Word came in on Friday from the organizational committee of Sunshine Creation (one of the largest Japanese doujinshi conventions after Comiket) that beginning with the 37th iteration of the event on October 8th staff will be checking the contents of each new book to go on sale there. This has long been standard practice at Comiket and other smaller doujin conventions, but the fact that in their official statement announcing the change Sankuri is tying the decision directly to the recent doujin arrest and other stifling developments on the 2D free speech scene is alarming. The statement refers multiple times to the changing environment surrounding doujinshi and a shifting definition of obscenity - this is the canary in the mine shaft of democracy, and if Japanese artists and responsible adult consumers don't start standing up for their rights soon they'll wake up one day to find they don't have any. Further discussion of the urgent state of free speech in Japan can be found in this recent HD editorial. A translation of the September 7th statement from the Sunshine Creation executive office is below:
(Read the rest of this entry)