Tokyo bill set to restrict 'extreme sex' manga

Japan's capital city was expected Wednesday to restrict the sale of manga comics and anime films with extreme depictions of rape, incest and other sex crimes, a plan that has brought cries of censorship.

The bill before the Tokyo assembly would require publishers and shops to sell only to readers aged over 18 any material that depicts "virtual sex crimes" if the images are "unjustifiably glorified and exaggerated".

A group of 10 major comic publishers has protested against the bill and said it will boycott the biggest industry show, the Tokyo International Anime Fair, to be hosted next March by Tokyo's conservative Governor Shintaro Ishihara.

Manga comics are highly popular in Japan with both children and adults. The graphic novels deal with themes from high school romance to the literary classics -- but also with pornography, much of it hardcore and violent.

Ishihara has pushed for restrictions on the sale of "unhealthy" manga and anime within the city of more than 13 million people.

Japan has long been a major source of child pornography. Although producing and distributing it is illegal, possession is not criminalised, and images of "non-existent" underage characters in manga, anime and video games are legal.

Since the proposal to restrict strong sexual-content manga was first floated in Tokyo earlier this year, manga and anime artists have been up in arms over what they consider a limit on their creativity and free expression.

In March a group of cartoonists, including prominent artists Machiko Satonaka and Tetsuya Chiba, protested against plans for a stricter bill to restrict sexual images of characters that people would assume to be underage.

"This could violate freedom of expression," they said at the time.

Ishihara -- a controversial conservative and nationalist politician -- has attracted special scorn from manga artists because he does not just oppose extreme sexual manga but has also spoken out against homosexuality.

His bill to revise Tokyo's "ordinance seeking the sound upbringing of youth" was approved Monday by a multi-party assembly panel and was expected to clear a plenary session Wednesday for its enactment, Kyodo News reported.

The group of 10 major manga publishers -- including Kodansha, Shueisha and Shogakukan -- in a collective statement last Friday said that they would withdraw from participation in the Tokyo International Anime Fair.