Porn censorship in Japan

A legislative debate about lowering the age of legal majority in Japan has quickly devolved into a sensationalist campaign about adult performers aged 18-19. It has now morphed into a proposed new law under which anyone who signs a contract to appear in pornographic productions could void that contract at any time for any reason.

Japanese newspaper The Mainichi published a lengthy account allegedly based on two anonymous women's experiences of abuse in the Japanese adult industry.

The report did not identify any specific companies or directors behind the accounts of labor and sexual abuses but it does seem have spurred a group of lawmakers into pushing for some proposals that would make it impossible for the adult trade to continue.

The newspaper then extolled the bill proposed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers which not only allows people who agree to appear in pornographic content to terminate their contracts, but also requires video vendors in such cases to recover the products and delete the footage. Mainichi explained that this novel law also mandates that a month must pass between the signing of the contract and the filming of the video, and four months between the filming of the video and its public release.

The original debate concerned amending a law lowering the age of majority by extending additional contract protections specifically to adult performers under 20 years of age. The lawmakers came up with the bill after Japan lowered the age of adulthood in April, making it no longer possible for 18- and 19-year-olds to cancel contracts to which they have agreed.

Japanese politician Yamada Taro has proposed changes to Criminal Code 175, so that hentai and pornography would no longer be censored.

Article 175 of Japan's Criminal Code is to prevent the distribution and sale of of indecent material, including pornography. This leads to a curious situation in which adult material must be partially censored, usually across genitalia.

For nearly 10 years, the industry standard was to obscure, blur or pixellate the crown of the penis (the part that funnels out near the tip,) and clitoris, and instances of physical contact that constitutes sexual intercourse (i.e. insertions of objects into the vagina or the rectum).

The law also results in other oddities, such as the broadcast version of Jojo's Bizzare Adventure censoring Jotaro Kujo smoking as he is 17 (Japan's minimum smoking age is 18). The censorship was done via a heavy shadow across the lower-half of his face.

While this debate might be taking place in Japan, the outcome of this debate may impact the quality of entertainment you enjoy in your own home nation. After all, many agree that Japan is at the vanguard for many forms of visual entertainment. Even those that dislike Japanese erotic fantasy will agree, Japan boasts tremendous diversity in the realm of fiction that is unavailable else where.

In 2019, one Japanese politician would take many by surprise. Yamada Taro of the Liberal Democratic Party (the same party as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe) successfully gained a seat in the Japanese House of Councillors with 540,000 votes. He heavily appealed to the otaku voters being an obsessive fan, usually of anime and manga.

Since Yamada's proposal is still in it's infancy, there has not been any outspoken support or opposition at this time. The changes would be strictly to pornography and hentai, while content involving real under-aged individuals and those who do not give their consent, will of course, remain illegal to distribute in Japan.

Two particular groups would likely be the biggest opposition to the law being changed. One of these was the Nihon Ethics of Video Association. Acting as the Japanese equivalent of the ESRB or PEGI, they act as rating organization for videos in Japan. On proposes that they would not be in favor of the ban, as they would lose their job. The other likely opposition group is the Japanese Parent/Teacher Association (PTA).

A Japanese adult industry group is set to make it easier for porn stars to leave their past behind them as they transition to life after porn.

Japan's Adult Video Human Rights Organization will be asking production and distribution companies to comply with a new guideline allowing actresses to halt the sale of adult videos they have appeared in. Actresses can exercise this option once the film has been commercially available for five years, or five years and six months after the film was recorded. Additionally, companies will also be restricted from using any of the footage in other products, such as pornography omnibus releases should an actress ask for a halt in sales.

These measures have been added to make it easier for actresses to transition out of the adult video industry and not have their reputation follow them into more chaste professional pursuits or private family life. Should an actress choose not to ask for sales to be halted, the distributor's right to sell the film will be automatically renewed in increments of one year at a time. Adult video companies associated with the Intellectual Property Promotion Association are requested to comply with the guideline for films featuring actresses who enter into contracts from April 1, 2018

Pornographic production companies will also be required to explicitly explain that Adult video production is the filming of sexual intercourse and There is a risk that other people will find out about you appearing in an adult video, and there is also a risk of sexually transmitted infection. Advocates of the new rules assert that many women enter into contracts to appear in adult videos without fully comprehending what the work entails, and so only after the actress receives a through explanation and signs separate forms of understanding and intent will production companies be allowed to enter into a contract with her to film pornographic content.

While the regulations are not government-mandated, compliance with them is the only way for films to be certified as an appropriately made adult video by the IPPA.