Last year, a legislative amendment was proposed in Tokyo, by which erotic depictions of any virtual youth appearing to be under the age of 18 would have to be “censored.” (Or to put it simply: No More Lolis) In addition, the amendment — if it were passed — would also ban themes of rape and incest in Japanese media.
News of this amendment then made the rounds through Japan’s creative communities, spanning both manga and eroge publishers, several of which were opposed to the thought of being stripped of their creative freedom. A number of eroge publishers, in particular, expressed concerns regarding how they would sell their product, now that one of the fetishes that appealed to a significant portion of their market was being disallowed. In the manga sector, leading publishers such as Kodansha and Shueisha, too, voiced their opposition to an amendment that they felt curbed their freedom of expression.
This proposal, dubbed the “Non-existent Youth Bill,” now finally faces defeat at the hands of the Democratic Party of Japan, who are pushing it back for revision and to address some of the criticisms leveled against it — one of which was the vague wording of the bill — after which it will be reintroduced in September of this year, or later.
