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One of the most concrete results of the whole issue has so far has been publishers banning their websites foreign visitors, particularly of studio Minori, which recently updated its blocking page with the following text:

"We are little perplexing now because we received a lot of response about this issue from foreign people.

Now we will tell you the short detail about the reason why blocking you to this website, because of we, all Japanese EROGE makers were facing at the problem, the crisis of "Freedom of speech".

Currently, The bill that allows to limiting the content (It is censorship. Isn't it?) to all EROGEs is being discussed in the Diet because intellectuals and politicians said "Japanese EROGE were being problem and troubled with the foreign country. Therefore we should make EROGE hidden away from foreign country, and also its content should be limited and censored".

Okay, now we trusted the word what they said at once. So we blocked you to make stay away from the trouble.

...Do you like that?

If not, please tell your idea directly to Japanese government and politicians.
(For example, you can write the letter to the administration of Japan directly from here.)
(If you can comprehend Japanese...There is information of the politicians in Japan.)

Otherwise, you just can talk your idea about this issue at your blog or other media to inform the existance of this problem to the public. It would be very helpful for us."

 

My impressions:

This is quite depressing. The quashing of free expression is always a negative event. Even now Japanese message boards are alight with annoucements of works-in-progress being axed or of developers worrying about their future. Minori's reaction - and this latest message - strike me as rather wrongheaded, an act of xenophobic scapegoating rather than genuine defiance.

While the powder keg was lit by foreigners (specifically the feminist group Equality Now), all the actions so far have been executed by Japanese authorities, the overreaching enabled by the EOCS' (an industry-formed self-regulation group*) lack of resistance. As they say: "give an inch and they'll take a mile." This smacks more of political opportunism than actual foreign pressure, with groups already seeking these bans seizing the opportunity to bring the issue to light. 

As such, Minori's call for foreign fans to write letters and so on is naive. What concern do Japanese politicians have for the whining of foreign perverts? It's not as if we can elect them to office, and it's unlikely that we can exact any economic pressure. Seriously, how many of you H fans have actually paid for your animu porn? Very few vendors actually ship out of Japan (even before this crisis), and only a handful of publishers distribute eroge, H anime and H-manga for sale.

The onus to act falls squarely on Japanese shoulders, and only through their will can this end well.

That said, this is certainly not the first time people have tried to ban sexual deviance in Japan. This turtling by the industry has worked before, and may work again. Furthermore, I can understand how difficult defending oneself in this case can be. Imagine trying to fight for your right to fap to things others regard as repulsive and completely abhorrent. That's f'in tough.