Japan and UNICEF

Because they really hate us foreign devils

Discalimer: Some of the links are to websites with adult content and hence may be NOT SAFE FOR WORK (NSFW). I have clearly marked them out to the best of my ability

I’ve been out of touch with the English-speaking mostly cartoon porn Visual Novel Community for some time, but I couldn’t help but notice the buzz surrounding the recent RapeLay/RapePlay Controversy(Wikipedia Article, Link 1, Link 2).

This, coupled with UNICEF’s pressures on the Japanese Government have resulted in a backlash from some members of the Visual Novel (VN) industry against the international community: the complete blocking-off of foreign visitors from their sites.

Minori, one such member of the industry, placed an (Engrish) statement on their website which helps to shed light on some of their sentiments:

minori official website. This website cannot be browsed excluding Japan.Some foreigners seem to be having an antipathy against EROGE (‘Eroge’- Short for “Erotic Game(s)”). Therefore, We prohibited the access from foreign countries, to defend our culture. Sorry for you of the fan that lives in a foreign country. minori Inc. ——————————————————— Why minori blocking foreign accesses? We are little perplexing now because we received a lot of response about this issue from foreign people. Now we will tell you the short detail about the reason why blocking you to this website, because of we, all Japanese EROGE makers were facing at the problem, the crisis of “Freedom of speech”. Currently, The bill that allows to limiting the content (It is censorship. Isn’t it?) to all EROGEs is being discussed in the Diet because intellectuals and politicians said “Japanese EROGE were being problem and troubled with the foreign country. Therefore we should make EROGE hidden away from foreign country, and also its content should be limited and censored”. Okay, now we trusted the word what they said at once. So we blocked you to make stay away from the trouble. …Do you like that? If not, please tell your idea directly to Japanese government and politicians. (For example, you can write the letter to the administration of Japan directly from here.) (If you can comprehend Japanese…There is information of the politicians in Japan.) Otherwise, you just can talk your idea about this issue at your blog or other media to inform the existance of this problem to the public. It would be very helpful for us. If you do so, we might be able to recover the “Freedom of speech” and the barricade lying in between us would be taken away. Please help us. We hope this separation would be only for short moment. Sincerely. minori Inc.

(Crudely) adapted from: minori.ph (accessed 30 June 2009) (might be NSFW).

A case of scapegoating the foreign public in the face of pressures from overzealous human rights groups?

Views from some of the local Japanese to the whole debacle were mixed, with much xenophobia apparent (loosely translated):

「汚い外国人は失せろ」 (Get lost, dirty foreigners!)

「エロゲやったこと無いけどminoriナイス。 もっとやれ」 (I don’t play Eroge, but nice one Minori! More <of such actions>!)

「海賊版買って正規に問題押し付けてきた外国側に問題がある。 公式サイトの判断は正しい。」
(There’s also the added push of the entrenched piracy trade overseas. It’s an appropriate decision on the part of company websites)

「外人が日本のアニメ、ゲームに手付けると こうゆうことになんだよ。エロゲ会社もいろいろ大変なんだな。」 (Foreigners buying games and anime contribute to Japan’s income, so what’s up with this? Eroge companies also have all sorts of problems huh.)

Some even made references to the “sakoku” policies of Old Japan:

俺、江戸幕府はなんで鎖国なんてバカなことをしたんだろう、って今まで思ってた。
ようやく、当時の日本が鎖国をした気持ちが分かった。(Now I know understand why the Edo Shogunate decided on such a stupid policy like Sakoku. At the very least, I can sympathise with the Japan of that era)

While I shall not go into the moral argument of “freedom of speech to consume porn” versus “think about the children!!!!!!!OMG,” I would like to suggest a few points to consider:

1) Will such bans instil more than just a false sense of security? Apart from driving away foreign (even if it’s negligible) interest/patronage, would it really reduce international scrutiny? Would such actions solve any major bones UNICEF apparently has with Japan?

2) This is yet another case of media being blamed for the cause of crime/undesireable action, joining the ranks with “violence in games leads to violence in reality,” “sex on TV corrupts the minds of kids”. Is there a clear link between games with sexual content and sexual violence/underage promiscuity/etc?

Cultural Observations Part 1

Big apologies to the readers out there (all 2 of you)! Have been held up with assignment after assignment, but I guess that’s no real excuse ya?

Anyway, today we discuss something that has been sitting in the back of my mind for some time. Cultural observations between the ‘liberal’ democracy that is Rooland and good old Singapore.

“Yeah, it’s obvious,” some of you complain, “haven’t we heard all this crap before?”

But in an era where the Intarwebs are turning everything into one big global village (yeah, couldn’t resist a McLuhanism), and when ‘change’ seems to be the word most in vogue, one questions when debates over these issues will become a thing of the past:

1) Censorship of Porn artistic renditions of the nudist variety

Read the following article (Source)

Eileen Eileen Poh | poh.eileen@nus.edu.sg the ridge news A NUSSU Publication Sept 26, 2008 Japanese comics laden with sexually explicit content were up for rent at the Comics Corner located at the National University of Singapore’s Co-op@Forum, situated on the premises of the school’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The comics, labeled “unsuitable for aged 18 and below”, are not shrink-wrapped, and free for all to browse at the store. “I am quite shocked to hear that we can find such books on campus,” said Mandy Tan, a second-year arts student. “Although pornographic materials are easily available on the Internet, I don’t think we should promote such an unhealthy culture openly.” “Would this not indirectly promote sex?” asked Ong Zheng Wei, a second-year engineering student. “Those pictures might be seen as ‘thought-provoking’ and could intoxicate people with lust.” “The residential comic stores do rent such books,” said Robbie Yee, a fourth-year communications student. “But, come on, this is a school.” A check with the comic store found that the previous vendor, AZ Comics, left behind the majority of these controversial comics. Ms. Joanne Lim, staff of NUS Comics Corner, said, “We did notice the restricted books then and found out from the previous vendor that his rationale for bringing the restricted books into the campus was that all the students here are above 18, and there are always a small group of readers who are into such books.” “We agreed with his reasoning and have since kept the books in our shop,” said Ms Lim. Agreeing with Ms Lim’s reasoning is a third-year business student who wanted to be known as Chew. “Everyone on NUS is definitely above the age of 18,” said Chew. “So logically speaking, there is nothing wrong with keeping the books here.” Yeo Junjie, a second-year engineering student, agreed with Chew. “We are old enough to make our own decision.” The controversial comics are less popular among students, with eight borrowers for two of the titles – ‘The Virgin’s Peril’ and ‘Love of a Tyrant’. An assistant at the NUS Comics Corner, who wanted to be known as Mr. Teo, cited that majority of the borrowers are females, possibly due to the classification of these comics under the “Young Women” category. When approached by the ridge, NUS Co-op NUS Co-op General Manager Jessie Lee explained that the management has “formed a contract with the vendor that only healthy materials can be promoted.” “It is therefore the responsibility of the vendor to screen through the comics and make sure that only healthy materials are promoted,” said Ms Lee. However, a check with the comic store found that the store does not screen through every book. “Considering the number of comics we have, we can’t possibly screen through every single one of them,” said Mr. Teo. “But we do screen through the first one or two books before we put them on the shelves.” Mr. Teo added that the store relies mostly on the ratings given by publishing companies to decide if the books should be put up. Comics allowed in Singapore are generally classified under ’General Release‘ and ’Unsuitable for the Young‘, according to a Content Guidelines for Comics by the Media Development Authority (MDA). However, the industry is largely self-regulated. Trained importers are required to sift through the publications and assess their suitability for local distribution based on the guidelines provided by MDA, under the Registered Importers’ Scheme. NUS Comics Corner has since agreed to remove the books from the shop.

Score 1 for the prudes! (apparently, the venue was closed soon thereafter. Make a guess why…)

Yet when one bumbles around our musty manga library on campus…

In all its glory, complete with obligatory otaku -_-

I guess a bunch of teenagers going at each other like rabbits is just too much for the little children you seem to think enrol at your school, eh NUS? Or are universities like mine just cesspools of Western corruption?

I won’t join the debate about whether we should all err on the side of conservatism or become one with the bunch of hyper liberals the world is slowly turning into (Don’t teenagers go at each other much earlier than 18 years of age nowadays?), since that’s tl;dr and there’s plenty of material floating around.

2) Strikes and Protests

Was hoping they'd march down to the local Church of Scientology...

On 16 May, a small representation of Project Chanology popped up at Federation Square here in Melbourne, protesting against Scientology’s tax exemption status (Well, looking at the ‘membership fees’ of the ‘religion,’ I’d naturally feel a bit hesistant funding a ‘cult’ for free, looking at the state of the economy). Though they promised free hugs, I politely declined.

Then of course we have this, proving that education outside Singapore isn’t without hiccups…

STRIKE! WE WANT MONEY! THE DOG WANTS KIBBLES! STRIKE!

Was given this flier, detailing their demands….

No mention for the dog? (Click for clearer image)

While it was quite a miserable little protest here in Caulfield, it was apparently much worse in Clayton where the picket lines blocked traffic in and out of buildings.

Well, fair enough for them. No one likes wage cuts after all, but I have to question whether all this pitchfork-waving is at the expense of the students they claim to care about. Quoting my Journalism tute-mate’s recollection of the event:

Student: ‘Scuse me, I have a a test today. Could you let me through?
Teacher: DON’T GO IN! YOU’RE JUST SUPPORTING THE FUCKING STATUS QUO! BOYCOTT YOUR LESSONS*!
Student: But what about my marks?
Teacher: BUT WHAT ABOUT TEACHERS’ RIGHTS?!?

*Non-union staff ROFL-ed and carried on lessons as usual.

Luckily for her, she managed to get in. All in all, a pretty useless show of force that only served to annoy the students they claim to be striking for as well. Plus, it only lasted a day, so I really doubt the effectiveness of their actions.

To sum up my thoughts in a nutshell: Just how effective is censorship and civil disobedience in bringing out what is ‘best for the people’? Or is it just needlessly restrictive and inefficient, serving the interests of a few power groups and not necessarily in the interests of all?

Inb4 “lol, anarchy”.