Why Censor Hentai?

[Sox]

Seriously, why censor hentai? What's the point? I just don't get it..

[Hokage Izlude]

To prevent having your eyes raped obviously.

[Sox]

Lol, but seriously, isn't the point of watching hentai and porn in general to see all the naughty parts? Hentais like Boobalicious and parts of Night Shift Nurses are all blurry in all the good parts. It makes me disapointed.

[Hokage Izlude]

To me the only "good parts" are the tits. Thats all I watch hentai for, the boobs. :P

I'm straight, so obviously I don't wanna see any penises. Censor that ****!

Vagina's... they scare me.

Also I can't believe you like Night Shift Nurses despite the fact it's got scat in it. I've never seen Night Shift Nurses, I almost downloaded it once a long time ago, but I gotta ask, do they mosiac the poop?

[Black Cat]

Vagina's... they scare me.

I'm straight,

i doubt it

[loplop]

Because it's the law . . .

To start, The American occupation of Japan after World War 2 had nothing to do with the censorship laws in Japan. They actually started during the Meiji period (1868-1912). Much does depend on the studio for what and how is covered. Certain studios do not censor even the anus in anal sex, but the penis is censored. There has been a definite move toward less and less censored but the laws are still on the books in Japan about pubic censoring. But even those are enforced less & less.

A comment on Japanese censorship from the Wikipedia entry on "Pornography in Japan" . . . .

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.

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 western 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.

[Black Cat]

i find it funny how in some hentai drawings ive seen, they put like a tiny little line on the tip of a huge penis and call it censoring

[DocWatson]

Because it's the law . . .

To start, The American occupation of Japan after World War 2 had nothing to do with the censorship laws in Japan. They actually started during the Meiji period (1868-1912).
Actually, the first prohibition against pornography was in 1723 ("Censorship" in Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1993, p. 170. ISBN 4069310983. See also "Obscenity", p. 1122.), but it's true that the government became serious in the Meiji period. See the thread "Hows the Japan hentai market?" (http://www.animenation.net/forums/showthread.php?t=214330) in the Ask John forum for more discussion on censorship in Japan.

[Snoozer41]

i find it funny how in some hentai drawings ive seen, they put like a tiny little line on the tip of a huge penis and call it censoring

lol... I still don't get the logic behind doing that.

[l0k1]

As i understand it the companies self censor their work to help it pass the classifciaton board (selling their product is the point y'see), as they are quite strict about what counts as 'explicit'. Even though the law doesn't outright ban the showing of genitalia it does ban the obscene showing of it.

[DocWatson]

i find it funny how in some hentai drawings ive seen, they put like a tiny little line on the tip of a huge penis and call it censoring

lol... I still don't get the logic behind doing that.
It's lip service to the law, while actually evading it. Quoting Simon Jones, of Icarus Publishing (Icarus' blog, post "Johji Manabe manga recalled?" of February 6, 2009):

The censorship situation in Japanese ero manga is highly inconsistent. On rare occasions, ero manga are intentionally released with no mosaics at all, an event seemingly determined by the same random force that governs 4-leaf clovers. Yet other publishers, such as Shobunkan, take great pains to censor all of their releases, going so far as to eschew mosaics for far too liberal applications of white-out. In the case of the latter, there is good reason… some of you may remember Shobunkan's publisher was found guilty of peddling obscenity and served a short jail sentence, for leaving too much detail intact in the book Honey Room. The book's author also had to pay a fine. Maybe this weighed on Manabe's mind during his visit to TGnet after perusing his own book…
Our subsequent comments:


Simon:

I've been attributing (when the question arises) the inconsistency in manga censorship in Japan to the lack of a censorship board—unlike film, video, and imported goods, manga publishers are responsible only to the police. Would you agree or disagree with this theory?


You're right that there isn't a censor board for manga. And police enforcement/code differ from region to region, just like in the U.S.. Even with periodic hoopla over adult manga, Beauty Hair's case is still unique in the commercial manga arena.

There is a "magazine number" in Japan that is similar to ISBN, and publishers which cannot acquire one practically cannot publish. I don't know if it has ever been refused for censorship purposes, though.


The "magazine number"—is it an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), or something else?


No, the magazine code (雑誌コード) is unique to the Japanese publishing industry. And despite its name, it is used for tankoubon too. The number appears in this format on the back cover:

雑誌 12345-67

The first digit indicates the type of publication. All manga begin with a 4 or a 5. Mooks begin with 6.

I don't understand the details, but unlike the ISBN which anyone can purchase, the Japanese magazine code application process is rigorous, and one is not guaranteed to receive it (in that sense it's more like a UPC). At least that's the complaint I've heard from Japanese mangaka and self-publishers. The system through which the zasshi code is issued is not equitable to the little guy.

[ZeroRyoko1974]

I remember a story some while back about an ero manga artist who got fined or jail time for not including the bar censors

[waltsoph3]

Lol man good question guys. Its ment for adults so whats the point to censor something targeted for adults. Its just nuts.

Oh yeah whatever happened to Nu-Tech? I rember a long time ago on AN's news they got SUED for just the fact of uncensoring some of the films for the US veiwers and it was a breach in contract. Go figure. :(

[DocWatson]

I remember a story some while back about an ero manga artist who got fined or jail time for not including the bar censors
Beauty Hair, whose manga Honey Room was the one in question and whom I just mentioned above.

[DocWatson]

Oh yeah whatever happened to Nu-Tech? I rember a long time ago on AN's news they got SUED for just the fact of uncensoring some of the films for the US veiwers and it was a breach in contract. Go figure. :(
No, they were sued for failing to pay royalties, and streaming titles on-line without the licensor's permission (http://fast.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-05-27/ken-groove-sues-nutech-digital).

[waltsoph3]

AHCK! It must have been my imagination. I dunno i could have sworn i saw something about that. Sorry. Not bad thanks for clearing that up Doc.

[Sox]

To me the only "good parts" are the tits. Thats all I watch hentai for, the boobs. :P

I'm straight, so obviously I don't wanna see any penises. Censor that ****!

Vagina's... they scare me.

Also I can't believe you like Night Shift Nurses despite the fact it's got scat in it. I've never seen Night Shift Nurses, I almost downloaded it once a long time ago, but I gotta ask, do they mosiac the poop?

I'm not sure why I like Night Shift Nurses, but it's certainly not because of the scat. I think it's because it's sort of a thriller. I started watching it and I couldn't wait to see what happened.

Also, I should have clarified, Night Shift Nurses is available in censored and uncensored. They censor the vagina, penis, anus, and penetration. However, no, they do not censor the scat and water sports. Actually, I don't even think they censor the semen. However, I could be wrong. I haven't seen a censored version of any hentai for a while, so I don't recall the rules.

[Sox]

I forgot to add something above. A guy once told me that the reason a lot of straight guys don't mind looking at another man's penis in hentai and live porn is because they can imagine that it's THEIR penis in the scene. So, in that case, there isn't a need to censor the penis in hentai, but only if you feel that way.