From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Japanese pornography has some unique features which
separate it from pornography in other cultures, especially Western pornography. It is quite common and frequently translated and
exported to Western cultures because of its large spectrum of themes and media. Due to cultural differences and various taboos,
Japanese erotica has a reputation in the West as being sado-masochistic and youth-centered.
History
According to researchers, the concept of "pornography" emerged in the Edo
period where every form of popular culture flourished. All forms of pornography flourished with the sole exception of
figures and statues. This does not mean there
were no works of erotica; these early works were by highly literate nobles and often considered works of art. Both Japanese mythology and Shinto have few teachings about
sexuality. An act of sex is and was an act of
happiness without guilt or sin.
Until the Kamakura period in 12th century, a man went to a woman's
house to be accepted inside, and many poems prior to this period were poems of love. By careful phrasing and use of words,
seemingly an innocent poem of beauty doubled as a passionate poem of lust. Those with little talent for poetry often asked a
friend to write for them and this sometimes caused an embarrassing situation where two persons with the same friend gave the same
poem to a woman. Commoners instead met together in a matsuri or a festival, it is not a coincidence that most matsuri
are held at night. They had little if any need for pornographic material.
In the Kamakura period, Zen Buddhism focusing on meditations made
samurai less open to an open sexuality and focusing more on formalities. Marriage customs changed to have a woman enter the
family of a man she was marrying to reducing a need to write passionate verses. Few erotica or pornographic works are known from
this or next Muromachi period. In the Sengoku period, even fewer works are known.
In the Edo period, pornography flourished due to the unique characteristic of the city of Edo. Well over 60% of the population of Edo were males and these males came from all over Japan to work for years
before returning to their hometown to marry or already married, having learned valuable skills like reading, writing, and crafts.
The disproportionate population balance and excess of young males demanded means to fulfill their sexual needs. State controlled
prostitutions like Yoshiwara were an answer and pornography was another.
There were many pornographic materials. Shunga or pornographic woodenblock pictures
were printed with all imaginable situations. These were often made into a book with sentences to describe their situations as
well as to offer brief descriptions of a scene. Near the end of the Edo period when foreigners became widely known and seen, even
an interracial sex act with a foreign male were drawn and sold. The actual use of shunga was not quite simple. Less explicit
books with kimono covering most of bodies were used for a sex education, while some
were probably used for masturbation, and others were even viewed with a
lover. In many places, these shunga were packed by parents of the wife for use in her marriage. In 1788, a shunga book Haikai Yobukodori had a single picture on each page with lengthy descriptions attached.
These shunga were rented from a rental book shop. In 1808, there were 656 shops in Edo, 300
shops in Osaka. This means that there were about 1 shop for every 1500 people in Edo.
Much softer materials were also available. There were wood block pictures of celebrity like kabuki actors and geisha, both completely clothed in kimono.
After the Meiji restoration, the publication of pornographic
materials declined under governmental pressure. It was still early 19th century and the government feared that such an open sex
culture could be seen as a sign of backwardness from European countries. The shunga production stopped and they were exported as
"erotic arts" at a bargain price to any buyer from abroad. Pornographic novels were still produced underground as the language
barrier would prevent them from becoming widely known abroad. Pornographic arts were still produced but, by a general consensus
rather than an enforcement, these came to be viewed as low arts.
In the late Taisho period and early
title="Showa period">Showa period, a artistic movement called Eroguronansensu, lit. erotic grotesque and nonsense,
occurred influenced by decadence works of Europe. These words were used because they had an air of new and modern feeling. Until
1950s, pornography were still very limited in productions. Open sexual expressions were permitted in novels and manga but a
strict control was applied on pictures and movies. During World War II, all
pornographic materials were banned all together.
Influenced by magazines like Playboy, pornographic magazines were printed soon
after WW II. These magazines quickly branched to cover all genres and futured pornographic novels as well as pictures. Playboy
itself, however, did not succeed in Japan. Its articles were about American lifestyle; women were mostly non-Asian, interviews
were with someone largely unknown in Japan, and fashion and sport were about American ones. Instead, it spawned a fetish and a
genre known as Youmono, lit. Western things. Playboy revamped its articles and style in early 2000s in Japan by having
Japanese writers write exclusively about Japan and dropping most of original contents.
In early 1960s, several movie studios began producing "pink movies" and Roman porno, lit. romantic porno to be
exclusively viewed in an adult-only movie theater. With censorship laws prohibiting genitals from being seen but otherwise free
to express anything, these movies quickly diversified to fill all genres, including rape and bondage. From the 1960s to late
1980s, ambiguous censorship laws resulted in hundreds of cases regarding erotica and pornography. At midnight, television
stations mostly aired soft-core pornographic movies until their ratings dropped due to the pornographic movies.
The proliferation of pornographic videos in the 1980s, commonly called AV, short for adult video, eventually crashed the
market for pornographic movie theaters. Rental video stores offered pornography at a price far below that in a movie theater.
Because most Japanese families now had at least two television sets and VCRs, more videos were sold. It is rumored, but not
supported, that VHS became popular over Betamax
format because large numbers of AV were released in VHS format. Few AVs were sold in laser disc format, but CDs and later DVDs were used to distribute AV.
In 1983, Nintendo Family Computer was released and a few pornographic games quickly followed. However,
Nintendo wanted these machines to be family oriented and pornographic games were locked out of the market. Computer games with no limitation on content except for censorship laws, became a
popular way to distribute pornographic games. Early CDs and DVDs were viewed on a personal computer. Because so few Japanese people saw any reason to play games on these platforms, as
opposed to video game consoles, playing computer games was sometimes viewed as being synonymous with playing Bishojo games.
In the late 1980s, the Dojinshi market expanded. It is estimates that about half of this market consists of pornography.
Copyright problems plague the market, yet the dojinshi market was a common place for one to start before making a debut in a
professional magazine. Yaoi began in the dojinshi market. From the mid 1990s, the dojinshi
market also began making and selling pornographic games.
In 1980s, magazines oriented towards a mature male audience started offering more explicit content. This was not immediately a
major social issue, because magazines oriented towards a mature female audience already existed and their content was in some
ways more explicit.
Laws and Movements
Japanese pornography are diversified to fill all categories and needs, some are so obscure themes that appeals and differences
are to subtle for anyone but the most devoted to figure them out. These diversities occurred because of three major reasons, to
entertain by developing new methods of expression, to fill niche markets, and to work around censorship laws. Neither religious
conservatism nor feminism had been a powerful factor in pornography in Japan.
Perhaps the sexual practice most associated with Japanese pornography in the West is bukkake, which is the facial taken to an
extreme, with dozens of men ejaculating on one girl's face. This is an example of all three reasons, an over-expression of an
idea and an alternative to showing actual acts of sex that would be mosaiced under censorship laws. It is marketed with minor
varieties in every situation imaginable, from young to old, costumed or nude, single male to over a hundred.
Anti-pornography movement
Criticisms of pornography in Japan come from basically one force, Parent Teacher Association (PTA) that believes the ease of access to pornographic materials make
children act immorally and encourages minors to have sex. Proponents of censorship laws of pornography demands tightening of
censorship laws to the most stringent laws in America and Europe so that Japan is not an "abnormality" in "civilized
nations".
Censorship laws
The religious and social taboo against nudity has historically been weaker in Japan than in the West: "pillow books" detailing sexual acts were
widely sold in the Edo era, and women and men routinely worked in the nude and bathed
in public up to, and even after, the Meiji Restoration. While in
Western society nudity has typically been a taboo, that idea entered
Japan only after Meiji-era and how deeply that idea is rooted is argued. Although extreme public nudity such as showing genital
area would be persecuted in Japan (except in gender-divided public baths and even then discretion is required), the Japanese
attitude toward nudity in the media is more liberal than that of the United
States, although it is still conservative in contrast to western Europe. Oddly
enough, Japan does not have a nudist beach.
In Japan, it is illegal for any commercial publications to depict the female clitoris or male glans. Any publications depicting the penis or vagina must be shrink-wrapped and barred from
sale to minors. However, it is not uncommon for pictorial magazines to depict nude women with their genitalia airbrushed over in
black, and video pornography routinely depicts explicit sex scenes with the participants' genitalia mosaiced out. Until 1991, the
entire pubic region, including hair, was deemed obscene and unpublishable.
It is also illegal to bring pornographic material into Japan, and customs agents are known for checking videotapes in
international mail and hand baggage. Extreme cases, like multiple offenders or attempt at a commercial importation, could be
punished by fines but most merely have their stuff confiscated. Applications of this law did not change in recent years but more
offenders are caught in recent years as checks became tighter to prevent drug trade and terrorism.
There is also a thriving genre of underground pornography in Japan (called urabon) that ignores these censorship laws: it
has become especially prevalent on the internet, as there are no mechanisms in place to prevent its transmission from Japanese
nationals to the outside world. Japan recently has begun a crackdown on child pornography especially photographs and videos
involving an act of sex between a minor and an adult, largely due to US pressure in attempts to gain a control over Internet
trafficking.
Feminism
Most feminist movements parallel that of in West but sexually liberal feminism and sex-positive
attitude is stronger. At a quick glance, this attitude is seemingly at odd with existences of bondage and rape in pornography. Indeed, there are those who believe that
these are causes of violences against women. This view has a little support because the country that Japan often compares itself,
United States, has over ten times the rate of violence against women.
Moves to embrace feticism of women, that women can be abnormal, in a sense, as men had been increasing from late 1980s.
Religion and Pornography
Religions are not a factor in regulations of pornography nor defining of immorality in Japan. It is instead defined by a
common consensus. This is due to the fact that the separation of religion and state was complete before the proliferation of
pornography. In Edo period, Tokugawa shogunate limited religions' activity to
organizing ceremonies like a funeral and a marriage. This is because during Sengoku period, religions like Buddhism and Christianity served as a ideological backbones to rebellions.
The shogunate recognized the danger of religious fanaticism and stopped a participation of religious leaders in policy
making.
Culture
There is a pornographic culture just as there is a culture for foods or sports. Not all cultural aspects are equally
represented, some are simply illegal or taboo in other countries. An expression of sexuality is more widely accepted in the main
stream media. Thus in many cases, scenes acceptable to Japanese audiences are unacceptable in other countries. Ribaldry is quite common even in kids oriented materials and lines are thinner or even
disappears entirely. In an early episode of Dragon Ball, to find an invisible
opponent, Muten-Rôshi is shown Bulma's bared breast that causes him to bleed from nose like a fountain drenching the invisble man. Yet Bulma is
actually Oolong who shapeshifted after bribed by Bulma
for a pair of her underwear.
Japanese erotica has many of the same themes as its western counterpart such as heterosexual and homosexual intercourse,
group sex, and sexual
bondage. Similarly to western erotica the Japanese version may also portray various sexual fetishes such as foot fetishism, or a
focus on a certain type of clothing such as uniforms (buru sera) or costumes as
anime, manga or video game characters. (See cosplay for more details, note that
the term cosplay itself does not relate to pornography)
Many genres of Japanese erotica evolved because of censorship laws. Tentacle rape, an animated portrayal of rape fantasies involving a human female and a science fiction-like creature originated in the Edo-era The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, a
wood print of a woman in a sexual act with a giant octopus. It emerged as an alternative to depicting the male penis in 1980s and
became famous for its depiction in anime, Legend of the
Overfiend.
In general, Japanese tend to view Western pornographic materials as being crudely made. In short, they look artificial and
comical in their acts to Japanese eyes. Note that North Korean propaganda TV shows that show women and children in fixed smiles
are often looked at with the same bemusement, scary and comical at the same time.
Dojin and Parodies
Main Article : Dojinshi
Dojinshi are widely known for offering pornographic parodies of anime, games and
manga. They are technically a violation of copyright law and can be prosecuted if the owner of copyrighted material chose to have
them prosecuted. But in many cases, owners officially ignore their existence. This attitude is at odd with the concept of
copyright. However, this practice is common as it is a good way to measure how large the core of consumers are, the number of
dojinshi published is representative of the number of consumers who would spend liberally on the title, increase and decrease
shows rise of interest and its decline.
Anime
Main Article : Hentai
Animated erotica (known in the West as hentai, but in Japan as 'adult anime') is a
popular but a minor genre in Japan and generally maintains the same style of animation seen in other popular forms of Japanese
animation (anime). Many of these anime are originally a game, a manga, or a novel.
Game
Main Article : Bishojo game and
title="H game">H game
Adult oriented game is a popular genre for computer games in Japan. It is largely unknown outside Japan because of several
problems, cultural and translational, but their artworks are well known on internet websites often illegally copied and shown as
"adult anime pictures". They are typically steeply priced for their volume as the market is too small to support all software
makers.
Internet
Pornographic material has existed from the earliest day of computer networking and internet has helped to connect those
interested in specific genres. In these early days, the presence of pornographic materials often resulted in heated arguments
between those who did not want any such material that can be anonymously accessed and those who believed that individuals can
determine for themselves. The matter was eventually resolved by having either and both warnings and a password before
pornographic materials.
Fanfictions are very commonly found in websites and are not limited to
fictious characters and often use real live person as well, though these works would make a little sense to those who do not see
Japanese TV programs. Dojinshi writers typically use internet to market their
products by offering previews of new works, a secret address where buyers can find additional works, and a fix of their games.
They also recruit new writers and artists online. Several exclusively adult oriented search engines exist to let someone find a
site they are looking for, without having to search through commercial websites that list all keywords. Many works of dojinshi
are futured in websites that collect and let ones see for free.
Many websites future seasonal greeting pictures, often pornographic, from linked sites and friends who frequent their sites. A
typical christmas greeting picture futures a santa-girl who would be in a various stage of undressing. Twelve zodiac animals of
Chinese astrology offer a challenging and entertaining examples
of Catgirl.
Literature
Magazine
Magazine is a popular media along with video for pornographi materials. Unless a magazine contains pornographic manga or
pictures, there is a no age requirement for its purchase. Many non-pornoraphic magazines have some glamour photography and as long as women are in something more than a
swimsuit, it is considered a non-pornographic photograph. Several non-pornographic magazines have some nude photographs of women
as a part of their articles but as long as they have an artistic quality and do not show men, it is not considered pornographic.
A female and male doll may be futured partially clothed or even nude as long as it is a work of art and is not in an act of
sex.
A confessional writing by both sex is a popular topic in men's and pornographic magazines. Quite often, these writings are
fictional stories written by writers. Other popular topics in men's and pornographic magazines are erotic manga and novel, a
review of pornographic video, and a report of sex services.
Women's magazines also have most of written piece of men's and pornographic magazines. Except for few glamour photographies of
men but even then clothed, they lacks graphic pornographic contents. Few, if any, of magazines targeted for women are considered
pornographic or requiring an age requirement as they lack a graphic content.
Manga
Main Article : Manga(for general informations), Josei, Seinen
Manga with a pornographic content target both male and female audiences and both male and female
title="Mangaka">mangaka write pornographic works.
The dividing line for manga on what is pornography and what isn't, can be summed up by a simple rule. Those requiring an age
verification is a pornography and those that does not require an age verification isn't a pornography. Those pornographic manga
are often sealed, so that one cannot take a peek and most of such manga are sold in an adult oriented store. This is how the
subject is treated in Japan. The general attitude is closer to that of literature, if a scene of sex does have a meaning in the
storyline and not simply an attempt to offer sex for sex's sake, it is not a pornography. However, this would be unacceptable in
most cultures and it breaks many of censorship codes and laws.
A manga that does not target mature audience may also have a page or two of what looks similar to glamour photography. These
nude or semi-nude scenes with objects or hands covering breast and genital area are called a "service scene". These scenes are
often a part of comical sequence and a male character is usually slapped to end the sequence.
Video
Pornographic video (called "adult video" or "AV" in Japan) covers wide themes and the only limit is censorship laws. It is
predominantly male oriented. This has led to several widely believed myths like many females who appear in AV are forced by
yakuza for a outstanding debt or that Japanese women are masohistic and that's why they
appear in these videos.
Many videos have a title that may or may not suggest they might be using underaged or actual recording of a crime but no title
that are circulated with the approval of Eirin, a self-censor organization of productions, break any laws. A common ploy
is to have a part of a title replaced with a character or to use a phonetically same, but nonexistent word. For example, a video
about "19 years old girls Sex Party" may be sold with a title like "1X years old Girls Sex Party!". The word
Joshikosei (女子高生), lit. high school girl, cannot be used as it would indicate a girl
17 years or younger who cannot act in an pornographic video. A nonexistent word Joshikosei
(女子校生) that can mean a female student is used in many titles to promote, but not break
censorship laws.
Impacts on Other Cultures
Asia
Even today, pirated copies of Japanese pornography are widely sold in Asia. Reasons are economics as well as technicals. Even
a poor Japanese filming studio used equipments that were comparable to a rich studio in most of Asia and their products offered
high quality. They were well filmed and scripted because most Japanese studio were started not for making an easy money, but
eventually filming a movie or offering TV programs. In many cases, a Japanese watching TV programs in Asian countries get a
nagging feeling that they had to have seen them somewhere.
Types of Publications
Magazines
Publishers
- Akaneshinsha
- Bauhaus
- Bunkasha
- Core Magazine
- C's Publishing
- Eichi Publishing
- france shoin
- Issuisya
- Kaimeikan
- Kasakura Publishing
- myway Publishing
- Oakla Publishing
- Odysseus Publishing
- Sakuramomo Syobo
- Shinkosha Publishing
- Shobunkan
- Softmagic
- Studio Pot
- Taiyo Publishing
- Terra Publications
- Tokyo Sanseisha
- Tsukasa Shobou
- Wailea Publishing
- Wanimagazine
Studios
Personalities
See also List of Japanese erotic
actresses
Genres
See also
It all comes down to the fact that Japan is Asia's greatest economic power. Thailand is also famous though. 
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