Pornography in Japan

The neutrality of this article is disputed.

Japanese pornography has some unique features which separate it from pornography in other, especially western cultures.

Table of contents

1 Japanese pornography in the West
2 Themes of Japanese pornography
3 Myths
4 Pornography and sex crimes
5 Homogenization
6 External links

Japanese pornography in the West

It is quite common and frequently translated and exported to western cultures because of its large spectrum of themes and media. Due to cultural differences and different taboos, Japanese erotica has a reputation in the West as being sado-masochistic and youth-centered.

Themes of Japanese pornography

Animated erotica (known in the West, but not in Japan, as hentai) is apparently a popular genre in Japan and generally maintains the same style of animation seen in other popular forms of Japanese animation (anime). Japanese erotica has many of the same themes as its western counterpart such as heterosexual and homosexual intercourse, group sex, and sexual bondage. Similarly to western erotica the Japanese version may also portray various sexual fetishes such as foot fetishism, or a focus on a certain type of clothing such as uniforms (buru sera) or costumes (cosplay).

To Westerners, Japanese pornography is also known for its extreme portrayals of scat fetishism (coprophilia), such as smearing and ingestion of feces. Some Japanese pornography also features induced vomiting, and the subsequent ingestion of the vomitus (often repeated multiple times). While scat fetishism is also found in pornography of other countries, it is more popular and wide spread in Japan.

Myths

Some aspects of Japanese erotica are relatively unique, such as tentacle rape, which is an animated portrayal of rape fantasies involving a human female and a science fiction-like creature. Bukkake, an element that once was unique to Japanese erotica, has made its way into western pornography even retaining its Japanese name. The social taboo against nudity is not as strong in Japan and is thus more common even in non-pornographic entertainment.

Pornography and sex crimes

Westerners mistakenly postulate that there is also less cultural taboo against portrayal of humiliation and rape fantasies than there are in the west. They are suprised when they know the punishment for rape and other sexual crime is more severe and the rate of them is far lower than that in the Western cultures.

The widespread availability in Japan of extreme representations in pornorgraphy appears to accompanied by a low rate of sex crimes. See the main pornography article for a discussion of whether there is a causal relationship between these phenomena, or both of these phenomena and Japanese culture.

Homogenization

The Internet has had the effect in many ways of homogenizing and harmonizing the prurient interests of distant cultures--of validating aspects like the "sailor uniform" (buru sera) in Japan, which is the Eastern equivalent to the "Catholic-schoolgirl" stereotype/archetype. Japan recently has begun a crackdown on child pornography, largely due to US pressure in attempts to gain a control over Internet trafficking.