Ask John: How Can I Avoid Hentai Anime?

Question:
I heard that 70 percent of all bisujo anime is for adults only. Why is there so much? Also, how could I avoid it if I go to Japan?

Answer:
Before I address your question, it’s necessary for me to clarify a misunderstanding. The term “bishoujo” means “attractive young girl” and in terms of anime is most commonly applied to magical girl shows like Sailormoon, Wedding Peach, and Card Captor Sakura. The confusion comes from the fact that the term is also used in the context of “bishoujo games,” referring to pornographic computer simulation and text adventure games. The vast majority of bishoujo games do contain sexual content and are intended for adults only.

I believe that a major misunderstanding among Western anime fans is a tendency to apply Western conventions and morality to Eastern culture. It’s very common for American anime fans to take an “anti-hentai” or “anti-yaoi” stance based on conventional Western morality. However, in Japan, sex is not a bad word. To directly address the question, if you’re personally offended by adult anime and sexually explicit anime or manga and the sexual fetishization of women and want to avoid all of this when visiting Japan, don’t visit Japan.

Judeo-Christian theology implies that sex is either an act of procreation or a physical consummation of love between a married couple; and that nudity is intrinsically shameful. Japan is not a Christian country and therefore largely is not bound by Western customs regarding sex. To a large degree Japanese culture considers sex a pleasurable, natural physical activity and nudity a normal, natural physical state- neither of which are anything to be particularly embarrassed about or ashamed of. Therefore Japan does not have the same social stigma associated with pornography that particularly America does. Anime itself is, by definition, fantasy, because it’s not real. It merely makes sense that there would be adult anime, as sex is what normal adults fantasize about more than anything else. While America considers adult anime shameful, in Japan adult anime is given the same respect that any other genre of fiction is given. To Japanese people, action, science-fiction, horror, comedy, romance, and hentai are all legitimate, respectable genres for anime with none of them taking especial precedence over any of the others.

In many respects, Japan is a very sexually liberated country. Prostitution is illegal in Japan, but as long as all involved participants are adults, Japanese prostitution laws are rarely enforced. A Japanese tourist will find adult manga magazines on display on news stands right next to the daily paper. Japanese newspapers publish political headlines, stock quotes, sports scores, and full color photos of nude Japanese women. Adult video stores will display their goods in window displays facing the street right next door to fast food restaurants and video game arcades. Public phone booths are often wallpapered with tiny colorful business cards with anime style illustrations and phone numbers of professional female “escorts.” Street signs for hentai doujinshi shops on public display on sidewalks will proudly display graphic depictions of nude anime and manga girls in bondage and compromising situations for all to see- young and old, male and female. Attractive young Japanese women in short, tight miniskirts stand on sidewalks handing out packets of tissues with advertising text or other flyers to passing pedestrians. Gentlemen’s clubs and paid sex clubs advertise their services and hourly rates on illuminated signs outside their front doors. Japanese adult video actresses willingly star in completely legal, highly graphic and thoroughly convincing rape fetish movies. Japan is the home of the famous “love hotel” industry.

Sex and sexuality are an everyday part of contemporary Japanese society. Americans may find this shocking, but Japanese natives simply accept it as natural. I certainly don’t mean to downplay the activism of feminism and equal rights supporters in Japan; however, within the context of this simple overview, average Japanese women typically don’t take personal offense at graphic sexual depictions of women or the public sexual fetishization of women. American society takes offense at the sexual objectification of women on principle, but Japanese society typically concedes a distinction between reality and fiction or advertising. It’s not my intention to defend established sexism in Japanese culture, but part of anime fandom is (or should be) a desire to learn more about, understand, and appreciate Japanese culture. And hentai, yaoi and sexuality are as much a part of anime as they are a representation of Japanese culture itself. I can only suggest that if you’re offended by graphic expressions of sexuality you may want to carefully quantify your exposure to anime, manga, and Japanese culture itself.