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Osaka Designates 8 Boys-Love Manga Mags as 'Harmful' (Updated)

On Monday, the Osaka Prefectural Government has designated eight boys-love manga magazines as "harmful publications," the legal category of publications which may not be bought or read by anyone younger than 18 years old.

In accordance with its existing ordinance regarding the healthy development of youths, Osaka has been maintaining a list of "harmful publications." Some women's magazines and a few shōjo magazines have been identified in the past. According to the ordinance, the government will designate a publication for the "harmful publications" list if at least 1/10th of its page count contains sexual acts or other restricted content. Until now, most boys-love materials were not subject to this ordinance because "no one would be stimulated with sexual feelings by them," among other reasons cited.

Osaka Governor Tōru Hashimoto had said last month that his government is considering a measure similar to Tokyo's proposed legislation to regulate sexualized depictions of characters that appear or sound to be younger than 18 years old. The Osaka Prefectural Government announced on March 25 that it would consider regulating boys-love materials in addition to the materials already on the "harmful publications" list.

Source: Asahi Shimbun

Update: Another prefecture, Shiga, had already designated two boys-love magazines — the March issue of Junet's Boy's Pierce and the February issue of Libre's Be-Boy Gold — for its own "harmful publications" list on February 23. [Via Temple Knights]