International Review of Educational Cinematography (Jan-Dec 1931)

Legislation FILM CENSORSHIP IN THE FAR EAST JAPAN The system of film censorship in Japan has no definite legislative basis, but there are certain regulations (decree of June ist, 1925) issued by the Ministry of the Interior which lay down the general rules to be followed by officials, police and other, responsible for the examination of films and the supervision of public entertainments generally. A special form of censorship, to which we refer below and which relates more particularly to children, is vested in the Ministry of Education, acting through the supervising officials appointed by the Home Office. Mode of Operation. — The rule is that every film intended for public exhibition must be submitted for inspection to tlie Minister of the Interior, who has it examined by a secretary at the Metropolitan Police Office. The censorship system being thus official, the Minister of the Interior assumes full responsibility for decisions, which are final and allow of no appeal. For purposes of censorship there is no distinction between theatrical and cultural films. Only topical films — which obviously lose their value if held up — are examined by the local governor. All other films are censored with the utmost care at the Metropolitan Police Office, Tokyo. The censor exercises his functions in three distinct forms: (a) by simply passing the film for exhibition; (b) by prohibiting its projection throughout Japan or in a specific locality; (c) by authorising projection subject to cuts or alterations which, without affecting the main theme, will eliminate scenes or parts considered dangerous or undesirable. A procedure worth noting in this connec tion is the publication in the Official Gazette of the name of the owner or renter and the title of films of undoubted educational value. In order to encourage the circulation of this kind of film, the privilege of censorship exemption, which applies generally to all films shown privately, is extended to schools, associations and institutions wishing to show cultural, educational and scientific films at courses or gatherings. Fees. — The owner or renter is charged 5 sens (about a penny) for every three metres of film examined. Censorship Criteria. — With regard generally to the various systems of supervising intellectual and artistic productions, a noteworthy view was expressed in " The Japan Times and Mail" of July 12th, 1930: "In estimating whether a book exceeds the limits of censorship I ask myself whether I could read it aloud in the presence of other people and of the opposite sex. If I think I could, I pass it; if not, I ban it." Thus the criterion is subjective and contingent. It is the projection of an individual attitude of mind into the clearly delimited sphere of a work of art, an individual attitude of mind resulting from the various chance elements by which mental attitudes are influenced. It is therefore impossible to lay down any hard and fast rules; all we can do is to fix the general principles upon which the individual's view is based. The same newspaper, quoting the opinion of a prominent chief of police at Tokyo, that the censorship " is fundamentally a problem of individual and mass psychology," adds: "it is also a problem that must take account of time and place and innumerable other contributory factors. A scheme communicated by the Tokyo