Article 175 of the Japanese Penal Code criminalises the distribution, sale, public display, or commercial possession of obscene materials. The statute, enacted in 1907 and largely unchanged in its core text since, is the central piece of Japanese law governing what manga and anime can legally depict in commercial publication. Court interpretation of 'obscenity' (γγγγ€, waisetsu) has evolved substantially over the post-war period.
The statutory text
Article 175 in translation: 'A person who distributes, sells, or displays in public an obscene document, drawing, or other object shall be punished by imprisonment with work for not more than 2 years, a fine of not more than 2,500,000 yen, or a petty fine. The same shall apply to a person who possesses the same for the purpose of sale.' The statute does not define 'obscene' beyond this text; the operative definition is judicial.
The Chatterley standard (1957)
The leading Article 175 case is ItΕ v. Japan (1957), the Supreme Court's decision on the Japanese translation of Lady Chatterley's Lover. The court articulated a three-part test for obscenity: material is obscene if it (1) wantonly arouses sexual desire, (2) offends ordinary persons' sense of shame, and (3) violates good and proper concepts of sexual morality. This three-part test is the framework still applied in Article 175 prosecutions today.
The genital-depiction convention
The most visible practical effect of Article 175 on Japanese visual media is the convention of mosaic or bar censorship of genital depictions in adult material. This is not statutory β Article 175 does not specify what must be obscured β but is the prosecutorial threshold below which commercial publishers operate to avoid prosecution. The convention has shifted gradually toward less heavy censorship over the past three decades but remains in place.
Major recent cases
Prosecutions of mainstream manga publishers under Article 175 are rare. The 2002 case against publisher Shobunkan over the manga Misshitsu by Beauty Hair resulted in suspended convictions of the publisher's president and editor β the first Article 175 conviction of a mainstream manga publisher in modern times. The 2014 prosecution of artist Megumi Igarashi (Rokudenashiko) for distributing 3D scan data of her own genitals (rather than for manga work) generated substantial international press attention and produced a partial conviction.