censorship and the law

[Aaron Gerow]

>Could someone advise me on what I cannot import into Japan.  I'm ordering
>videos from American filmmakers to show at EIGAARTS and I would hate to
>have something seized at customs and be accused of importing indecent
>material.  Is all full frontal nudity considered indecent?

Good question, Joss.

Remember that censorship is done in Japan by three organizations: Eirin, 
the police, and Customs.  You are asking about customs and, if you are 
looking at it historically, Customs has tended to be the most liberal of 
the three--if you can believe that!  Thus Customs started allowing pubic 
hair in "artistic" films before Eirin or the police technically did.  
That does not mean that they allow anything: another person cited the 
Yamagata incident (it was in fact the film _Mother Dao_ and the scene 
cited was a section from prewar black-and-white film showing Chinese 
laborers showering.  Their genitals were a no-no even though there was 
absolutely nothing sexual about it.  This despite the fact they allowed 
another scene with aborigines showing their genitals--apparently 
aborigines are close enough to animals (whose genitals can be shown) to 
be allowed!), but Markus can tell you about Customs once stopping Stan 
Brakhage's _Window Water Baby Moving_ because female genitalia were shown 
(in a pre-birth scene).

In general, then, full frontal nudity is frowned upon if it is male.  If 
it is female, they now usually pass it if it is not overtly sexual and 
genitalia can not be seen.

If you are worried about prosecution, Customs usually does not do that 
unless it is a clear case of mass importation for sale.  If they catch 
something minor, they usually just confiscate it or send it back.

Image Forum could tell you their tricks, because the fact is that they 
sometimes show work that is technically obscene in Japan: I've seen 
genetalia and full penetration in some of the work shown there.  One of 
the big tricks is to have the films brought into Japan as personal 
luggage on the plane.  

Image Forum doesn't get into trouble with their showings, first, because 
it is not a member of Eirin (Eirin only regulates member 
organizations--you thus don't have to worry about them), and, second, 
because historically the police only care about obscene materials that 
reach the "mass public."  They rarely (though there are exceptions) crack 
down on small avant-garde groups that only have tiny audiences in the 
first place.

Good luck!

Aaron Gerow