Hey - in line with the current discussion regarding the Anti-loli laws, I translated an article way back in March from a celebrity, Yamamoto Mona, who provides a counter argument, or observations rather of the manga artists.
In a 30 min radio show, which is downloadable as a mp3 on Itai News [in Japanese of course], she has a discussion about the proposed law with the 2 male radio hosts. The article takes excerpts from her conversation which roughly translates as follows:
'This story has definitely become an argument over the freedom of expression, but this problem has also led to heated discussions with Miyazaki Tetsuya-san, however to think people are flying the flag for 100% freedom of expression is unbelievable. Miyazaki Tetsuya-san has the opinion that this [I presume the issues of depictions of violence and porn with minors] is a problem born from the freedom of expression, and therefore feels it should be regulated...
Many manga authors have come out to complain/appeal about this freedom of expression but isn't the expression of freedom for manga with raping/transgression/violation of children problematic?
This time the city has delayed its attempted regulation, anyway I don't want this problem of the freedom of expression. It's not (about) that...
To begin with, even though girls and children often going to Combinis/convenience stores, the amount of ero-books in line/on the shelves is only in Japan...
Also, how much I hate this, looking at the appearance of ero-book reading men...
Understand the feelings of females/women, we hate it, it's sickening. Secretly/stealthily take a look at that kind of shadow/image/reflection! Even with mobile phones, why there is such overt reading of ero-books, Japan is really a strange country huh.
Basically Japanese people are perverted [though word used is ero not hentai], extremely perverted. Really nothing but perverted, all I think is why. For a long time, the Japanese have been perverted...'
It should be said that the comments above, taken in isolation, come across as a rant. However, as mentioned above they are excerpts of a conversation with two others so they seem more natural and less strident when you hear them in context. In particular, the last comments are not so much a damnation of Japan but more a playful baiting of the two men.
In summary, Yamamoto says that the argument about freedom of expression is all very well but the artists have to think about what they are actually producing and wonders whether "freedom of expression" should really defend work which causes offence to children and women. She thinks the content of many comics is a problem and the fact that porn is available in convenience stores frequented by children is a scandal. She finds it distasteful that this work is openly sold and read in Japan, pointing out that Japan is an outlier in permitting this.
She actually also says that foreign women find Japanese men creepy because they are エロい. "Eroi" is a tricky word to translate because it doesn't quite mean "perverted", rather "pornographic" or "erotic" but the way Yamamoto uses it certainly carries some of that meaning.
For those of you who don't know Yamamoto Mona, she's a Norwegian-Japanese presenter/announcer, though I only recognised her from the show London Hearts where she's often a panelist. I used to find her attractive when I watched JP TV in Japan, and I should have known she was bi-racial as there was something different about her. Oh and apparently she presented Jackass in Japan, and had some scandal with a Yomiuri Giants player which led her to hide for a while.
Anyway, what do you guys think about her comments? Can you understand her feelings and position? Or you think she's being an idiot? The majority of comments on the site I work for felt the latter.
Here's the link for the article that my translation was used for -
http://www.japanator.com/mona-yamamoto- ... 4141.phtml
