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Oguie Maniax article on Otaku culture, threatened by Olympics Preparation? [message #286158] Wed, 18 March 2015 17:22
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Hi posters and lurkers,
This seems to be something we might want to know about.
I have set the followups to rec.arts.amine,misc. The whole article is
on OM's site.
(more below)
==================================
Post : The 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Otaku Culture, and the Specter of Censorship
URL : < https://ogiuemaniax.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/the-2020-tokyo- olympics-otaku-culture-and-the-specter-of-censorship/
Posted : March 17, 2015 at 3:23 pm
Author : sdshamshel
Tags : 2020 tokyo olympics, cool japan, lolicon, otaku, patreon
Categories : anime, fandom, industry, manga, moe, philosophy, thought exercise

This post was sponsored by Johnny Trovato. If you’re interested in submitting topics for the blog, or just like my writing and want to sponsor Ogiue Maniax, check out my Patreon (http://patreon.com/ogiuemaniax ) .



The 1964 Tokyo Olympics are considered to be one of the most significant moments in Japanese history in terms of symbolism. Having lost World War II a couple of decades prior, and having experienced military occupation by the US as a result, the Olympics were an opportunity to show the world that Japan had gotten back on its feet and climbed out of poverty. One of symbols of this transformation is the famous bullet train, which came into service in time for the Tokyo Olympics.

It's no surprise then that the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics are kind of a big deal. While Japan no longer has issues with proving itself to be a first-world country even in a decades-long economic recession, the government still wants to further its integration in international economy, culture, and politics. The subject of 3.11 will also still be relevant, and if Japan has not "proven" to the world that they have managed to overcome that disaster by 2020, they will certainly assert it by then. However, one particularly large and visible target for cleanup is Japan's otaku culture, and they've already begun their move.

As I've learned from a series of public lectures <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7HZ9-E8UrA> at Temple University's Japan Campus (thanks to Veef for the link), one of their targets is anime and manga, given their focus on using Japanese pop culture as a form of "soft power" over the past decade. As the Tokyo Olympics get closer, just the fact that the image of Japan as a haven for illegal pornography still persists to some degree means that the Japanese government, or perhaps groups trying to influence the government, will be pushing for lasting change on what can and cannot be depicted in anime and manga. This has a very likely chance of affecting otaku culture in Japan, though the degree to which these changes will last depends on how much creators and supporters of anime and manga can push back...

==================================

Well the story continues at the Oguie Maniax site but this gives you a taste
and you can learn more perhaps at the Temple University sit.

bliss
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