Tag: japan

Adding My Brother’s Husband to Your Library or Classroom

Gengoroh Tagame’s award-winning manga series My Brother’s Husband (Japanese: Otōto no Otto) has been hailed by critics and creators all over the world as a fascinating look at family, homophobia, cultural differences, and grief. Serialized in Japan from 2014 to 2017, the series was…

Anime Censorship in the 90s and Early 2000s

If you happened to watch the American dub of the anime Yu-Gi-Oh! back in the early 2000s, you might have noticed a few things were off. Characters would go out of their way to dramatically point at one another. They…

Barefoot Gen Holds Sacred Place in History, Both as Truth and Story

“[Barefoot] Gen burned its way into my heated brain with the intensity of a fever dream” Art Spiegelman notes in his introduction to Barefoot Gen Vol. 1.  Even without the flu, Spiegelman reports experiencing during his first read-through, Keiji Nakazawa’s semi-autobiographical manga will stay with you…

One of the Most Influential Banned Comics of All Time : Barefoot Gen

“[Barefoot] Gen burned its way into my heated brain with the intensity of a fever dream” Art Spiegelman notes in his introduction to Barefoot Gen Vol. 1.  Even without the fever, Spiegelman was experiencing through his first read, Keiji Nakazawa’s semi-autobiographical manga is sure…

66 Pounds of Hentai Confiscated by Swiss Customs

Swiss customs recently confiscated 66 pounds of comics that were shipped home by a fan returning from Comiket, the massive Japanese dōjinshi convention. According to Melonpan, the self-described otaku whose comics were held, customs seized the comics because of how young…

Sharing the Language of Comics – Charles Brownstein on Manga and Comics Censorship Today

Last year, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s Executive Director, Charles Brownstein, was invited by the Institute for Contents Cultures and Uguisu Ribbon Campaign in Tokyo to speak about the manga and comics communities and the continued importance of fighting on…

Genghis Kahn and the Dangers of Self-Censorship

Back in February, Japanese manga magazine, Coro Coro wildly offended Mongolians with a portrait of Genghis Kahn with male genitalia scrawled on his forehead, and some wordplay above it, which translates to “penis.” As funny as it may sound some, the…

Japanese Politician Apologizes for Suggesting Serial Killer ‘Influenced’ by Anime

A Japanese politician and elected member of the national legislature has apologized after implying that anime and video games may have influenced an alleged serial killer who is suspected of murdering and dismembering at least nine people. House of Councillors…

“Good for Nothing Girl” Takes on Japan’s Anti-Terrorism Law

“Good for nothing girl” Rokudenashiko has turned her art to a new cause: fighting Japan’s controversial anti-terrorism law. Rokudensahiko, or Megumi Igarashi, has long worked to fight gender inequality and to destigmatize the depiction of female genitalia in Japanese artwork.…

Japanese Artist Rokudenashiko: “My Body is Not an Obscenity”

Japanese cartoonist Rokudenashiko recently celebrated the release of her new book What is Obscenity? The Story of a Good For Nothing Artist and her Pussy by challenging claims by the Japanese government that her art, and subsequently her body, is obscene. In…