Japan’s First Manga Trial
Japan’s First Manga Trial
Honey Room (2002–2007)
This concluding chapter discusses the censorship trial of Honey Room, the first manga (comic book) sued for violating the obscenity law. The trial’s outcome was not entirely a defeat for the defense, which managed to get the initial one-year suspended prison term reduced to a fine of 1.5 million yen (approximately $13,750). Notwithstanding this slight victory, the unprecedented case against a manga marked the introduction of a new artistic medium as a candidate for successful prosecution by the state. As suggested by recent movements led by conservative Liberal Democratic Party politicians and powerful citizen groups, popular cultural media—manga (including the burgeoning genre of erotic cell phone manga), anime, video games, and the Internet—will likely be the new targets of legislation and regulation.
Keywords: Honey Room, manga, anime, video games, obscenity law, censorship trial
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