by Soyini Hamit
In Tokyo, there is legislation in place to limit children’s access to publications that the government finds harmful. The Youth Healthy Development Ordinance prohibits the sale of publications containing material that is “sexually stimulating, encourages cruelty, and/or may compel suicide or criminal behavior” to people younger than 18. On July 1, 2011, an amendment went into effect that expanded the scope of the ordinance to include manga and anime with explicit depictions of children engaging in sexual acts.
Tokyo’s Youth Healthy Development Council met April 9 to review the manga To Love-Ru Darkness for possible restriction. After receiving a complaint from a parent that the manga contained images showing full frontal nudity of a girl, the council took a look at the book. They found that the book did contain the images described in the complaint, but that they did not violate the standards set forth in the revised ordinance.
The council also met on May 14 to evaluate the depictions of incest in television anime series Yosuga no Sora. They determined that this also did not violate the revised ordinance.
Read here for more information on Tokyo’s Youth Healthy Development Ordinance.
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Soyini A. Hamit is a comic fan and writer masquerading as a laboratory technologist. You can follow her fascination with language and music at Word Sounds Have Power.