Achievements

This article analyses the discussion process on the legal definition of indecency/obscenity in the Japanese courts from the perspective of media characteristics. In the article, how media characteristics affect the decisions in actual trials involving print, visual, and telecommunication media cases will be examined. The article reveals that an early criminal court decision, made in 1957 and amended in the 1980s, concerning the indecency/obscenity of the book Lady Chatterley’s Lover has occupied a dominant position ever since. In other words, in the process of discussing these issues, the media characteristics are not taken into account.