The controversial new porn law has been used for the first time in Japan to arrest someone.
A 50-year-old executive at a video production firm, Takashi Sumiya, was arrested on suspicion of not giving contract documents to three performers (aged twenties to fifties) between August and October, according to multiple media reports on December 6.
The Shinagawa resident had been initially arrested and charged with filming "indecent acts" and uploading them uncensored to a video sharing website, the US-based FC2 Content Market. Sumiya has apparently earned around ¥82 million doing this in six ...
Back in May, we reported on the arrests of the head of Japanese secondhand book store chain Mandarake and four of its employees over the sale of sexually explicit old photo books, which the chain apparently sold online and at two of its stores.
Though "hair nude" photo books with full-frontal nudity have been produced and sold by mainstream publishers for decades, the books in question here were so-called "vinyl books," which are older and more obscure -- and less regulated. They constitute a kind of gray zone in terms of adult publications in Japan: hair nude books are "celebrity books" or ...
As frequently reported on this blog, the new porn law in Japan has proven very controversial.
Though touted as a way of protecting performers, especially younger and debuting performers, by giving them far greater freedom to get out of contracts and by making production and distribution companies delay release, the legislation introduced in June was opposed by many in the industry.
While many major production companies have maintained a careful silence, perhaps concerned about stoking calls for a total ban on unsimulated sex in porn and encouraging further regulations to target the coercion ...
Earlier this year, a new law was passed with major implications for how adult video productions are made and released in Japan. The legislation gives performers a lot more say over their contract, allowing them to withdraw even after signing a contract and to cancel a contract after a production is completed and released. Producers must also allow a cooling-off period after a contact is signed and after a video is shot, to give performers the chance to change their minds, and provide very detailed instructions on the nature of the shots and activities expected.
One type of AV not covered by ...
Though there is a tiny inkling of a chance that this might change if FC2 founder Riyo Takahashi wins a seat in the Japanese Upper House this month, it remains illegal in Japan to sell or distribute uncensored porn.
The "mosaic" look has become an iconic part of Japanese adult video: those grainy pixels where the penis and vagina should be.
Personally, we don't mind it. But some are put off by the constant blur and there is clearly a market for uncensored Japanese porn. Just don't try selling it if you are in Japan.
Masayuki Nakamoto was arrested last October for selling uncensored adult ...
Elections bring out the eccentrics, with plenty of novelty candidates reliably popping up to keep us amused. Past examples include the wannabe politician who wore government-supplied face masks as a bra or the regular appearances of Teruki Goto -- including once nude on his campaign poster.
With the recent passing of the controversial new law regulating the porn industry, how are candidates responding to the current situation?
We found two intriguing examples among candidates for the upcoming Upper House election.
Riyo Takahashi, the 48-year-old founder of the Japanese video hosting site ...
As already reported several times on this blog, Japan's groundbreaking new porn law that aims to protest performers' rights has now passed the Diet after approval in the Upper House on June 15.
The legislation, which was initially proposed by opposition lawmakers and taken up by a cross-party group, was sparked by the realization that lowering the age of adulthood to 18 would have implications for previous safeguards for young people working in porn or the gravure industry, and fears that teenagers would be exploited and coerced into contracts they either did not understand or did not really ...
People have arrested the CEO of famous Japanese secondhand book store chain Mandarake as well as four employees in connection with the sale of obscene material.
Best known for manga but also offering collectibles, doujinshi, and anime toys, Mandarake was selling so-called "vinyl books," a term referring to pornographic photo books from the 1970s and 1980s that showed genitalia. (The "vinyl" part means the plastic that was used to cover the books.)
As regular readers will know, Japan's strange obscenity laws mean it is nominally illegal to show actual genitalia, hence adult video is ...
As widely covered on this blog, the lowering of the age of adulthood in Japan from 20 to 18 has sparked a scramble to create a new exemption for 18- and 19-year-olds in regard to contracts for adult video.
As was belatedly discovered, the new age of adulthood would make legal contracts fully binding, removing the previous safeguard that allowed teenagers to back out of contracts. After initially hoping to introduce a simple exemption mechanism, politicians have eventually moved forward with an entirely new, more ambitious new law aimed at adult video performers that enables all performers to ...
MeToo has finally caught up to the Japanese film industry, with multiple allegations of assault and harassment against directors Hideo Sakaki and Sion Sono as well as actor Houka Kinoshita.
Amid concerns over coercion in porn, politicians in Japan have been working on creating a legal exemption for adult video contracts to the newly lowered age of adulthood in Japan (from 20 to 18).
Though the move, which was prompted by the realization that the legal change this spring would remove the safeguard for porn whereby underage performers required a parental guardian to sign for them, has enjoyed ...
