Topic: PSA: Pixiv artists are asked by Pixiv to censor their images.

Posted under Art Talk

pd

Member

Hi, to all the people who complain about censorship in peoples artwork, a la: https://e621.net/post/show/769372 I often see people who joke about the censorship and are generally mad that it exists. I'm cool with the joking and all but it seems that most people don't know that on sites like pixiv, artists are asked to censor their images. I learnt this earlier from this post by a pixiv artist: http://wpddpw.tumblr.com/post/125392197822#notes

So just so you know, censorship isn't the artists fault! I'm sure if it was their choice, they would choose no censorship over censorship any day.

Updated by GameManiac

Lance Armstrong

Janitor

It's not entirely Pixiv's fault either. It's Japanese law mixed with self-censorship and Japanese deference to authority:

http://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/4940/what-are-the-anime-censorship-laws-in-japan

Nowadays the law is usually interpreted as banning depiction of adult genitals and (often) pubic hair unless they are obscured. However, this is not strictly the legal interpretation of "obscene", which is vague and in some sense up to the police enforcing the law and the judges ruling on the case. Rather, this is a self-censorship guideline that almost every producer in the industry follows. Most producers of both animated and regular pornography partner with one of a few independent quasi-legal organizations which inspect these videos to check that the material is not "obscene". The most famous one of these was the Nihon Ethics of Video Association, which was itself the subject of an obscenity trial in 2008 because the mosaics they were using were too revealing. There is no legal requirement to have pornographic works inspected, but it reduces the risk of accidentally violating this law. In the case of anime, it's more common to sidestep these restrictions by drawing the scenes differently or using things like tentacles rather than genitalia, but there are some hentai anime which do use these sorts of inspections.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Japan#Pornography

Due to the current interpretation of Article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan, which forbids distributing "indecent" materials, it is believed that most pornography in Japan must be at least partially censored. The primary means is to put a digital "mozaiku" (mosaic, pixelation) over genitalia. There have, however, been very few arrests for violations of this law.[1] It has arguably increased the daringness of Japanese pornography, since with pixelation of the genitals or, more recently, of the point of insertion (the area pixelated has shrunken greatly), everything else is by implication acceptable.

The most recent trial based on this law, the first in 20 years, was the conviction of Suwa Yuuji in January 2004 for his hentai manga Misshitsu. He was originally fined 500,000 yen (about 4,900 USD) and avoided jail time by pleading guilty. When he appealed the case to the Supreme Court of Japan on arguments that the manga was not as indecent and explicit as much material on the Internet and that Article 175 violated the Japanese Constitution's protection of freedom of expression, the Court upheld the ruling and the fine was tripled to 1.5 million yen.

After Yuuji's conviction, a number of bookstores and chains removed their adults-only section. Their motivation has been attributed to the outcome, in a "chilling effect".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_in_Japan

By Japanese law, any lawfully produced pornography must censor the genitals of actors and actresses and up until the mid-1990s so was the depiction of pubic hair. Anuses are only censored at contact or penetration. This type of censoring also extends to comics, video games, and anime made for adults. In the attempts to circumvent this type of censoring (and to cater to particular fetishes), actors and producers have featured subject matter unseen or rarely depicted in western pornography. Bukkake, Gokkun, Omorashi, and tentacle erotica are a few uniquely Japanese genres known to western viewers. Lolicon and its contribution to the controversy regarding the regulation of pornography depicting minors has been a major issue concerning free speech inside and outside of Japan.

In Japan, under Article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan people who sell or distribute obscene materials can be punished by fines or imprisonment. Article 175 was included in the original document in 1907 and remains relatively unchanged.[4] Showing pubic hair and adult genitalia was once considered obscene.[5] Video pornography routinely depicts explicit sex scenes with the participants's genitalia obscured by mosaics. The amount of censorship of the penis can vary. The publication of Waterfruit and Santa Fe by Kishin Shinoyama was likely the first publication that featured pubic hair. Many video production companies belong to ethical associations which provide guidance on what is acceptable and what is not. The Nihon Ethics of Video Association, the Ethics Organization of Computer Software and the Contents Soft Association are examples of three such organizations. Recent controversies have frowned upon both pubic hair and even genitalia itself being displayed in works of art and in educational settings.[6] In 2014 Japanese police discovered an underground pornography store that possessed a machine which was claimed to be able to remove pixelization from the images contained on censored DVDs.[7]

The problem with this forum topic is that there will always be a new (underaged?) user that has not encountered the Japanese mosaic and black bars and complains about it. It is jarring for consumers of Western porn. Others want to make the same comments and jokes about censorship that you have read a hundred times. Let's face it, it's still funny to see a tiny black sliver superimposed on a gigantic throbbing penis penetrating a schoolgirl with cat ears. Even the 69th time.

Most won't notice the forum topic. e621 apparently has up to 192,168 non-banned users.

TL;DR: From being on the site for over 4 years, I can tell you the censorship complaints are never going away.

Updated by anonymous

CamKitty

Member

Most people are aware of the archaic Japanese censorship laws. It's not a matter of not knowing, but realizing they are very dated and silly.

Still, no one likes a censored image, so keep expected said reaction

Updated by anonymous

Clawdragons

Member

I actually have a question of sorts on this.

If a Japanese artist wanted to release an "uncensored" image, could they not release two versions of the same image, both censored in slightly different locations, such that someone could combine the two images and end up with the original image with no censoring?

It seems to me that would be an obvious way around the law, and yet, I've never seen any artist do that. I know there are restrictions on what part of the genitalia must be censored, but even so, there seems to be a decent amount of variation in censor location such that this should still be possible...

Updated by anonymous

Genjar

Former Staff

The constant complaining about censorship is just... so pointless.
That "I can't see what's going on" joke is repeated so often that it feels spammy.

Artists can't do anything about it, and all complaining about it can cause them to switch from posting porn to posting only safe art that doesn't need to be censored.

I've seen that happen with several pixiv artists, after a flood of "why u censor" comments.

Updated by anonymous

fox whisper85

Member

This begs the question, why do they bother making the stuff if they have to censor and ruin what could otherwise be good art?

Updated by anonymous

Kaeetayel

Member

From what I know some artists upload nsfw versions elsewhere (on twitter or tumblr, for instance) and have the marginally-censored version on their pixiv. So in those situations it might be best to check those.

Updated by anonymous

user 22273

Member

fox_whisper85 said:
This begs the question, why do they bother making the stuff if they have to censor and ruin what could otherwise be good art?

"why bother doing something you really enjoy or you get your income from if you have to put minimal censoring there"

Updated by anonymous

SirBrownBear

Member

fox_whisper85 said:
This begs the question, why do they bother making the stuff if they have to censor and ruin what could otherwise be good art?

Because genitals are just a small part of a larger image.

Updated by anonymous

fox whisper85

Member

Mutisija said:
"why bother doing something you really enjoy or you get your income from if you have to put minimal censoring there"

The hell is that supposed to mean? I'm just saying, art brought over from Pixiv shouldn't be censored.

Updated by anonymous

NotMeNotYou

Admin

fox_whisper85 said:
The hell is that supposed to mean? I'm just saying, art brought over from Pixiv shouldn't be censored.

These people live under japanese laws, they have to adhere to them if they want to stay free.
So if them drawing porn is either a their hobby or their job they will have to censor them, regardless of if you like it or not.

Updated by anonymous

SirBrownBear

Member

fox_whisper85 said:
The hell is that supposed to mean? I'm just saying, art brought over from Pixiv shouldn't be censored.

He means if they're getting paid to draw said images, or just enjoy it as a hobby, but due to their laws have to censor explicit bodyparts, why should they have to refrain from doing it altogether? Just because a small part people like to nut off too is blocked out? So what?

And when said censored images are all that'available, you take when you can get. Better to have a large part of something rather than nothing at all.

Updated by anonymous

Terraraptor

Member

Clawdragons said:
I actually have a question of sorts on this.

If a Japanese artist wanted to release an "uncensored" image, could they not release two versions of the same image, both censored in slightly different locations, such that someone could combine the two images and end up with the original image with no censoring?

It seems to me that would be an obvious way around the law, and yet, I've never seen any artist do that. I know there are restrictions on what part of the genitalia must be censored, but even so, there seems to be a decent amount of variation in censor location such that this should still be possible...

Or like releasing an inverted image that you'd just combine in a graphic editor.... There's no shortage of loopholes. Both technical like that, and just deferring to less restrictive global sites. Or just simply ignoring the law and rely on the anonymously of the internet (enforcement seems pretty lo-tech, can't imagine they're going after hosts and doing IP investigations, lol). But there doesn't appear to be much interest in skirting the law. I laugh because I can only imagine how much that law would be ignored or avoided in the US :P

Updated by anonymous

Genjar

Former Staff

Clawdragons said:
I actually have a question of sorts on this.

If a Japanese artist wanted to release an "uncensored" image, could they not release two versions of the same image, both censored in slightly different locations, such that someone could combine the two images and end up with the original image with no censoring?

I don't think so.
From what I remember, the law specifically forbids using techniques that make it easy to circumvent or undo the censoring. That includes inverted colors, etc. Releasing multiple versions probably counts as 'easily uncensored'.

Updated by anonymous

Neitsuke

Member

Also from how I see most of the artist doing their censors on Pixiv, they do it in a quick fashion, with some wiggly lines or just covering everything they can with black rectangles everywhere, presumably under the fact that they actually don't really care about it the slightest, because "conveniently" censoring a picture would take more time than just slapping a scribbled line all over that one part of the drawing

Updated by anonymous

treos

Blocked

wous said:
This thread reminds me of something that happened last year.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/artist-who-made-canoe-modelled-on-her-vagina-arrested-on-obscenity-charges-9902488.html

"Sex toy shop manager Minori Watanabe, 44, was also arrested for “displaying obscene goods in her shop window in collusion with Igarashi” from around October 2013 until July, police said."

and the manager of a sex toy shop got arrested as well for showing obscene goods (uh, sex toys obviously) in her shop window.

i hope i'm far from the only one who frequently notices japans hypocrisy regarding sex. they're like the smut capital of the world yet they do all they can to censor themselves.

Updated by anonymous

Lance Armstrong

Janitor

treos said:
i hope i'm far from the only one who frequently notices japans hypocrisy regarding sex. they're like the smut capital of the world yet they do all they can to censor themselves.

The U.S. does far worse on sex positivity.

In Japan it's wink wink nudge nudge censorship. A little black line on the penis, drawn lolis everywhere, giant penis sculptures in festivals. Rokude Nashiko is targeted because she's a woman and probably more importantly, a radical. She rocked the (vagina) boat, and those in power don't like that.

I've noticed a new trend in pixiv/Japanese censorship: One slightly censored penetration image, and a cumshot version where THE CUM IS THE CENSOR. post #764319 is close to this but there is actually a little censorship on close inspection.

Updated by anonymous

Clawdragons

Member

treos said:
i hope i'm far from the only one who frequently notices japans hypocrisy regarding sex. they're like the smut capital of the world yet they do all they can to censor themselves.

I've heard some suggestions that it might be because of their rather conservative views on sex that they are such a large smut producer. Apparently another country that fits that model is Brazil, known for all sorts of fetish porn, and yet rather regulated in that regard.

Which, I mean, makes sense. You don't get large amounts of hardcore moonshine without alcohol prohibition. It would make some sense for that to apply to porn too.

Updated by anonymous

Princess Celestia

Member

GameManiac said:
America is to blame for Japanese censorship BTW.

You wanna elaborate on that or are you just gonna pretend to throw "Facts" out there and hope they take?

Updated by anonymous

treos

Blocked

Lance_Armstrong said:
The U.S. does far worse on sex positivity.

In Japan it's wink wink nudge nudge censorship. A little black line on the penis, drawn lolis everywhere, giant penis sculptures in festivals. Rokude Nashiko is targeted because she's a woman and probably more importantly, a radical. She rocked the (vagina) boat, and those in power don't like that.

I've noticed a new trend in pixiv/Japanese censorship: One slightly censored penetration image, and a cumshot version where THE CUM IS THE CENSOR. post #764319 is close to this but there is actually a little censorship on close inspection.

hmmm... -_- yeah, it's there but hardly noticeable unless you zoom in close. i think that art style helps with making it harder to notice.

Clawdragons said:
I've heard some suggestions that it might be because of their rather conservative views on sex that they are such a large smut producer. Apparently another country that fits that model is Brazil, known for all sorts of fetish porn, and yet rather regulated in that regard.

Which, I mean, makes sense. You don't get large amounts of hardcore moonshine without alcohol prohibition. It would make some sense for that to apply to porn too.

oh? don't think i've seen much from brazil but then, i don't really go out of my way to check either.

Updated by anonymous

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