Pornography in Japan
Starting with erotic stories and wood block prints from before the 20th century, Japanese pornography evolved into distinct subcategories.
Partly under attempts to circumvent Japanese laws regarding censorship, but also to cater to particular fetishes, actors and producers often feature subject matter that in western pornography had historically been unseen or rarely depicted, and even now is less frequently featured; bukkake (group ejaculation), gokkun (consuming semen), omorashi (needing to urinate), and tentacle erotica are a few uniquely Japanese genres of erotica.
The Japanese Penal Code from the early 20th century has provisions against indecent material, so any lawfully produced pornography must censor the genitals of actors and actresses; this type of censorship also extends to the graphics of hentai manga, video games, and anime.
The actual uses of shunga in the period are still debated, but probably resembled modern uses of pornographic materials, including masturbation and shared viewing with a lover.
Several notable woodblock artists to produce this and their creations were Hokusai's The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, Lesbian and Two Lovers as well as Kitagawa Utamaro's Client Lubricating a Prostitute.
Negative views foreign to Japanese culture about pornography were accepted and applied to visual depictions as they were the ones most likely recognized and thereby criticized by Westerners.
With censorship laws prohibiting genitals from being seen but otherwise free to express anything, these movies quickly diversified to cover all genres, including rape and bondage.
The 1976 Japanese love film In the Realm of the Senses by Nagisa Ōshima was banned from Japan due to its nudity and erotic content.
While the film was based on a true story well known in Japan, its content, involving the vivid depiction of asphixiophilia, was considered too obscene for public viewing.
[12] In September 2022, one of the largest Japanese adult video distribution websites, R18.com, announced that they would be closing down permanently on 31 January 2023 due to billing issues.
In June 2022, the Japanese government passed a bill that aims to protect the rights of actors and actresses coerced into the pornography industry.
[16] Under Article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan people who sell or distribute obscene materials can be punished by fines or imprisonment.
[18] Maebari [ja] (literally 'front patch') is a Japanese slang term used in the pornography industry to mean "hiding the pubic hair".
[20] This technique allowed the film makers to conform with Japanese censorship requirements and avoid the risk of expensive re-shooting.
Japan's indigenous religion, Shinto (Kami-no-Michi), is based in animism, with a belief that supernatural beings dwell in nature.
The gods and goddesses of Shinto are not repositories of morality or perfection; instead, they exist within nature and thus, sexuality is an innate part of life itself.
Prosecutions have been made under the new law by prosecutors under Japan's unique legal system, resulting in some financial verdicts, with relative strictness of enforcement continuing to vary by prefecture.
[citation needed] In June 2008, a bill that proposed the imposition of a ban on child-pornography possession was submitted to the House of Representatives of Japan where it was brought before the Diet in September, but failed to pass.
[28] In 1999, Milton Diamond and Ayako Uchiyama postulated that the rise of pornographic material in Japan from the 1970s onwards creates a decrease in reported violence.
Companies such as JAST USA and MangaGamer are translating dating sims and visual novels into English for the fledgling market outside Japan.
For adult video games in Japan, the rating of "18+" was coined by the Ethics Organization of Computer Software or Contents Soft Association [ja].
Fanfiction, commonly found in websites, is not limited to fictitious characters and often uses real live people as well, though these works would make little sense to those who do not see Japanese TV programs.
So long as these images do not depict sexual organs or sex acts, they are not considered pornographic and, hence, are freely sold in public.
In August 2019, Netflix released The Naked Director drama depicting the life of a Japanese adult video producer, Toru Muranishi and one of his first casts, Kaoru Kuroki.
Due to the large amount of videos produced, JAV films are typically assigned a code by the studio as a unique identifier.
[citation needed] Virtual reality has risen in popularity in recent years, largely propelled by the pornography industry.
Since the start of 2020, virtual reality use for Japanese adult videos has greatly increased, and this is largely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and the industry maturing.
