Tokyo restricts distribution of ‘harmful’ anime1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA revision of the Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youths was passed by a majority vote at the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly yesterday.
The bill empowers the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to unilaterally restrict the circulation from minors under the age of 18.
Japan’s ten leading manga publishers – Shueisha, Shogakukan, Kadokawa Shoten, Kodansha, Akita Shoten, Hakusensha, Shonen Gahosha, Shinchoha, Futabasha and LEED Publishing – had already announced their intention to boycott March’s Tokyo International Anime Fair.
Any publisher who release more than six works deemed “harmful” within a twelve month period will be referred to a self-regulating body within the industry for further action. The government may “name and shame” publishers who publish additional “harmful” works in the following six months.
Related article: Tokyo Says “Sayonara” To Freedom of Speech?
