First, our thoughts go out to all those affected by the earthquake. The photo below quickly spread through online geekdom as evidence the giant Gundam statue was damaged in the quake. The problem is the photo is from 2009.
By the looks of the picture the green robot probably knocked it over by the way it’s walking away from the scene.
From the original Flickr photo:
This photo was taken on July 14, 2009 using a Canon EOS 20D.
Japanese retailers are definitely self-censoring the sale of manga after the passage of a revision of The Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youth to expand the definition of “harmful publications” and to give the Metropolitan Tokyo government more power to enforce the law.
Fearful of potential fines it’s being reported that vendors wanting to prevent selling “harmful” manga to minors are placing some titles where minors are less likely to see them. That includes placing them with porno magazines in special sections that minors aren’t able to browse. There are also rumors of anime possibly being censored on television.
Protests by publishers have been aimed at the Tokyo Anime Fair. 91 exhibitors have pulled out of the show leaving 153 exhibitors of which 125 are Japanese companies. Protesters have instead organized an alternative convention the same weekend, the Anime Contents Expo.
Chinese search engine Baidu is running into issues as it expands it’s services outside of the Chinese borders. The search engine includes a file-sharing service where users can upload and download files. Japanese publishing firms have decided to set their sites on Baidu.jp which has some manga titles available through the file-sharing service.
Publisher Kodansha is demanding Baidu remove the items or face legal action. Baidu has said it is verifying and deleting any material that violates local copyright law. The company says the uploads violate their terms of service.
This isn’t the first time Baidu has run into problems. Chinese net censors blocked access to the service after it was discovered you could access and download pornographic material. China is a bit strict about accessing that content, among other things.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly has passed a law that will restrict content for manga and anime. The law amends the Youth Healthy Development Ordinance and requires the industry to regulate anime or manga that “unjustifiably glorify or exaggerate certain sexual acts.” Voluntary self-regulation begins April 1, 2011. Restrictions on sale or rental take effect on July 1st.
The bill was first rejected but Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara insisted he’d push the legislation through after some revision. This legislation specifically targets anime and manga and exempts real-life photography. Ishihara who’s playing “think about the children” games also hates the gays, stating:
Gays are appearing on television no problem. Japan is going way unchecked. I’m doing this with a sense of duty.
Some speculate this is the first step for greater censorship. Ishihara has made other idiotic statements, not just limited to gay bashing. From Kotaku:
Regardless, this is hardly the first time Ishihara shot off his mouth. Here is a man who was sued for calling French a “failed language”, a man who referred to Korean-Japanese and Taiwanese-Japanese as sangokujin, a man who blames Chinese and Africans for increased crime and a man who denounced The Rape of Nanking as “fiction” created by the Chinese in a Japanese magazine.
But of course what would a politician be without hypocrisy mixed in with their actions.
In 1955, a 23-year-old Ishihara won Japan’s most prestigious literary award with his novel Season of the Sun. The book depicted the country’s post-War rebellious youth culture: gambling, fighting and having sex. In its day, the novel’s frank depiction of sexuality shocked readers — yet, here Ishihara is decades later trying to tell other artists what they can and cannot do.
A film was made in 1956 staring Ishihara’s brother.
Ten of the largest companies, Kadokawa Shoten, Shueisha, Kodansha, Akita Shoten, Hakusensha, Shogakukan, Shonen Gahousha, Shinchosa, Futubasha and LEED, announced that they will boycott the Tokyo Anime Fair as a result of the new law. Ishihara chairs the executive committee.
As The Comics Journal points out it’s still legal to possess child pornography in Japan, live-action or illustrated.
This is take two of the Comics Code here in the United States in 1950. The “regulations” forced the closures of many companies for their depictions and material they covered.
A Japanese man who illegally distributed images of the popular cartoon series One Piece online has been arrested for copyright violations, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced on Nov. 4. Koichi Okumura, 35, a resident of Asahikawa, Hokkaido is accused of copyright violations, a crime he has allegedly admitted to.
Okumura shared 4 comic books in August using the service Share. He is also suspected of illegally distributing a total of about 550 other pieces of data including movies and adult-oriented videos over the past year.
MPD said the arrest was the nation’s second of its kind following a similar case in which copyright violation using the Share.
Tenken is a beautiful Japanese Manga graphic novel that caught my eye at this year’s New York Comic Con. Written and illustrated by Yumiko Shirai the story draws heavily from the Shinto religion and Japanese folk tales and traditions. This is a graphic novel ten years in the making and it shows.
The world has been annihilated and an evil bestial deity must be appeased. Saki, a young girl, trying to escape destiny, finds refuge in an unusual and rough line of work. But she has been chosen for an unthinkable role; a princess must be sacrificed to the monster Yamatano-Orochi at the 50 year Tenken Festival. Can Manaka, the man who is in love with her, follow her into this abyss to save her from fate; only to discover the dark secret of the ceremony?
Winner of the prestigious Japan Media Festival Arts Award this stunning work of graphical fiction takes the reader into a whole new realm. Combining Japanese mythology in a post apocalyptic setting this book presents a new style of Japanese manga.
The winner of the Japan Media Festival Arts Award, the story is just stunning to look at. With a typical manga style that flows into dream like black and white paintings, I lingered on the pages.
The story draws heavily from Japanese culture and religion and I’ll admit between that and the right to left reading at times I was a bit confused. But, that’s not a bad thing. I still understood what was going on and appreciated it. In it’s core this is a tale of birth, death and rebirth, in both people and a nation.
I’m really enjoyed the graphic novel and I’m sure someone who either knows Japanese culture or the Shinto religion will appreciate it even more.
Overall I loved the graphic novel. It caught my eye for a reason at NYCC, and I’m so glad there was follow up post the convention, because I had a chance to try out something new. This isn’t necessarily the first manga I’ve enjoyed, but it’s definitely one of my favorites. I can understand why it’s been lavished with awards, it’s a definite buy.
This video really sums up this beautiful Japanese comic we came across at this years New York Comic Con. Expect a review on Tenken in the next week.
The world has been annihilated and an evil bestial deity must be appeased. Saki, a young girl, trying to escape destiny, finds refuge in an unusual and rough line of work. But she has been chosen for an unthinkable role; a princess must be sacrificed to the monster Yamatano-Orochi at the 50 year Tenken Festival. Can Manaka, the man who is in love with her, follow her into this abyss to save her from fate; only to discover the dark secret of the ceremony?
Winner of the prestigious Japan Media Festival Arts Award this stunning work of graphical fiction takes the reader into a whole new realm. Combining Japanese mythology in a post apocalyptic setting this book presents a new style of Japanese manga.
File this one under different. As posted at PinkTenticle, Tokyo based artist Koshi Kawachi recently demonstrated his “Manga Farming” technique. The artist is using old manga as a growing medium for vegetables. If you’re in Japan you can see the technique at the Matsuzakaya department store in Nagoya where an installation of radish sprouts is on display.
In 1942 the U.S. War Department produced a comic strip entitled How to Spot a Jap. It was a part of 75 page booklet called a Pocket Guide to China. It was handed out to U.S. Army and Navy soldiers stationed in China during World War II.
The comic strip was removed in subsequent printings of the pocket guide starting in 1944.
You can read the full comic at http://www.ep.tc/howtospotajap/howto01.html.
Here’s news we didn’t expect to ever hear. On Friday, the Tokyo city council is meeting and will vote on a new law that will force manga and anime publishers not to sell works in the city’s provinces depicting sexual situations involving minors while restricting the access of minors to work that depicts “harmful materials” or “noxious publications” – rape and other violence. The law has been supported by radical mayor Shintaro Ishihara. A rather amazing turn of events in a society that’s stereotype is they are tolerant of such material.
It wasn’t too long ago that here in the United States Christoipher Handley of Iowa pleaded guilty of possession of “obscene” manga as part of a plea bargain. He was sentended to six months jail for purchasing a small number of such comics.
Numerous of manga creators have protested this piece of legislation of which the Anime News Network is keeping a list.
