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Lawyers and luminaries rise up against new anti-loli bill photo

Though defeated numerous times before, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is back, and has reintroduced a revised version of their original "nonexistent youth" protection bill, only now with new language allowing them to restrict pretty much anything kinky that "would excessively impede upon the formation of a healthy ability for judgement regarding sexuality of youth and there by be detrimental toward the healthy development of youth."

But you knew that already. What you need to know now is that the fight is on...again. Prominent industry writers and legal luminaries have risen up in protest of the bill. The Japan PEN Club as well as the Tokyo Bar Association have voiced their dissent. PEN Club writers stated that the bill threatens to "warp the freedoms of speech and expression".

In true lawyer-ly fashion, the Tokyo Bar Association contested the bill's dangerously vague wording. Though the fiddly "nonexistent youth" terms had been removed in the newly revised ordinance, it had instead been replaced with the equally fiddly term "exaggerated" to define all manner of things to be restricted. And given that manga, anime, and video games are exaggerated by nature, pretty much anything could fall under that description.

For its part, the Democratic Party of Japan (which opposed the bill last time), tweeted that it would be meeting once more with prominent manga creators (including Tetsuya Chiba of Ashita no Joe fame) and publishing associations this week.

Your friend and mine Dan Kanemitsu also revealed the bill itself extends beyond just manga and anime. Some of the rules it preserved from its previous incarnation include filtering cellphone internet access and, strangely, the ability to publicly humiliate any publisher that releases so-called "harmful books" more than six times a year. Check out his page to see the full scope of this ridiculousness.

What do you think? Is it even more infuriating now that you know the bill's not just about targeting otaku? 



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Legacy Comments

First thing is first. That picture is full of awesome, but whats with the big breasted headless girl?

Second, let me facepalm at this. I can't believe someone smart enough to become a lawmaker could make something this dumb. This is not going to take off at all. End of story.
lol she's not headless, she's just tilting her head REALY far back. and i wish they'd just realize how dumb this is and give up on it. same with the anti-video game one in cali
The woman in the background is Boa Hancock from One Piece, who has the habit of looking down on things so much that she looks up.
That top image (which I've already seen before but it's still awesome) instantly made this post the best in Japanator up to this date.

Now regarding the actual news... I just laugh at how stupid these people are... they could be fighting or looking for solutions for real problems that still happen nowadays, like child abuse, declining birth rates... but no, they MUST filter the entertainment business because only their opinion of what's good/bad should be view and they'll throw as many temper tantrums until they get their way. Screw you human rights and freedom of speech!
*sigh*
... :/
MOVING ON to the next subject.
"The ability to publicly humiliate any publisher that releases so-called 'harmful books' more than six times a year"? What the hell?
Ugh, this again. This one will be stricken just from that "exaggerate" term. and the six times a year? are the refering to doujin sold at conventions? What about the shops in aki?
@ Yaku you make the argument of "it's not real" so how are human rights involved if "it doesn't hurt anyone", no one has the basic human right to loli's.

Sorry but fail.

Now again, I will also say I just don't really care, everyone gets a bee in their g-string over this, claiming censorship, and freedom of speech, or in this case "human rights" (lulz), and it is just an entitlement mentality I can't understand.

You can make an argument of it is an issue of freedom of speech, but then again we are also talking about Japanese law which is very different, and no one seems to notice no matter how much you may dislike it, there is nothing you personally can do about it.

Now all that said this will likely fail, as it's just too broad, and really is just not needed, and is really more harmful than anything, as the worst thing a law can do is be so broad it sweeps up things and or people into harmful litigation, when they weren't even the problem in the first place.
Sucks to be the 15th member of the PEN Club...
Governor Ishihara's messed up again! This bill will fail like the last one!

On the lighter side: He's got 4 1/2 months left of his term and Tokyo's next Gubernatorial election's in April.

I doubt he'll rewrite a new one in time.

Given his age (He's 78) and the screw-ups he made this term,....

He's good as OUT!
Oshiri PEN PEN club...

OBJECTION!

Is Ishihara behind this? Cause I found some pictures of Mishima Yukio and Ishihara together that really have me doubting that guy.

(A scary fact for Ghibli fans, Akihiro Miwa, the man who plays the voice of Moro from Mononoke and the Witch of the Waste from Howl was Mishima's homosexual lover.)
@thatguyukno: What the... are you serious? Dude, you must be the saddest person in the world, but if making your kind of "counter-argument" is what makes you happy, I am no one to tell you otherwise. Sorry I'm just too tired already arguing about these topic time and again, so take the win home, champ.


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