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NEWS: Manga Creator Ken Akamatsu Wins Seat in Japan's House of Councillors

I think it's important to remember (there was another post similar to this in the Abe thread) is that things here aren't 1:1 with Japan at all times. Feminism as seen in the U.S. contains multitudes on different topics and the same will be true for Japan. There are obviously Japanese feminist groups that concern themselves with how female characters are depicted in media (like we saw with Tawawa on Monday) and artists might feel threatened by these groups. They aren't necessarily the same as the feminists involved with #KuToo, or workplace harassment, or paternity leave, or other issues outside of artistic expression.

but he runs kinda on a platform of anime being attacked by the "west" which is something that isn't really happening. It's just stirring up culture war BS and it's tiring to hear the same thing ad nauseum. Most Japanese media doesn't give a damn about the west or any one calling for censorship, it's been shown time and time again. Some Netflix anime that Japan isn't going to watch won't change that sentiment.

Am I surprised that Akamatsu joined a conservative party that has actual nationalists in it? Like a lot of them. Of course not. I have read his work. Lol. That said, you can´t be campaigning for freedom of speech and art and be in such a political party. Another lying politician. Shocker. You need to be at least center-left or a libertarian (lol) if you want to sound believable in your pursuit of self-expression for all.

ANN_Lynzee wrote:

I think it's important to remember (there was another post similar to this in the Abe thread) is that things here aren't 1:1 with Japan at all times. Feminism as seen in the U.S. contains multitudes on different topics and the same will be true for Japan. There are obviously Japanese feminist groups that concern themselves with how female characters are depicted in media (like we saw with Tawawa on Monday) and artists might feel threatened by these groups. They aren't necessarily the same as the feminists involved with #KuToo, or workplace harassment, or paternity leave, or other issues outside of artistic expression.

Very similar, yes! For some more context:

Kind of like the US (which I'm most familiar with), Japan has one broad feminist "movement" that stems from a historical movement in the past for basic freedom rights (there used to be multiple factions, but Raicho's duty-based movement and her magazine won out, so most feminists jumped on board afterward). The victories for women's rights in the workplace and equal financial ownership rights at home and so on are still considered good to most of the general public, but like US feminism, Japanese feminism has mostly spread out into an individual ideology-based movement where feminists more or less just show up for the causes they agree with and stay out of causes they don't, so it's hard to draw lines between exact factions. Thus, when the least-liked feminist critiques come out of the woodwork, they reflect negatively to the public on the reasonable-sounding feminist critiques, too. In rare cases, a few prominent feminists will criticize others within the same movement. Akamatsu-sensei lambasts feminists, but he often cites feminist and Women’s Institute of Contemporary Media Culture (Japan branch) spokesperson Yamada Kumiko, who has, on two separate occasions, spoken outwardly about the lack of evidence of fictional media's impact on women's rights or harm to women. But for the most part, repeated occasions where a group of individual feminists come together to protest the portrayal of girls and women in anime/manga/etc. or that criticize popular music genres (you could make a case for the treatment of idols, at least) or fashion trends for being "too objectifying" have all given the overall movement a bad name. Kinda sucks for the rest of us feminists, but it's not like we're going to shed decades of good work in organizations still working for equality because someone we don't know or care about gives us a bad rep. I haven't seen Akamatsu-sensei particularly criticize anything about feminism except the calls for censorship, mainly because that's his primary political focus, so I'm not quite against his platform by principle yet.

JackInMegaMan wrote:

but he runs kinda on a platform of anime being attacked by the "west" which is something that isn't really happening. It's just stirring up culture war BS and it's tiring to hear the same thing ad nauseum. Most Japanese media doesn't give a damn about the west or any one calling for censorship, it's been shown time and time again. Some Netflix anime that Japan isn't going to watch won't change that sentiment.

If extra context on this helps as well, Akamatsu-sensei and his fellow "Freedom of Expression Party" members currently holding seats have not yet mentioned anything about "culture war" conspiracy nonsense from the West--as far as I'm aware. They tend to respond more publicly to actual attempts by organizations like UNICEF, the UN, publishers looking to branch into global markets (a complex topic where the free business of publishers may restrict the free speech of authors in various ways), and even domestic politicians feeling international pressure to pass censorship bills/laws (or laws that result in more self-censorship to reduce punishment, a la Ishihara's "Fictional Youth" Ordinance Bill 156). The Olympics have been relevant to this discussion for the last decade or so as politicians scrambled to make Japan as presentable to international tourists as possible... which, in retrospect, sucks even more after the last few years. Lol

residentgrigo wrote:

Am I surprised that Akamatsu joined a conservative party that has actual nationalists in it? Like a lot of them. Of course not. I have read his work. Lol. That said, you can´t be campaigning for freedom of speech and art and be in such a political party. Another lying politician. Shocker. You need to be at least center-left or a libertarian (lol) if you want to sound believable in your pursuit of self-expression for all.

I mentioned this before in a thread about Abe, but the amount of people making broad statements about Japanese politics without knowing a single thing about them is concerning. The "conservative party" with "actual nationalists" in it is the LDP, the party that has been so prominently institutionalized that everyone across all political aisles except the idealistically pure will join the party in hopes of having a chance at influencing policy in some way. Nationalists have a pretty strong faction within the party, but the party is split six ways and these six factions often butt heads against each other's proposals and platforms. Other parties do exist, but they often have very little sway and exist functionally to either fill a few seats and vote on LDP proposals, or to act as spokespersons for their ideals (and maybe to make money doing so). I'm only scratching the surface, but if nothing else, Akamatsu-sensei has constantly been critical of LDP politicians. He isn't going to be writing legislation, however. He's going to be holding a seat that allows him and many others to review, critique, edit, and sometimes reject bills being proposed for law. His objective is mostly to vet censorship bills, as per his campaign platform.

I don't know how I feel about Akamatsu-sensei as a politician yet. He has strong convictions against censorship of nearly any kind, though he has said he's willing to discuss bans on things like lolicon if there is enough evidence to confidently point to harm being done causally. He's talked a bit about feminism and affirmative action, but he's been limited in scope with both to media. He's going to be involved with a lot more than just media now. I'll see where this goes before I judge. I like his manga, but after the personal struggle with letting go of JK Rowling as a huge Harry Potter fan, I feel I can let go of any author without much issue now.

If extra context on this helps as well, Akamatsu-sensei and his fellow "Freedom of Expression Party" members currently holding seats have not yet mentioned anything about "culture war" conspiracy nonsense from the West--as far as I'm aware.

kakugo complete wrote:

It is to me when he says it's a result of learning from "overseas political correctness" and not taking pointers on how to make strong female characters from, say, Rose of Versailles. He's not the one who cited "overseas criticism" as the reason either (I wish I could recall the name of the yuri dating sim artist who said that but I'm gonna go with Marvelous Entertainment citing the Olympics as a reason to censor stuff). US feminism is doodoo now and Japan has a far better history of female representation.

Who cares? He can only make a decision about how he wants to improve his writing as long as it comes from people that are the same nationality as him? What exactly is the purpose of the internet and interacting with fans and people across the world? This really opens up the underlying idea that people have of Japan being this walled off land of ideological purity and any interactions they have internationally is poisoning it.

Entertainment is global and we're all able to enjoy things like anime despite most of us on this website not being Japanese. Japanese creators go to events around the world to meet the people that enjoy their stories and interact with their fans. That also means they care, to some degree or another, about viewers thoughts and feelings about their work. What is the point in sharing feelings and art across the world but then saying "don't pay any attention to THOSE fans' they aren't from your country?"

On at least three occasions at AX, the creators shot video on their phone at the end of a panel just to share that enthusiasm with the staff back in Japan. They obviously care about how their work is perceived beyond just viewers in Japan and if they want to also be open-minded to ideas they haven't considered, whether those ideas are proposed by an American or anywhere else, than that's allowed.

Oh great... the conservative guy that consistently defends fanservice of minors and lolicon, as an ideal freedom of expression.

The funny thing is that he and other objected to "sexual violence" as a term, citing works that would be banned... and they went to classic works that are totally acceptable. NOT their own works and doujins.

I can't with the "right" of sexualizing minors. I just can't.

defending imaginary children

What's even worse, people don't realize how this only holds back Japan's creativity.

Oh great... the conservative guy that consistently defends fanservice of minors and lolicon, as an ideal freedom of expression.

tonk82 wrote:

What's even worse, people don't realize how this only holds back Japan's creativity.

I don't see any base for that claim.

For example, I take photos of my cousin's children bathing. The reason I could get in trouble for that is not only because the subjects are children but its because the images are photos. Yes, photography is still classified as art but its when the intent of the expression is evident that we define photos as art. If I drew those same children, I'm visually expressing something in a fictional manner. Someone might question my motive for drawing naked children, but if the guardian's consent is obtained, there is less liability against me.

Blanchimont wrote:

tonk82 wrote: What's even worse, people don't realize how this only holds back Japan's creativity. I don't see any base for that claim.

Repeat with me "I'm defending the right to create child pornography".

1) Those are children.
2) It's pornography.

You can say "it's 2d" all you want. It's Child pornography... even if it sounds wrong to you.

The very same way you are defending depicting sexual harassment toward women. You can say "it's 2d" all you want. It's still sexual abuse towards women.

The moment Key Visual Works decided that "all-ages" version of their works is the desirable one, they were in the right. The only reason all this fanservice and lolicon bullshit exist in japan, is due to a vocal minority that consume and fap to this kind of contento. And no, that is not right... most japanese people don't even know this kind of content exist.

[Repeat with me "I'm defending the right to create child pornography".

1) Those are children.
2) It's pornography.

You can say "it's 2d" all you want. It's Child pornography... even if it sounds wrong to you.

The very same way you are defending depicting sexual harassment toward women. You can say "it's 2d" all you want. It's still sexual abuse towards women.

Drawings do not, assuming the artist is not using photographic child pornography as references.