Misshitsu

Misshitsu
The cover of the controversial manga.
蜜室
Manga
Written by	Suwa Yuuji
Published by	Monotori Kishi
Published	April 2002

Misshitsu (蜜室, Honey Room) is an explicit hentai manga by Suwa Yuuji. It was published in Japan in April 2002 (in 20,000 copies across 1,900 retailers) by the Shobunkan publishing group, Monotori Kishi.

Controversy

A major obscenity trial in the Tokyo District Court was held, the first such trial for more than 20 years. The results of the trial was the conviction of Suwa Yuuji in January 2004 (on the charges of violating article 175 of the "National Penal Code", the Japanese penal code, which forbids creating and distributing "indecent" materials). Yuuji was fined, and to avoid a jail sentence, pled guilty. More materially, all adult manga by Yuuji was removed from the marketplace. The publisher Monotori Kishi was also convicted, but his 1 year in jail was suspended by the judge.

The case was appealed to the High Court on arguments that the manga was not as indecent and explicit as much material on the Internet, and that article 175 violated the Japanese Constitution's protection of freedom of expression. The High Court upheld the ruling, and tripled the fine on Yuuji to 1.5 million yen from the original 500,000 yen

After the conviction, a number of bookstores and chains removed their adults-only section; their motivation has been attributed to the outcome, in a "chilling effect".[1]

See also

• Censorship in Japan

References

• pg 137 of Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics, by Paul Gravett. 2004, Laurence King Publishing Ltd in the United Kingdom (printed in Singapore), ISBN 1-85669-391-0

External links

• Article on the ruling in Asahi Shimbun
• Article in the BBC
• [2]
• Article on the results of the appeal
• (Japanese) Article arguing that the case shows the need for clearer regulations, and describing the content
• (Japanese) [3]