For some strange reason, any erotic and pornographic material officially released in Japan is censored in the intimate parts. They simply leave pixels, bars, mosaics, and blurred squares to censor the intimate parts.
The breasts are one of the few things that escape Japanese censorship. In this article, we will see why this law exists and what the industry does to circumvent it. Let’s start by looking at how censorship began in Japan.
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How did censorship in Japan begin?
To better understand why pornography is censored in Japan, we must go back to the Meiji Restoration that began in 1868. Before this time, Japan did not have a sense of morality. Even today, this sense is somewhat absent.
The Japanese view was very liberal regarding sexuality, and prostitution was a common business in Japan. There were even erotic religious stories and records involving samurais, geishas, and even homosexual acts.
Also read: Geisha – Who are they really? History and Curiosities
In an attempt to modernize Japan, Emperor Meiji felt the need to adopt a sense of morality from Victorian England that condemned sexual thoughts and art.
In 1907, Article 175 of the penal code prohibited the sale and distribution of obscene materials, which were subject to fines and imprisonment. It was interpreted that human genitals and pubic hair were considered obscene, which led artists to reduce the creation of pornography for fear of imprisonment.
Before the world war, censorship was much greater and even prohibited nudity. After World War II, the United States abolished all forms of censorship and control of freedom of expression.
However, Article 175 was kept intact, continuing to prohibit any explicit display of intimate parts. By the end of the 20th century, several erotic works, including animations, began to appear and gain popularity.
Bypassing Japan’s censorship
Japanese people are not prohibited from drawing their erotic stories without censorship. They are prohibited from selling them uncensored within Japan. Therefore, in the 2000s, it was common to sell Japanese works, especially hentais, to the West. Nowadays, it is increasingly uncommon for these works to go to the West uncensored.
To bypass censorship, in the 80s they began to use tentacles. The government was unable to prohibit or enforce censorship on tentacles or non-human creatures. Therefore, most Hentais have such bizarre things as aliens and monsters.
Also read: Why do Japanese people like Tentacles?
Until the end of the 90s, it was prohibited to draw pubic hair; to circumvent the law, authors began to draw young girls who did not have hair in their intimate parts. This is how the terms lolicon and shotacon began to emerge.
The popularization of sex toys in Japan, such as masturbators and toys, also grew enormously due to the censorship in adult content. Both in hentais and in adult films, the use of toys to bypass this law is frequent.
Japanese people have gotten used to censorship and do not usually complain about it. Some experts consider the bars and mosaics a way for the Japanese reader to justify their habit and mitigate the act of reading pornography or the acts represented there.
In the West, we see something similar, where eroticism is accepted in films, as long as genitals are not seen. Still, the Japanese have several secrets to increase sensuality and eroticism in two works without breaking the rules.
Japanese censorship gave rise to other fetishes
Japan is known for its numerous and diverse fetishes, largely due to the censorship of adult content. Since official films and animes do not show genitals, they need to focus and emphasize other things that have become fetishes.
The perversion of the Japanese has become so strange that they are willing to fixate on feet and also on the slight exposure between the thighs and legs of girls in miniskirts. There is even a name for this area, which is Zettai Ryouiki.
Also see: Zettai Ryouiki – The Absolute Territory between skirts and stockings
Who doesn’t remember the strange fetish of licking doorknobs? Or worse, why do we have so many squirts and bukkake in Japanese films? Because it is the only thing that can be seen and excite with the great censorship exposed in adult content in Japan.
Clothing and fantasy have also become something striking in adult content. Sometimes it takes hours for the action to happen in Japanese adult films because they spend a lot of time focusing on the clothing, curves, and positions without letting censorship affect them.
Even the facial expressions of Japanese women in real life and in animes become highlights, creating another fetish called Ahegao. The Japanese enjoy the simple glimpse of a panty and give a lot of emphasis to breasts that are not censored.
Despite the censorship law, Japan is the country with the largest pornographic industry in the world, generating 20 billion dollars a year (compared to 12 billion in the USA). Despite all this, it is confusing to understand the purpose of this law.
We recommend reading:
- Ahegao – Everything about strange faces in mangas and animes
- Panchira, Pantsu and Shimapan – History of Panties in Japan
Is censorship really that bad?
Throughout this article, the benefits of having censorship in adult content, especially in hentais, have been mentioned. This somewhat forces the author’s creativity to elaborate new and different things that capture the viewer’s attention.
Censored Hentais can be considered a Softporn or basically light porn. Exalting mainly the fantasy, mystery, and story of the work, unlike uncensored content, which only leads you to focus on the intimate parts.
What is your opinion on this subject? I hope to see your comment and share.
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