Love Hina Mangaka Slams Western Censorship
Ken Akamatsu, the author of Love Hina, Negima and other series, went to the House of Councillors (Upper House) of the Japanese Diet and expresses himself regarding freedom of expression and the looming threat of foreign companies’ interference in the manga industry. He wrote on a couple of tweets regarding this issue and it is as follows:
source: Twitter, @KenAkamatsu
This month, I was called by the Upper House to answer some questions. One of the members of the Congress asked me, ” What measures are necessary in order to secure the Japanese manga industry?”.
I responded, “First is the freedom of expression. Japan has an advantage of allowing more artistic freedom compared to other countries. And we don’t want our works to be regulated by foreign policies and censorship imposed by the overseas companies.”
slightly edited translation of @seri3ma (Tweeter)
source: Twitter, @KenAkamatsu
“We need the establishment of the National Manga Center (Media Arts National Center), on which a bill has already been passed, in order to preserve, exhibit, provide financial assistance and avoid selling of master copies, manuscripts and drafts of manga abroad. If we could do this, the manga industry of Japan will be secured for 10 years,” I added.The congressmen agreed.
