The religious and social taboo against nudity has historically been weaker in Japan than in the West: "pillow books" detailing sexual acts were widely sold in the Edo era, and women and men routinely worked in the nude and bathed in public up to, and even after, the Meiji Restoration. While in Western society nudity has typically been a taboo, that idea entered Japan only after Meiji-era and how deep that idea is rooted is argued. Extreme public nudity, such as showing the genital area, would nevertheless be prosecuted in Japan (except in gender-divided public baths, and even then discretion is required). The Japanese attitude toward nudity in the media is more liberal than that of the United States, although it is still conservative in contrast to western Europe. Oddly enough, Japan does not have nudist beaches although this may simply be due to land congestion problems hardfucked.
In Japan, it is illegal for any commercial work to display the human vulva and phallus in an explicit manner. This law dates back to the Meiji period and has never been amended. Any publications depicting the penis or vulva must be shrink-wrapped and barred from sale to minors. However, it is not uncommon for pictorial magazines to depict nude women with their genitalia airbrushed over in black, and video pornography routinely depicts explicit sex scenes with the participants' genitalia obscured by mosaics. Until 1991, the entire pubic region, including hair, was deemed obscene and unpublishable. Recently there has been a diversification in the censoring market with there now being several companies which offer it. The government's sexual watchdog group is still considered to be the more harsh though this in many cases depends upon personal taste as most of the companies practices vary, with some opting for the more controversial (as opposed to the mosaic) big black bar. As of now it looks as if the censorship laws will be lessened due to the Internet's pervasiveness and the underground pornography movement which began in the late 1980's. However, it still has a large number of followers in the society as a whole and regardless of opinion it has become somewhat of a "cultural practice". An example would be that even though pubic hair is no longer illegal to depict, many adult movies still frequently censor it and hentai art and films do not usually even have it drawn. This has led some, predominantly westerners, to view Japanese pornography as being somewhat pedophiliac and seeing many of the females as being younger than they really are intended to be.
It is also illegal to bring pornographic material into Japan, and customs agents are known for checking videotapes in international mail and hand baggage. Extreme cases, like multiple offenders or attempts at commercial importation, could be punished by fines but most merely had their contraband confiscated. Applications of this law did not change in recent years, but more offenders are caught in recent years as checks became tighter to prevent the drug trade and terrorism.
There is also a thriving genre of underground pornography in Japan (called urabon) that ignores these censorship laws: it has become especially prevalent on the Internet, as there are no mechanisms in place to prevent its transmission from Japanese nationals to the outside world. Japan recently has begun a crackdown on child pornography especially photographs and videos involving an act of sex between a minor and an adult, largely due to U.S. pressure in attempts to gain a control over Internet trafficking hardfucked.
[edit] Religion and Pornography
Religions are not a factor in regulations of pornography nor defining of immorality in Japan. It is instead defined by a consensus. This is due to the fact that the separation of religion and state was complete before the proliferation of pornography. In the Edo period, Tokugawa shogunate limited religions' activities to organizing ceremonies such as funerals and marriages. This is because during the Sengoku period, religions like Buddhism and Christianity served as ideological backbones to rebellions. The shogunate recognized the danger of religious fanaticism and stopped a participation of religious leaders in policy making.
[edit] Culture
There is a pornographic culture just as there is a culture for foods or sports. Not all cultural aspects are equally represented, some are simply illegal or taboo in other countries. An expression of sexuality is more widely accepted in the mainstream media. Thus in many cases, scenes acceptable to Japanese audiences are unacceptable in other countries. Ribaldry is quite common even in child oriented materials and expressions that in most other cultures would not be acceptable for general audiences are shown without a warning. For example, in an early chapter of Dragon Ball, to find an invisible opponent, Muten-R?shi is shown Bulma's bared breast, eliciting a fountaining nose bleed that drenches the invisible man.
Japanese erotica has many of the same themes as its western counterpart such as heterosexual and homosexual intercourse, group sex, and sexual bondage. Similarly to western erotica the Japanese version may also portray various sexual fetishes such as foot fetishism, or a focus on a certain type of clothing such as uniforms or costumes as anime, manga or video game characters. (See cosplay for more details, note that the term cosplay itself does not relate to pornography)
The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife by Hokusai.
The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife by Hokusai.
Many genres of Japanese erotica evolved because of censorship laws. Tentacle rape, an animated portrayal of rape fantasies involving a human female and a science fiction-like creature originated in the Edo era. The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, a wood print of a woman in a sexual act with a giant octopus is one example of tentacle rape. It emerged as an alternative to depicting the male penis in the 1980s, and it became famous for its depiction hardfucked in the anime, Legend of the Overfiend.
[edit] Doujin and parodies
Main article: Doujinshi
Doujinshi, "fan works", are widely known as pornographic imitations of popular anime, games and manga. They are technically a violation of copyright law and can be prosecuted if the owner of copyrighted material chooses to have them prosecuted. But in many cases, owners officially ignore their existence. This attitude is at odds with the concept of copyright. However, this practice is common as it is a good way to measure how large the core of consumers are, the number of dojinshi published is representative of the number of consumers who would spend liberally on the title, increase and decrease shows rise of interest and its decline.
It is increasingly common for original doujinshi to portray underage characters; in the United States, this is known as lolicon, a contracted form of "lolita complex."
[edit] Anime
Main article: H anime
Animated erotica (known in the West as hentai, but in Japan as 'adult anime') is a popular but a minor genre in Japan and generally maintains the same style of animation seen in other popular forms of Japanese animation (anime). Many of these anime are originally a game, a manga, or a novel.
[edit] Games
Main articles: Bishojo game and H game
Adult oriented games are a popular genre for computer games in Japan, comprising some 25% of all software titles published annually.[citation needed] The genre is somewhat unknown outside Japan because of several problems, cultural and translational, but their artworks are well known on internet websites often illegally copied and shown as "adult anime pictures". Known "bishojo games" or "pretty girl games" (alternately spelled "bishoujo") in Japanese, the games are known under several names used by English fans, including PC dating-sim game, hentai game/H game, and so on. Companies such as Peach Princess, JAST USA and G-Collections are porting dating-sim games to English for the fledgling market outside of Japan. Adult video games in Japan are rated "Z" by the CERO, from now on hardfucked.
[edit] Internet
Pornographic material has existed from the earliest day of computer networking and the internet has helped to connect those interested in specific genres. In those early days, the presence of pornographic materials often resulted in heated arguments between those who did not want any such material available for anonymous access and those who believed that individuals can choose for themselves. The matter was eventually resolved by having either warnings or a password before most pornographic materials.
Fanfictions, commonly found in websites, are not limited to fictitious characters and often use real live people as well, though these works would make little sense to those who do not see Japanese TV programs. Dojinshi writers typically use the internet to market their products by offering previews of new works, a secret address where buyers can find additional works, and a sample of their games. They also recruit new writers and artists online. Several exclusively adult oriented search engines exist to let someone find a site they are looking for, without having to search through commercial websites that list all keywords. Many works of dojinshi are featured in websites that collect the art and let people look for free.
Many websites feature seasonal greeting pictures, often pornographic, from linked sites and friends who frequent their sites. A typical Christmas greeting picture on such sites features a santa-girl in various stages of undressing. The twelve zodiac animals of Chinese astrology offer challenging and entertaining examples of Catgirl.
[edit] Magazines
Magazines are, along with videos, popular media for pornographic materials. Unless a magazine contains pornographic manga or pictures, there is a no age requirement for its purchase. hardfucked Many non-pornographic magazines have some glamour photography and as long as women are in something more than a swimsuit, it is considered a non-pornographic photograph. Several non-pornographic magazines have some nude photographs of women as a part of their articles but as long as they have an artistic quality and do not show men, it is not considered pornographic. Furthermore, a female and male doll may be partially clothed or even nude as long as it is a work of art and is not in an act of sex.
Confessional writings by both genders are a popular topic in men's and pornographic magazines. Quite often, these writings are fictional stories written by professional authors. Other popular topics in men's and pornographic magazines are erotic manga and novels, reviews of pornographic videos, and reports of sex services.
Women's magazines also have most of the writings of men's and pornographic magazines. Except for a few glamour photographs of men (who are usually clothed), they lack graphic pornographic contents. Few, if any, of magazines targeted for women are considered pornographic or have an hardfucked age requirement as they lack any graphic content.
