![]() Rates of reported rape per capita are much lower in Japan than in the U.S. As a Japanese citizen, I am deeply offended by the insulting implications of that so-called expert who associates Japanese people at large with heinous criminals. It also goes without saying that human trafficking and violence against women are serious crimes in Japan too. We all live together in peace, expressing ourselves freely. (And guns are illegal, too.) Furthermore, in our Akihabara and Ikebukuro, there is no persecution of men or women alike, or of sexual minorities like homosexuals. Did you, for instance, fear for your safety while walking the streets of Akihabara, or Ikebukuro (holy ground of hentai books for women)? They’re probably many times safer than the streets of New York, let alone those of the suburban housing districts around. Moreover, the crime rate statistics for both general crime and sex crime in Japan are, with all due respect, several times lower than in the United States. Your society and ours are no different there. He defends Japan against charges of sexism: Men and women are equals in politics and in the law. Nogami Takeshi takes CNN to task for trying to “stir up fear, prejudice and misunderstanding” with their take on Rapelay and hentai in general. So tsurupeta describes a female body that’s flat above and smooth below.īut Tsurupeta only translated the open letter, which was originally written in Japanese by a mangaka (cartoonist). Just to put things in context, it is interesting to note that Tsurupeta is a blog that places “particular emphasis on the central icon of contemporary Japanese visual culture that is the cute young girl.” There is also an explanation of the name: It is a Japanese portmanteau word combining two onomatopoeias: tsurutsuru, which means smooth, polished, especially hairless and petan, which means flat, devoid of bumps and holes. The otaku blog tsurupeta calls the CNN article “a cultural-essentialist explanation of why Japan is so perverted” and argues that reporters for CNN were trying to “stir up gratuitous controversy.” However, this criticism comes from the opposite end of the spectrum. The moral entrepreneurs that are scrutinizing Japan have both a feminist history and cultural tradition that is simply not in play in Japan.” He continues, “Japan has ways of expressing sexuality that are practically indecipherable to a Western sensibility but that are so normalized in Japan that the Japanese don’t often understand or acknowledge the critiques that are made against them.” ![]() “It’s no surprise that this is expressed in mass media and pornography. Cleveland argues that Rapelay is the product of a historically patriarchal society. Perhaps more interesting was the follow-up article, written to address the question: Why would Rapelay thrive in Japan? Kyung Lah interviews Kyle Cleveland, an associate professor of sociology who teaches at Temple University in Japan. ![]() CNN reports that some human rights advocates have suggested that the Japanese government should play a larger role in monitoring the creation of video games, yet others deplore the idea of censorship. Attempts to crack down on distributors of Rapelay outside Japan have been somewhat successful, but persistent gamers are able to find the file fairly easily through other outlets. The original piece was harmless enough, and mainly focused on the difficulties of banning an online phenomenon. The CNN article has been accused of cashing in on an old controversy, one that should have died down months ago. Over the weekend, animator Nogami Takeshi submitted an open letter in defense of hentai and, by extension, Rapelay. Last week, CNN reported on the continuing availability of Rapelay, a Japanese-made rape simulation video game, online. ![]()
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