The Eastern Edge

There's been a lot of hoopla over proposed changes to a Tokyo ordinance against child porn that would include “virtual” porn – i.e. comics, cartoons, games – that depict children in sexual situations. Although this is an issue I feel strongly about, I'm only half-heartedly following what's going on because I don’t think anything will really happen. Similar national legislation was proposed last year but was quickly shelved. No clear, large scale movement exists one way or the other in Japan to push politicians into making a decision. Just like in most countries, in cases like this the usual reaction of the powers that be is give it lip services and then do nothing. There is no reason to think it's going to be much different this time, except maybe for one X factor in the form of our illustrious governor here in Tokyo, who doesn’t have a problem with steam-rolling people even in consensus seeking Japan.

Whatever does or doesn’t happen, though, it is interesting to watch developments (or lack thereof) and follow the reactions, especially overseas reactions. The thing that I find interesting is that a lot of people are acting as though the Fourth Horseman of the apocalypse has come to take a big steaming dump on Cool Japan and ban all their guilty and not-so-guilty pleasures. The fuss seems a little over blown to me though, because it appears as though the proposed amendment seeks only to restrict access to minors. Well, if that’s the case, what the hell is wrong with that!?

Of course anti-censorship advocates and some of the artists fear that restrictions will lead to actual censorship or banning of legitimate work, and part of the reason for that is ambiguous wording in the proposed amendment. But while I agree that clarification is needed, it's insane to actually think that Tokyo is going to ban Crayon Shin-chan for his elephant impression just because he's a kid. It will never go even close to that far. The thing that strikes me is that people would be so fearful of any sort of restrictions, but yet seem completely unconcerned about the fact that on top of brutal and graphic violence, comic books aimed at elementary and junior high school kids feature more panty shots and breast grabbing than Benny Hill.

Look, I’m not saying that everything needs to be cleansed and kids should watch Ampanman and NHK until they are old enough to vote. But in a country where concepts like parental discretion don’t apply because kids have direct access to nearly everything, including porn, regulations are needed to fill the gap. It’s horrifying that some men will shamelessly read comics in public that feature high school girls being raped by tentacle monsters, and in plain view of actual school girls. In most of The U.S. and Canada you could be charged with sexual harassment just for having that comic in a translucent plastic bag that people could see the cover through!

I think both sides are far too extreme, but I also think that if people don’t have the discretion and decency to keep their fetishes private, you have to force them to a certain extent. That’s why there are laws against public nudity, noise ordinances in residential areas, and metal poles at the entrances of pedestrian paths to block cars and motorcycles from short-cutting along them. You may not be able to legislate common sense, but you can sure as hell try and do something about the worst offenders. I may lose the argument that graphic illustrations of children in sexual situations shouldn’t be legal at all, but I think at the very least such material should be restricted in public and not be accessible minors.

However, I’m writing this not to tell you what I think about censorship. I’m writing to tell you that it doesn’t matter what I think and it doesn’t matter what you, the foreign Cool Japan fan, thinks either. I'm writing to tell you that Japan Inc. doesn’t give a shit about what you think and it never did.
Case in point:

Roland Kelts pointed out the following in a recent column (found via MangaBlog):

But there remains an unsettling gap between the American fans of cool Japan and the Japanese who actually make what's cool. While the faces of popular anime and manga characters elicit oohs and aahs and sometimes squeals of recognition when they flash on projection screens or parade past in cosplay events, the industry that creates them--producers, publishers, artists and animators--continues to be virtually faceless outside of Japan.

Exactly right, and they are faceless largely by choice. Making their presence known outside Japan and information accessible to foreigners beyond buyers in the industry is not something most Japanese companies in any industry pay much attention to. If they are giving the foreign fan base any consideration at all, they are thinking in the corn fields of their minds “if we build it, they will come! And they will provide us with additional revenue streams because we're cool.” For about a decade they were right, and foreign fans went out of their way to let them know how cool they think they are too. Can't blame them for believing the hype, can you?

The sad truth is that few creators or content publishers care what happens to their work once it leaves Japan’s borders, which is one reason you never hear complains about foreign censorship out of Japan. They know that if most of their content isn’t heavily censored that it will never see the light of day in most countries. If they really wanted to stand behind their work, they always have the option of protesting censorship or refusing to license without guarantees there won’t be any. But they don’t. Since they aren’t creating with an international audience in mind in the first place, foreign sales are bonus checks to them.
If you think I'm cynical, I come by it honestly. I've actually seen Japan side salesmen in the animation industry come out and say, "No problem. You can edit it." in response to buyer concerns over content in properties aimed at children. I've seen that many, many times. Like it or not, that's the way it is.

Japan is bothered by foreign moral pressure about as much as most people are when they step in a pile of shit. Unless you’re wearing sandals, it’s only really annoying until you can find a patch of grass to wipe it on. Japan doesn’t care what you think about them unless it will significantly affect their bottom line. The motivation to move for controls on content involving children isn't about foreign pressure. There are some serious social problems in Japan in terms of attitudes toward women and children and I think people are finally realizing that a lot of what passes for innocent and even mainstream entertainment is simply out of control.

The proposed Tokyo ordinance amendment that has many up in arms, and legions of otaku fretting and seeking the comfort of their hizamakura lap pillows, has almost nothing to do with foreign pressure. There may be a certain segment of industry and government that is concerned with recent publicity hurting foreign sales of Japanese content under the ‘Cool Japan’ program, though. Unfortunately for them, the curtain is already being pulled back on the Wizard of Japanese Soft Power.

In terms of international relations and global economic clout, soft power via comics, cartoons and teenage cosplayers is the diplomatic equivalent of erectile dysfunction. “Soft" it surely is, but the hard truth is that it isn’t very powerful. Japan isn’t winning any respect or turning around its economy with Cool Japan. 20 years of spinning its wheels while sliding ever backward toward becoming a secondary player in world affairs is plenty evidence of that. If Japanese soft power exists, where is it?　How has it helped Japan's position in the world? So far it hasn’t done a damn thing except create a pop-culture buzz that already appears to be fading.

That’s only my opinion, though. Whether you think Cool Japan is for real or not, the fact is that foreign pressure on moral issues has never had much influence on how Japan conducts itself. Japan has faced intense international pressure over a number of issues and done exactly nothing, including ignoring UNICEF and their crusade against child porn for a long time. Now one American guy gets busted for child porn comics, the like of which you can easily buy in many stores that sell comics over here, and suddenly Japan is supposed to give a shit about what foreigners think? Get over yourselves, guys! Do you really think you’re that important? This isn’t about you!

Remember, this is a country that only a short while back showed up at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to lobby developing countries to defeat putting restrictions on tuna fishing by throwing sushi parties! It's hard to get more unapologetic and defiant than that, is it? This is a country that has no real laws against racial or gender discrimination, and has elected officials that openly blame foreigners for increasing crime by Japanese nationals – which leads me back to the main reason I think this whole thing has nothing to do with foreign pressure; Shintaro Ishihara.

Ishihara is Tokyo's regional dictator/governor and one of its most powerful bigoted, xenophobic, chauvinist assholes. Not familiar with him? Well, he's the guy who wrote "The Japan That Can Say No" and he's been saying "no" to foreigner’s rights and blaming them for Japan’s post-war societal ills for as long as he’s been in power. Ishihara is a racist, sexist, right wing extremist who doesn't give a flying shit about foreigners and what they think. He shows open contempt for foreigners and I’m sure he’d be pleased to go off on another one of his insane, incoherent tirades if you cared to ask him about it.
So don't worry, foreign otaku! If Ishihara is behind something, you can be sure it has absolutely nothing to do with you. Japan is not being ruined by foreigners or selling out.

It just isn’t about you, at least not this time.

If you’ve never heard of Shintaro Ishihara, I would encourage you to look him up. It’s good for a laugh, especially his past career as a novelist, when he wrote racy books that included sex among minors.
By the way, if you do look him up, before you wonder how a world class city like Tokyo could have elected such a screwed up individual as it’s governor, remember that it doesn't take too many images of Americans showing up at rallies armed with assault rifles and threatening to ‘refresh the freedom tree with the blood of patriots and tyrants’ to make many over here wonder what the hell is wrong with your country.
We all have our problems.

In the end, though, a local ordinance that goes as far as to include defining images of people resembling or pretending to be someone underage will not likely last very long in the land of the junior idol and school girl fetish. Relax! Stalin has not come back to steal your Japanese comics, it’s just Ishihara on another crusade. Even he has been forced to back off a bit and delay the vote originally scheduled for last March to clarify the bill’s wording - which is a good thing because what the hell constitutes a “non-existent person” anyway?

I know some will disagree with me and insist Japan is bowing to foreign pressure. But if that’s the case then I would encourage you to take a look at your own country before worrying about Japan. Blame yourself! You can stop your country from trying to take away Japan’s freedoms by lobbying your own elected officials to provide you with the same.
The reality is that media in the ‘Land of the Free’ has far less freedom in a lot of ways than it does in Japan.