17 arrested for selling illegal porn at DVD shops in Tokyo

are there censored porn DVDs... porn is porn. censor is not really advicable

Good to see the police tackling the big issues.

Wow... 'illegal' porn in Japan... must be some pretty raunchy stuff, given that the Japanese are the only market with legal rape scenes, the main market for bizarre cosplay where the women dress like little girls, and they have added the word 'bukkake' to the English lexicon (and no, not a type of udon).

if they do this, then they have to jail half of the population, workers and visitors of Akihabara.

This is one business that is recession-proof.

the Japanese are the only market with legal rape scenes

prove it

the main market for bizarre cosplay where the women dress like little girls

More like clearly defined market. Plenty of that in other porn. Babysitter vids are clearly western, and common enough, as well as "barely legal" teens in pigtails etc. They just are not lumped into a group.

and they have added the word 'bukkake' to the English lexicon

This little tidbit is supporting evidence? I will counter that with the SM producers based in the former armory in San Francisco. Raunchy is not just the Japanese. They have their own standards and their own excesses, we have ours.

Wow! I bet this was a hard case to crack! I could go to just about any video store in the greater Tokyo area and get uncensored porn. I guess the owners stopped paying their protection taxes to the cops so they busted their butts. Good job cops! Keep up the hard work!

ah the J-cops never fail to entertain.

Incredible - I understand there's a load of this gear in plenty of shops in Nogizaka too. Wonder why the police haven't tracked it down? Seems like very selective policing going on here.

It's simple. Do away with the FOOLISH mosaics and be done with it!! Everybody wins!! Grow up Japan!! And South Korea for that matter.

S

mcheeky: Where did I say no one else has other standards? I said that illegal porn must clearly be raunchy given what it legal here; you are the one who chose to misdirect your own interpretations of social morays.

The 'bukkake' thing is a fact. I didn't even know about that until last time I went home, asked friends if they wanted anything, and some perverted friends of mine said, "Bring home some bukkake videos"; this despite not knowing a SINGLE word of Japanese (I'm actually surprised he didn't think it was Chinese!).

I hear you on the SM companies and what not at home, but don't try to sell me off on 'the babysitter' fantasy being the same as someone dressed up like a little girl! 'Barely legal' is somewhat similar, but a HUGE difference from, 'Illegal', even though the whole thing is fake.

As for proving that Japan is the only place with staged (or real) rape scenes in legal porn... despite not being a porn fanatic or anything, I can say without a doubt I have NEVER seen any rape in other porn, staged or otherwise, except ONCE in some weird Korean movie that cannot even qualify as blue light porn (as soon as the 'rape' started the movie switched to another scene in which the man was being pursued by police).

Here's one more fact for you, my friend: 99% of Asian porn is produced and sold out of Japan. The majority of the remaining one percent comes out of Hong Kong. Porn in SKorea is outlawed, except for underground (mostly Japanese) videos that are allowed to sit in Love Hotel lobbies. If they catch you at customs with porn in your bag (which you have to declare you don't have!), you could be in trouble. Not sure about Chinese laws.

Again, whether all this is bad or good is up to your own intepretation, but I stand behind my original statement. "Illegal porn" in Japan must truly be smutty stuff. Okay, scratch that... it might actually just show pubic hair -- for the actual CONTENT to be illegal it would have to be raunchy stuff. I for one can do without it either way.

Oh, and I'm not basing the 'bukkake' thing SOLELY on one friend knowing what the word is; it's common place amongst people who know your average number of dirty words (and/or porn-related vocab)

Moderator: No further discussion on this word please.

Maybe they became over confident and stayed in the same location too long. These shops are constantly moving. They might not be classified as a business if they don't stay in one location for a certain period of time.

It looks like the police must have finished examining their last batch of uncensored porn. Who would have thought that some women actually don't have a bunch of big pixels down there!

who would name a porn shop Tomato or lettuce????

Where did I say no one else has other standards?

You didn't. I was merely pointing it out to offset the singling out of Japan.

I said that illegal porn must clearly be raunchy given what it legal here;

I find it to be a false premise for defining "raunchy". Those videos are illegal only because the genitals are not blotted out. (Granted that you admitted that.)

I can say without a doubt I have NEVER seen any rape in other porn, staged or otherwise, except ONCE in some weird Korean movie

Do a web search. You will be surprised. Also, several mainstream Hollywood films have some good rape scenes. Somewhat limited in time and scope, but pretty stimulating if that is what you are into. If not, they are disturbing. Watch the French film "Irreversible" with Monica Bellucci.

don't try to sell me off on 'the babysitter' fantasy being the same as someone dressed up like a little girl!

But that is what they are shooting for. If they are falling short I think it is only because they must or they will be out of business. Plenty of other examples of skirting around the issue so as not to arouse those who are in denial.

Here's one more fact for you, my friend: 99% of Asian porn is produced and sold out of Japan.

All that says to me is that other Asians are really tightly wound up.

for the actual CONTENT to be illegal it would have to be raunchy stuff.

Using popular definitions for "raunchy", I have to agree.

What a joke...hahaha...what do u call censored porn in Japan ? hahaha..oohh pls enlighten me to hard on by watching those square pixels...hahaha..

Well strap on the plastic!!!! I had no idea that pornography was a problem in Japan. Gee, now I understand why my neighbor was being so kind to the local kiddies. Uncle Festa or what?

Seriously folks, instead of arresting the part-time employees, the Plod should have gone looking around for customer lists.

what is the use of one eye opened and other eye closed? :-)

mcheeky: I'm not trying to go tit-for-tat or anything here, but have to talk about a few of your points. Actually, we are in agreement with a number of things, but you're just looking at it differently.

"You didn't. I was merely pointing it out to offset the singling out of Japan."

Being as it's a site on Japan (aside from the 'World' section), and it's about Japanese people being caught for selling porn illegal in Japan, I'm not doing any particular singling out. I WAS pointing out Japan's more 'enlightened' rules on porn, but that only means singling out if you take it that way.

"Do a web search. You will be surprised. Also, several mainstream Hollywood films have some good rape scenes. Somewhat limited in time and scope, but pretty stimulating if that is what you are into. If not, they are disturbing."

The internet does not classify what can be called 'legal/illegal' porn in terms of what is legally sold in stores or on the street. The net is a whole different issue, as is the snuff one could probably find on it. As for Hollywood films, that too is another issue. Sure, Hollywood, Bollywood, and other big producers (or small) of films all have the desire to sell their product in common with porn, but the similarities pretty much stop after that. A rape scene in a hollywood flick is not at all designed to elicit the same feelings as a bunch of highschool boys raping their young female teacher in a J-porn. As you said, some people may feel the same desire or feelings of arousal over said Hollywood scene, but that speaks about the person, not the former studio's intentions. Some movies may even seek to gain empathy/sympathy on behalf of the criminal in the movie (ie. it's not a crime from the perp's point of view, or he/she is sick and can't help it, etc.), but again, the intention is not at all the same.

"But that is what they are shooting for. If they are falling short I think it is only because they must or they will be out of business. Plenty of other examples of skirting around the issue so as not to arouse those who are in denial."

Not quite. The reason Western porn companies are not producing flicks with people dressed and acting like little girls (or animated flicks where they characters ARE little girls!) is because that would fall into the illegal realm, I believe.

"All that says to me is that other Asians are really tightly wound up."

I happen to agree with you, to an extent. Still, Japan produces an unnecessarily large amount of porn.

Anyway, a lot of this is gratuitous, for which I apologize. Just wanted to clean the air, if that's possible on such a thread... haha.

I've always wondered about a society that treats women and men's crotch areas the same as someone wearing a pair of handcuffs, with the naive notion that using the fuzzies will actually "hide" them all from someone or "protect" someone from someone else. The authorities' stupidity is clearly in plain view.

More than a few people must have missed the English lesson on vegetables and fruits, too.

Why do people still go to porn shops?? You can stream HD porn till your head (the one on your shoulders) falls off from the comfort (and, we hope, anonymity) of home.

Where do they sell legal porn?

I've always wondered about a society that treats women and men's crotch areas the same as someone wearing a pair of handcuffs, with the naive notion that using the fuzzies will actually "hide" them all from someone or "protect" someone from someone else. The authorities' stupidity is clearly in plain view.

Easy to call it stupidity. Its just another way of doing things. As with so many matters of law, the whole thing is based on something else that is outdated and unrelated. Everyone is working around it. The history of western porn and legality is pretty stupid too. Go back to the days where if you were filming a movie with a man and woman in bed, they both had to have one foot of the floor. Look at how pathetically simple Playboy was and is and how Hustler came along and changed everything and how the moral crazies tried to turn the clock back. And look at how random some of the rulings are, stretching everything to try and define what is obscene and what is not.

Not quite. The reason Western porn companies are not producing flicks with people dressed and acting like little girls (or animated flicks where they characters ARE little girls!) is because that would fall into the illegal realm

Case in point. Why is this illegal if no actual little girls or underage teens are involved? Does not change what they are trying to portray though.

Anyway, making those would drive them out of business, being illegal. That was my point.

Just wanted to clean the air, if that's possible on such a thread... haha.

If only we could talk in more detail. Peace.

so i wonder what will happen to the 17... I mean they are criminals...I hope they have a cool name for their group. Like the Genital Liberation Underground. GLU for short. god this is all so stupid.

Mato99: How about the "Prurient Onanisms, Ribaldry, and Naughtiness Society"?

Wickedly Advocating Nefarious Knowledge?

They may have a hard time, screening all the evidence.

"Not quite. The reason Western porn companies are not producing flicks with people dressed and acting like little girls (or animated flicks where they characters ARE little girls!) is because that would fall into the illegal realm"

Wrong, they are. And it's legal.

Apparently they didn't resist arrest. Like most of their customers in thin-walled apartments, they came quietly.

Now, now, now, I hate these stupid mozaic little squares that just test my imagination everytime I need to watch some porn and it happens to be Japanese but if the Japanese laws did not out law the use of this mozaic features to cover human genetalia, how would the yakuza be trying to make a few couple of million yen every year from selling their "ura bideo and ura DVDs and ura ero hons"? We have to have deep mercy and compassion for all the poor yakuza who are just trying to also make an "honest" living right?

bdiego - not sure which western pornography is detailing animated sex with small girls, but it's none of the medium to large sized distributors. Japan on the other hand is different. Forced sex with a very young woman (animated or not) which is seemingly unwanted on her part is a staple diet of JAV.

Yuma Asami is one of the exceptions to this rule in most of her work.

The reason Western porn companies are not producing flicks with people dressed and acting like little girls (or animated flicks where they characters ARE little girls!) is because that would fall into the illegal realm

Western porn tends to teens, legal and illegal looking. J-porn tends to pre-teens, illegal looking. Japan doesn't straddle the border. It straddles lolis.

I gues those who do not pay the "protection" money are getting arrested i wonder if japanese police ever heard of the internet many online stuf no mosaic!

J-porn tends to pre-teens

In general it most certainly does not. Some anime and manga do, and they have as many mosaics as anything else. Maybe also some random bathing suit pictures. About on the level of child beauty pageants really.

According to police investigations, the suspects were known as the “Vegetable Group” because they named their shops “Tomato,” “Lettuce,” “Pumpkin” and “Cherry.”

Tomatoes, Pumpkins and Cherries are fruits!! Fruits!! Anything with a seed is a fruit!!

This is all about grid and wealth. The more they got the more they want. They should be behind the bars to learn and think about their lives. Public should stop buying such materials, and should be punished also if they do purchase such DVDs.

These clowns got arrested because they violated some business law. Either they didn't move often enough or they opened their stores with regualr hours. I THINK(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) that this type of porn can be sold egally as long as the busineses don't operate like a business. MEANING they can't set up shop in one place and compete with mosaic porn shops. They have to operate at a disadvantage.

last I knew there was plenty of porn on display near smokey alley in Shinjuku. Never saw anybody arrested even though there was plenty of wool with no pixelation on display for everybody to see.

vegetable soup? hahaha...

Entrepreneurs. Don't they have JCLU in Japan?

Porn is still against the law in the U.S. but the Supreme Court can't define it. However, the pornographers advertise it. Seems like confession to me.

Once in the aiueo there was a calendar with a Japanese model pictured in a very skimpy bikini. Someone with a ball point pen (donno who) drew a few stringy hairs in an inappropriate place. Five minutes later the calendar disappeared. I guess the hair took it from soft-core to hard-core.

Can someone explain to me why porn has to be censored in Japan in the first place? It makes no sense, and only adds to the frustration level of the viewers, ultimately creating a more violent society as a whole.

Ahhh ... I've got the wrong job. Where do I sign up to watch all these videos to see if they're censored or not?

originally posted by Kokuryu

Can someone explain to me why porn has to be censored in Japan in the first place?>

Because the laws of japan prohibit showing sex or sexual organs. However the exact language allows for everything else to be shown.

I rather not risk getting modded. So I will say that cenosoring something you pay for is dumb.Q

and only adds to the frustration level of the viewers, ultimately creating a more violent society as a whole.

Yeah, Japan is such a violent society. Can't tell you how much I fear for my safety here. LMAO!

Yeah, Japan is such a violent society. Can't tell you how much I fear for my safety here. LMAO!

Is this your first time here on this site? There is a quote I made up for you. -Those who are blind, cannot see.-Paizurisan

Despite the silliness of the mosaic, Japan is pretty liberal on the subject of porn. So liberal and so less violent in fact that removing the mosaic will hardly change anything. I do think there is a relationship between the liberation and the non-violence though, don't think I don't. There is just a lot more too it.

What a funny story! Its ironic, really. The J police and the J government crackdown on this "illegal porn" while ignoring the other porn that is read by myriads of sararimen every day on the trains, and also the vile porn on display in Japanese hotels on the TV. What a crazy place this is.

Because the laws of japan prohibit showing sex or sexual organs.However the exact language allows for everything else to be shown.

Every society seems to have its own idosyncracies in that regard. As someone observed with respect to anime:

“[The United States] can show violence in cartoons, but we’re afraid of sex,...You can show beheadings and violence and crazy alien tentacle sex [in Japan], but you can’t show pubic hair. For them, the nape of the neck is very erotic. Japanese culture is sprinkled with crazy dichotomy.”

why are japanese people afraid to see each others genitals? does this pixelization add to their, generalized, fear of openness/intimacy? does anyone have any "insights" into these questions that I have?

As someone who has spent very little time in Japan, I will point of the pixelization approach seems to be at least gender fair. One doesn't have to see many Hollywood films, and I'm talking about those in general or restricted release, not porn that goes straight to DVD, to know female nudity is common while male is not.

As actresses climb the ladder, they have the clout to avoid taking their clothes off. They either request a body double, or like the Bridget Jones films, Renees Zellweger has sex with her bra on (ditto for Kate Beckinsale in Laurel Canyon).

In the early 1990s there was a movie released called The Lover, the story of a 14-year old French girl's sexual awakening in colonial Vietnam. Her lover is an older Chinese man. It's full frontal nudity for her; she has her clothes off for about half the picture. But we never see him naked.

A lot of people pronounced it "soft-core pornography" simply because there was very little to the story other than their assignations. This has always been my definition of pornography; it has less to do with what's actually shown on screen than whether there's a narrative context for it.

Porn is still against the law in the U.S. but the Supreme Court can't define it. However, the pornographers advertise it. Seems like confession to me.

Porn is Not against the law in the US. Obscenity is. Some people try to define that as being porn, but it never stands unless illegal acts are being committed.

1st of all I like porn. Second of all, while commuting on any train in Japan, you can look to your left or right and see endless porn for free in the magazines or newspapers that salary men and women are reading while kids are hanging out too. The human body is very beautiful. Most wonderful from our animal kingdom. Show the bod, and all is well.

Just sell the porn without the fuzzy stuff and everyone will be okay. I mean as long as the shops are not featuring any kiddy porn or selling it everything is cool.

who buys porn anymore? just type in "porn" on google and you'll find all you want for free - don't forget to clear "history" when you're done