good thing, particularly with regard to child pornography. At a recent meeting at the Diet, speakers from UNICEF, The Polaris Project and ECPAT argued their case for the banning of child pornography. (Note that by the time questions came around, all the politicians had left the room).

The gist of what was said through the meeting was summed up succinctly by Polaris Project Executive Director and CEO Bradley Myles:

“It is imperative to describe the reality of the issue to ensure that we are acknowledging the truth of it. Although it is a difficult subject for many of us to talk about or hear about, we are talking about actual photographs and videos of real children being abused, raped and molested on camera. Significant percentages of the images include children being gagged, bound with rope or tapes, or blindfolded. Some images show children being tortured and many images show the sexual penetration."

Needs to be fixed right way up

Seem obvious? It should do. But under laws in Japan, the disturbing images described above can be possessed without punishment.

And what does this have to do with manga? Two things: The trend toward Western-style censorship is a good thing, it offers a chance that the possession of child pornography will in the future be banned here.

Additionally, it does not take a leap of the imagination to believe that some of the same people reading the extreme manga may also be indulging in child pornography.

Japan’s approach is, however, topsy-turvy. Before any debate on the censorship of words and pictures takes place, porn that shows actual children being harmed ought to be banned.

It would be surprising to think that the publishing companies do not realize this. Over the long-term, banning actual child pornography will surely lead to a more liberal treatment of fiction and manga.

Publishers should lobby the government to ban and criminalize actual child pornography rather than focusing on the more ambiguous issue of manga, which is the tip of the iceberg.