This week, it was announced that Japan finally outlawed child pornography. The ban does not cover 2D sexualized representations of children in manga and video games. CNN International wonders why.
On Twitter, CNN International posed the following question:
Note that, at the time of writing, Kotaku has attempted to select responses that show the variety of reactions. Moreover, these types of manga, anime, and games are not mainstream in Japan.
Many of these tweets have been translated into Japanese for the country's net users. The issue of freedom of expression surrounding this sort of imagery has been a hot topic online for the past few years.
In the comments sections of many popular Japanese blogs, such as Hachima, many agreed with these tweets, being surprised that some foreigners seemed to share the same opinion. One commenter on 2ch, Japan's largest forum, pointed out that this isn't simply a male thing: "There are women who draw these manga, read them, and play these games."
"These. Are. Just. Drawings," wrote another blog commenter online. "Why don't you guys say this after you lower your crime rate first," replied yet another, with one commenter adding, "Yanks picking fictional Lolita regulation over gun regulation."
A few others either didn't care or mentioned how they thought "creepy otaku" were gross and were okay with increased regulation.
The argument for many might not actually be defending sexualized depiction of kids in comics, but rather, freedom of expression. Regarding that freedom, whether it's sexualized comic books or violent video games, where, and forgive the pun, do you draw the line?
CNN「日本は児童ポルノ単純所持を禁ずるのに、なぜ漫画は許されているのか」[2ch]
Photo: Takamex/Shutterstock
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