Owner of Tachibana shoten in Akiba arrested
Game director, scenario writer, and AV director Toriyama Jin reports on his blog that:
1) On the 23rd of June, police have done a search on the Akihabara branch of Tachibana shoten. The shop owner is arrested. It is not known exactly the reason he was put under arrest for, but it is likely for distribution of indecent material.
2) Many of the products that were taken as evidence were of the loli genre. The exact titles are not known, but it is likely that they are games by either brand R or brand M.
3) The most likely reason why the police have tried to charge tachibana shoten for distribution of indecent material is because they wanted to have a scenario where somebody was arrested, in time for the meeting on the 26th of June where the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito, and Democratic Party of Japan are meeting to discuss changing the existing child porn laws. However as tachibana shoten was quite thorough in keeping in line with the law. One likely theory is that they were unable to charge tachibana shoten under child porn laws, and instead are trying to use distribution of indecent material so they would still have a case where somebody has been arrested.
Toriyama Jin says he had already known that the police were stepping up before the meeting on the 26th as there have been an increase in arrests related to the child porn laws over the last week, but did not expect a bookstore would become a victim and that they would use distribution of indecent material to make a case as child porn laws did not cover pseudo-loli.
On top of that, the place where they did a house search was in Akihabara, no matter how you look at it, the police is obviously trying to assist the LDP and the Komeito. When this gets reported, Toriyama suspects there’s a high chance that it will probably be used to mislead viewers that there is a need for stronger child porn laws.
The stuff above contains a little speculation, but Toriyama writes that he has confirmed the information from two different sources, so the main points should be true.
Also the 2ch thread for eroge industry people to post in has become quite depressing over the past days with posts where industry people talk about how they had their projects canceled or a writer who specializes in rape and sexual violence stories wondering how he can possibly find a new job now, and even one report from somebody who claims his friend at a small eroge development house had commited suicide as they were already doing pretty bad and now had to give up their next game project which meant the company had no chance of survival (info cannot be confirmed).
Update: Toriyama has updated his post clarifying that it was the owner of “Energy” in Akihabara, which belongs to the Tachibanashoten group, it was not the actual main Tachibanashoten store in Akiba. That particular shop “Energy” actually deals mainly in photos and goods involving real people, so it probably has nothing to do with eroge or art.
June 25th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Oh wow, I thought this whole Eroge thing was just going to blow over after those “Bans” were released. This sounds like the real shit here though. My heart goes out to that store owner, I hate to think that more are going to be victim to this witchhunt.
June 25th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
This is gonna be another critical hit for the Eroge industry…
June 25th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Hillarious. Especially the one that claims someone commited suicide. Why can’t they all do that? would solve japan’s over-population problem and make the world a better place both at once.
June 25th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
My heart goes out to these brave people who specialized in rape and can no longer follow their dreams. :(
June 25th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I really wonder how much international pressure is actually behind these sudden series of events. As much as people love to say LOL AMERIKKKAN FEMINISTS ARE DESTROYING MAI PORN I have a very hard time believing that they’re responsible for all of this, now that politics are getting involved. I have a very hard time accepting that activists from another country would be able to cause this much trouble. I’m definitely willing to bet that this was something that was slowly brewing inside Japan waaay before Rapelay was even created. Granted, there’s no way in hell I’d be able to discuss this in an intelligent manner anywhere in English sadly.
As for that 2ch thread… overreaction much? [if it is true and we know how 2ch can get] One thing is for sure… things are changing.
June 25th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
It sounds like the Tachibana Shoten arrest concerned “pseudo-loli” 3D porn (i.e. adult actresses dressed as schoolgirls), not 2D material. From Toriyama-san’s blog post:
規制反対運動の主力は二次元好きですから、三次元の疑似ロリには大半が興味を持てず、しかもわいせつ物頒布という罪状での逮捕は予期不可能ですからパニックになる可能性が高いわけです。
My translation: “The main force of the anti-censorship movement is made up of 2D lovers, the majority of whom have no interest in 3D pseudo-loli; furthermore no one could have predicted an arrest under the indecency laws, so the probability of causing a panic is high.”
If I’m interpreting Toriyama-san’s post correctly, he’s theorizing that having an arrest over 3D porn is a calculated move (by the police in cahoots with the pro-censorship politicians) to sow panic and dissension within the ranks of the anti-censorship movement.
Sounds a bit like tinfoil hat thinking to me, but I don’t follow Japanese politics…
June 25th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
You know what, I’m starting to think they PURPOSEFULLY put Rapelay onto foreign amazon, then PURPOSEFULLY tipped off Equality Now, so they can serve as ‘foreign opposition’ so that they can say among themselves “See I told you, we shoulda cracked down on the 2D loli pedos”.
Brilliant.
I do feel sorry for those who committed suicide though. Ok, so there’s nothing really ‘artistic’ about writing rape stories, but hey Lovecraft is iconic even though I daresay most of his imagery is satanic. I’m still willing to believe something awesome can still come from rape eroge writers.
June 25th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Kuugen the Fox: So you think it’s a good thing that people commit suicide? How about you do the world a favour and commit that act right now? How is wishing someone to commit suicide a Christian and holy thing to do? What does that say about your religion here? You’re a complete fraud, you piece of gutter trash.
June 25th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
The guy above me needs to play Saya no Uta.
June 25th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Sorry, I meant the guy above the guy above my last post which is the one above me (I hope).
June 25th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
*wears tinfoil hat*
1. Find poor guy to make an example of.
2. Spread his name and face everywhere on TV in connection with the push for the anti child porn laws.
3. Launch the anti child porn government program with a cute mascot.
Remember the Clannad virus writer?
That poor guy is made an example of last year:
http://shisaku.blogspot.com/2008/01/despair.html
June 25th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
And people actually believed that having Taro “Rozen Maiden” Aso as prime minister would improve things for otaku. Ha! He’s just another LDP puppet, and the corrupt waning LDP is all-to-eager to ally itself with the Komeito party’s religious decency crusade, in exchange for the support of their brainwashed cult constituency.
It should be clear to even the densest otaku now that Aso and the LDP are just backstabbing politicians who don’t give a shit about you.
June 25th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
either way, japan is fucked
komeito = no more eroge
minshuto = japan becomes korea part 2, and no eroge
take your pick
June 25th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Here comes the government regulation…
June 25th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
I still blame the white people.
June 25th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Taro Aso has always been opposed to things like explicit lolicon manga - he even campaigned against it in the past. Aso may have tried appealing to otaku on his road to becoming Prime Minister, but that doesn’t mean he supports all their pastimes.
June 25th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
@wah
So you’re with Minori then?
June 25th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Tinfoil hat conspiracies or not the fact is that all the pro-censorship movements in Japan gained momentum thanks to the Rapelay fiasco.
June 25th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
>minshuto = japan becomes korea part 2…
How so?
June 25th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Time to get the Empire back.
June 25th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
If you hate what the Japanese government’s doing, send your grievance directly to them here:
http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment.html
This is an official e-mail address provided by the eroge company Minori.
June 25th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
The shit’s hitting the fan!
June 25th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Gentleman, if you may please.
Thios clearly is not the fault of American feminists. If you ahd all read the article carefully, there is the mention of that particular Komeito party.
THAT is the enemy. Hardline conservatives who are reigning in on freedom of speech, not hard and humble women who fight for equality.
June 25th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Like I said, get back the Empire, disband all parties. Keep buddhist sects and other religions like the one worshipping “equality” out of politics from now on. Shinto is of course allowed to influence and guide the government, as it is no religion (Shintoism is, but that one was accidently invented by Americans who couldn’t accept that spirituality without laws and denominations existed and demanded laws and denominations to be invented on the spot back then). Shinto influenced people never tried to ban doujinshi (e.g. shunga with Tale of Genji characters) or fetish porn (e.g. Hokusai and his tentacle stuff) or even loli and shota stuff for that matter.
June 25th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
>Like I said, get back the Empire…
HAHAHA
>The exact titles are not known, but it is likely that they are games by either brand R or brand M.
Anyone want to take a guess at their full names?
June 25th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Wait, isn’t the LDP and New Komeito having problems with their popularity? This is just an attempt to gain votes for the LDP!(although this in line with the New Komeito’s philosophy) There’s a chance that if the LDP and New Komeito suffer too much disruption that they could fail to enact any censorship legislation. How that would happen I don’t know. Perhaps 2ch could be used to organize something; if the american 4chan can hold anti-scientology protests then can’t 2ch do some discreet work, like gigging up dirt on the LDP and new Komeito? This may be wishful thinking, but I think there is hope yet.
June 25th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
I don’t know, man.
Michael Jackson just died today, do you think Japan will be distracted by this and forget all about this eroge censorship?
June 25th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Fuck Saya no Uta. A brilliant idea ruined by the designers apparently needing to make the love interest look ten years old, add in some brainwash rape and make everything BAD END.
June 26th, 2009 at 5:35 am
I did warn about the suicides before.
June 26th, 2009 at 6:23 am
Suicides… Why can’t they do it like the taliban and bomb themself near feminists or loli hating politicans.
June 26th, 2009 at 8:19 am
THe censorship thing is not a big deal, they’re just altering the rating systems, way to overreact anime fans.
Also this guy was known for being involved in actual Child Porn, not just Loli.
June 26th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Read it.
It’s not actual child porn, it’s AV models over the age of 18 that look younger than they actually are. Even American porn has this “I can’t believe they’re really 18!” stuff.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Taking from Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, we must stamp out all offenses to the human dignity and to the principle of chastity. The only way to preserve true human freedom is not to objectify the freedom of others, most especially the young.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:16 am
I feel safer already.
June 26th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
the Japanese government is under pressure by foreign (mainly America) countries to stop loli and all types of eroge games because its wrong. thats way the jap government is acting this way so as to show the world it working hard to stop it.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
That’s maybe why the LDP may do it. But it needs Komeitosupport for upcoming elections, and komeito is pushing for bans.
Considering that there are advocates of the ban both in the Komeito and the Minshutō (opposition party )
June 26th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
@grapefields = which really translates to we must stamp out out all offenses to us. others people’s opinions are obviously just affronts to God, and don’t matter. Religion’s search of true human freedom tends to ironically frequently stamp upon other people’s freedom along the way, and involve a lot more banning and censorship than any actually practice of freedom.
“freedom within certain dictated bountaries of our choosing” tends to be closer
ironically to those who quote the ancients (yes, being facetious), you should maybe look up their views on children, sexuality, etc etc.
the people that wrote the stuff modern moralists quote so often were usually not even close to the prudes moralists have become in the past 2-3 centuries.
of course, one could point out that catholic priests in general appear to not be the sexual prudes (in fact whole scores of them, worldwide, appear to be quite the deviants) they demand others to be.
June 26th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Akiba Blog has something on this, but I don’t know if it adds new info:
http://blog.livedoor.jp/geek/archives/50852463.html
June 27th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Nemo_N: that’s actually a whole different store. Now might be a more dangerous time to be in akiba than 6/8/08
June 27th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Whoa thanks for the link, for a moment I was wondering why there’s another arrest, but it’s apparently the same case and I realised Toriyama had added an addendum on his post clarifying that he meant this store and not the tachibanashoten main store.
June 29th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
fuck all yall pedos
June 30th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Has any of you loli-guys a daughter or a sister?
June 30th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
i feel ban rape and loli its reasonable but band entire eroge industry is simply go too far. that its like japanese talibans. but im more consterned about the next movement. if the japanese goverment is under occidental pressure that say occidental people have the enemy in the same house. what happen when this “group” win in japan? the next movement is occident. i read Second life is ban in australia. what follow next to SL or australia? today most people are not concerned and others think thats is a good thing but im not sure the same people think in the same way when someone in america start complaining against indecent skirts or tv programs. im sure the same people dont wnat change Dr house and see all the day puritan discurses about the big work of all the perfect people in the goberment.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:29 am
> Has any of you loli-guys a daughter or a sister?
I used to hate those “loli-guys”. Then I actually met some of them.
Yes, many DO have daughters and sisters. And guess what, they’re as protective of them as any other human being. They value their family and respect other families as much as anyone else does. They can separate fantasy from reality as well as anyone else can (perhaps even better than most people, due to the heavy stigma their preferences have in real life). They are quite normal, really, and boringly so. No more or less “dangerous” than anyone else.
If you imagined otherwise (as I used to believe), then sorry, but they’re not the slavering monsters you wish they were. It’s easy to fall into the trap of dehumanizing them as dangerous “freaks”. It feels GOOD and righteous and awesome; it’s honestly quite an intoxicating rush. But as good as it feels, it’s simply not true, and I’ve learned that no matter how creepy you think they are, it is wrong to dehumanize “freaks”.
Sure, it feels so right to dehumanize the freaks. It plays directly into our tribal instincts to fight outsiders and protect our clan. But what feels right is not always what is actually right. Our ancient instincts and feelings do not fit perfectly in our modern world built on logic and reason. That means that sometimes, the right thing to do feels very, very wrong. Despite our feelings, it is wrong to dehumanize the freaks, because they are people just like you and me.
August 27th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
No matter what country, America is going to try and force their opinion down your throat, if you fight back, you’ll end up like Iraq. Hell, they’ve been messing with our laws here for two years now, and 70% of the population is in riot, but that doesn’t matter in a democracy, you vote for some turds to make the decision for you, converting the reign to fascism - which means it all comes down to money… surprise surprise…..
So anyway, basically, America is pressuring Japan to change their laws in a way that may kill the culture phenomenon that is spreading throughout the world and increasing the economical powers of Japan? Is it just me or does it sound like America has an ulterior motive behind all this?
Stay tuned for part 2 were America blows up China with the argument of preserving the rain forests!