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Japanese National Police Investigating Games 63

Posted by Zonk from the can't-be-good dept.
Gamasutra reports that, like here in the states, Japanese games are coming under increased scrutiny by law-enforcement and politicians. From the article: "Japan's National Police Agency is currently investigating the effects playing video games and watching anime have on children. Currently being led by former deputy governor of Tokyo, Yutaka Takehana, the police-sponsored group met on April 10 in Tokyo to discuss topics such as violent video games and sexual content on the internet."
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Japanese National Police Investigating Games More

Japanese National Police Investigating Games

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  • Why only now? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by TwilightSentry ( 956837 )
    Yay! First comment!

    Really, I'm surprised something like this didn't happen sooner; I wonder if any part has to do with making Japanise sites and games more "US-friendly?"

    • Re:Why only now? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Rei ( 128717 ) on Friday April 14, 2006 @05:55PM (#15132960) Homepage
      I doubt this investigation is going to go anywhere. The video game players will undoubtedly hold off the police by wielding gigantic swords the size of their body, while the anime fans will draw mallets out of nowhere to hit them over the head with. I certainly wouldn't be in the Japanese police during such an investigation.

      • ...especially because they're only packing 5-shot revolvers. That's nowhere near enough firepower in a nation with such low levels of violent crime.

      • The video game players will undoubtedly hold off the police by wielding gigantic swords the size of their body, while the anime fans will draw mallets out of nowhere to hit them over the head with.

        You didn't mention what the hentai freaks will do. Then again, it might be for the best ;).

        ...Altought I have to point out how much more effective pulling hammers out of nowhere comes when you have 100+ tentacles to swing them with simultaneously.

  • This just in.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Scorpion265 ( 650012 ) on Friday April 14, 2006 @05:20PM (#15132765)
    Due to a misunderstanding, massive ammounts of bleach have been pulled from store shelves due to a recent ban passed down from the tokyo police.
  • Why the hell didn't they investigate BEFORE I watched Speed Racer and Gigantor?!?

    I've been scarred for life!

  • Gotta catch 'em all (Score:3, Funny)

    by Kawahee ( 901497 ) on Friday April 14, 2006 @05:27PM (#15132796) Homepage Journal
    Thank God somebody is doing something about these violent videogames! Thanks to violent videogames, I've murdered 0 people, and am on a degenerative track to murder another 0 more by the end of my gaming life.

    In summary, it's all personal responsibility:

      Remember, here in the U.S.A, we have reached a new age.
      NOBODY is responsible for their own actions.
      Remember that.
      Holy shit! I killed somebody! Bob made me do it!
      Bob: Joe made me do it!
      Joe: I blame the media!
      Media: Videogames.
      Videogames: Personal responsibility?
      Personal Responsibility:

  • I am sure... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...that the japan police are having alot of fun 'investigating' the effects video games have on players. Specifically testing to see what impact a 3 hour, 4 player, smash brothers melee session has on player.
  • I hope that the one and only conclusion reached is that the censorship needs to be removed from depictions of naughty bits.

    I can dream, can't I?
    • It is this censorship that has "forced" some japanese to be more inventive when it comes to making porn. Rather then just a closeup that would make a gynecologist wince they have instead got to think about a setup. A story if you like.

      Granted some japanese porn still has closeups wich results in one big censored screen but it is offset by the absolutly weird stuff the companies like Soft in Demand come up with.

      For instance their Deep Kiss series is totally hot yet has no censorship. Because it doesn't hav

  • You people joke, but... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Valdrax ( 32670 ) on Friday April 14, 2006 @05:44PM (#15132897)
    The Japanese are viewed by many Americans as all lovers of anime, video games, and all the other "pop" culture things that we love to import from them. However, the truth is much different.

    Anime & video games in Japan is largely split into two different groups:
    1) For kids and shown on public TV.
    2) For geeks and loners and shown on subscription channels and direct to video shows.

    The average adult attitude about adults that spend a lot of time watching anime & video games is very dim thanks to widely publicized crimes by loners over the past two decades. These isolated incidents are basically the equivalent of the D&D killings in the 80s, Columbine, etc. over here and have resulted in a very similar attitude in the Japanese public about the otaku. While there's little religious fundamentalist opposition to the fan service, porn, and violence in adult targetted anime, the mainstream public still views it as unseemly and regards fans with suspicion.

    I'm personally surprised they haven't launched an investigation sooner.

    • Re:You people joke, but... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Turn-X Alphonse ( 789240 ) on Friday April 14, 2006 @06:22PM (#15133084) Journal
      You're correct and incorrect at the same time. Watching anime and playing games isn't looked down on at all, it's considered normal for everyone untill they hit 14-15, at which time they more or less force their kids at knife point to be working on school work 7 days a week for 23 hours a day.

      Being anti social is where the "problem" lays. Japan has a very 1984ish look on people being on their own. Everyone should be with others and constantly be doing something constructive, if you arn't you must be "one of them outsiders" and you get weird looks and such.

      Plus in Japan you work to the bone and you accept it. That's how the society is and always will be.. but watching anime or playing games isn't looked down on, it's the fact that you arn't at work and arn't around people/in a social club that is.
    • Everyday millions of Manga Comics are sold. On 20 people, 15 are reading and at least 5 of those are reading Mangas. Thats an everyday thing. And those Mangas reach from ... to ... (put in your own ideas). So it can happen that the guy next to you reads a nice tentakel manga. Quite funny actually (from a western point of view).
      • Everyday millions of Manga Comics are sold. On 20 people, 15 are reading and at least 5 of those are reading Mangas. Thats an everyday thing. And those Mangas reach from ... to ... (put in your own ideas). So it can happen that the guy next to you reads a nice tentakel manga. Quite funny actually (from a western point of view).

        Bullshit...out of 20 people, at least half of them are playing with their cell phones. You rarely see adults reading manga in public, and when you do it's always obvious creeps or w

        • well, to be honest, thats not true. I ride every morning the train to work, and those people in my train do not play with their cell phones. Thats for school kids & students. Most older people read books & newspapers (newspapers mostly in the morning) and of course manga. And yes I see at least 1/4th of them reading Manga. I am not blind, thought I am reading myself in the train too.
      • So it can happen that the guy next to you reads a nice tentakel manga. Quite funny actually (from a western point of view).

        I deliberately didn't mention manga because it's treated differently -- supposedly, anyway. I'm beginning to suspect that that's another Western myth about Japan too.

        I didn't see more than about four people reading manga on public transit when I was there for three weeks back in 2000, and I never saw anyone doing anything with porn except in the creepy otaku shops in Akihabara. I susp
        • Well, I might add that I live here in Japan for more than three years and I tride the train to work everyday. I live in an average area, which means I have all the average japanese people around me and manga is treated equal. Nobody will look strange if someone is reading it. Yes its true, that the manga readers are more younger people (20ish) and more lower educated people (eg not working as "salery man"). But they are there, and they are not so little.

          True is, that most japanese people read normal books.
  • Because we all know the world was peaceful and tolerant before PONG started the downfall of civilization.
    • Let us not forget ZORK, from the time before non-ascii-art graphics!
    • Yes! How dare they create such a violent game where the user has fun *beating* a *poor*, *defenseless* *BALL* only to be *smashed* by the opposing paddle right back at the abuser! The horror I say! Won't someone please think of the children!? ...and it gets worse! The ball wasn't even round! It was *square*! Pointy edges! (end sarcasm)
    • Yes but we all know - if they could have played video games - Hitler, Mao, Stalin and Pol-Pot would all be hardcore Grand Theft Auto and Doom players with their crazy mad skillz.

      And I emphasise "crazy" and "mad".

      ---

      "But think of the children!" - To hell with that? Who do you take me for - Michael Jackson? - you pervert!? I'm not thinking about anyone's kids thank you very much - sicko!

  • Seriously... (Score:4, Funny)

    by iridium_ionizer ( 790600 ) * on Friday April 14, 2006 @06:37PM (#15133158)
    Don't the Japanese National Police have bigger [totalmedia.com] problems [darkhorizons.com] to deal with.
  • It will be interesting to see some findings. In America, gamers accept as fact that games have no effect on our personal willingness to commit violence, based on common sense (not studies).

    Are the people doing the "examination" unbiased enough to find significant, new data that clearly shows one way or the other? And if so, can that data be found true here in the US as well? Keep us posted...

    • It will be interesting to see some findings. In America, gamers accept as fact that games have no effect on our personal willingness to commit violence, based on common sense (not studies).

      Well, I read manga, watch anime, including lots and lots and lots of hentai (including lolicon), and I've yet to kill or even seriously maim anyone. Except, of course, the agents of Chitauri in human disguise, but they are trying to exterminate us all so it's perfectly justified.

      Seriously, if you spend all your time

  • Do NOT censor my tentacles.... But I bet they will.
  • I dunno, how are they going to crack down a whole genere of games? Or I guess they don't find ecchina koto very bad. Or are they only cracking down on GTA-like violence.
  • ... I really can't take them so serious anymore. [warning, freaky midi music, official goverment page] http://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.jp/sikumi/pipo/pi po.htm [tokyo.jp]
  • I've downloaded a dozen or so random first episodes of anime over the past couple days, and their ecchi content was rather high.... It seems wrong this stuff is probably shown normally on TV....
  • Japanese Police force should investigate and root out the yakuza that have infiltrated every aspect of their community first. Yakuza has power in japan ranging in a spectrum of fields from fast food stands to big corporations, and politics. They are a much more harmful factor than any anime or video game could ever be. At least, kids do not have semi automatic weapons en masse.

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