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Alex Ayala
Professor Erin McLaughlin
WR-13300-SS-14
24 November 2015
Video Game Censorship: Violence and Sexuality in the United States and Japan
The video game industry is becoming one of the most successful industries in the world,
with an estimated $10.5 billion revenue in 2009 (Video Game Industry Statistics). Ever since
the dawn of gaming, Japan and the United States have both been influential countries in the
creation and consumption of video games. Japan is home to many big name video game
manufacturers like Konami, Namco Bandai, Square Enix, and Nintendo, which is arguably the
most influential gaming company of all time. Additionally, the United States is one of the largest
consumers of video games, with an estimated 67% of households having video games in 2010
(Video Game Industry Statistics). However, the gaming experience is sometimes different
between Japanese and American players. Between countries, some Japanese games are censored
from their original versions when localized for United States sale. Particularly, games are often
censored for sexuality and violence. For example, in the Japanese version of the 1991 game
Super Castlevania IV, the title screen features blood dripping onto the ground, while in the
American version of the game, this dripping is removed. Additionally, in the upcoming game
Xenoblade Chronicles X, one of the protagonists is thirteen year old Lin. In the Japanese release
of the game, Lin was allowed to wear skimpy outfits, including revealing bathing suits, but in the
upcoming American release of the game, it has been announced that her clothing options will be
restricted so that her appearance will be more modest rather than sexualized (Nofuente). This
paper will analyze censorship in the American and Japanese gaming industry and reflect on what

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the censorship reveals about those countries cultural attitudes towards media portrayal of
violence and sexuality. In order to analyze attitudes towards violence in media, this paper will
provide discussion about American laws regarding violent video games, studies done about them,
varying portrayals of violence in American and Japanese media, and the influence of rating
systems. This paper will also discuss American laws regarding censorship of sexually explicit
video games, studies conducted about the influence of sexualization in video games, and both
American and Japanese laws on child pornography and pornographic censorship in order to
examine the Japanese and American cultural attitudes towards sexuality in video games.
In the United States, video game violence has always been a controversial subject. With
the advent of games like Mortal Kombat which show more graphic violence than most games
before them, the American population has become speculative on the influence that video game
violence could have on those who play them. There have even been multiple cases of violent
video games being blamed for influencing crimes, including murderous ones. One such example
is the Devin Moore case of 2005. Devin Moore was arrested for stealing a car and was convicted
for killing two police officers and one police dispatcher. During the case, the video game series
Grand Theft Auto, which allows players to freely roam the city, murder people, and steal
vehicles, was accused of influencing Moores actions (120). In another case in 1999 at
Columbine High School, two students, were known to be avid players of Doom, a game which is
known for being much more graphically violent than other games of its time. The two went on to
kill twelve students and a teacher, further fueling the discussion of the violent video game genre.
Speculation about video game violence has led to some laws in the United States
regarding its censorship and limited access as well as inspired research about the genre. In
response to morality issues about violent video games in the hands of minors, some politicians

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supported the creation of laws like the Illinois Violent Video Games Law (VVGL), which made
renting or selling violent video games to minors a crime with a punishment being up to a
$1000 fine and required retailers to label games deemed violent with the number 18 (Calvert
and Richards 88). Partly in response to the laws and controversy surrounding violence in video
games and its access to minors, there have been some theories developed about video game
violence and several studies done that try to analyze the violent video games and their potential
to influence aggression. One intriguing theory that the Dills discusses in their article is that video
game violence could potentially be more impactful than violence in other media because video
games effectively make the player identify with the characters who enact violence by placing
them under the players control (Dill and Dill 413). Additionally, video games that have violence
generally have some type of reward for fighting or killing other characters like item drops,
money, experience points, or points to score in the game (410). What is interesting to note,
however, is that while there has been much research done about the connection between playing
violent video games and aggressive behavior, according to Ferguson, there is not much data in
support of a link between the two (122).
Some video games in the United States are censored from their more violent Japanese
versions such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a game with an audience inclusive of
young children, which was censored for blood in its American release. Compared to Japan, the
United States is seemingly more paranoid about graphic violence in media. In Japanese
television and movies, violence is portrayed much more vividly than in the United States
(Anderson et al 153). For example, two movies, The Hunger Games and Battle Royale, have
similar concepts. Both movies are about youths in a situation where they are forced fight to the
death to be the last ones surviving. One of the most noticeable differences between the two

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movies is how graphic the violence is. The Hunger Games, an American film, while portraying
violence, does not show very much brutality in the deaths of the combatants. However, in Battle
Royale, every single combatant is a mere junior high school student, but regardless of their
youth, the acts of violence that are committed against each other are wildly graphic, with one
being a male student being stabbed multiple times in the crotch. However, despite the ultra
violence in Japanese media, what is interesting to note is that Japan has a relatively low homicide
and violent crime rate and is generally considered a peaceful nation (153). These differences
perhaps indicate that the Japanese are less paranoid about media violences influence on those
exposed to it, so they are more willing to show graphic violence in media. Therefore it makes
sense why The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was censored in the American release.
One might argue though that this ultra violence in Japanese media is not completely
reflective on Japans attitudes towards media violence. This person would be right because
despite the fact that Americans are seemingly more paranoid than the Japanese when it comes to
violence in media, especially in recent years, Japan has also had a fair share of censorship of
violence in video games. For example, the Japanese version of Resident Evil 4 differs from the
American version in that the graphic decapitations were removed in the Japanese version while
they were retained in the American version, even though the games country of origin is Japan
(Humphries). Part of the reason that censorship of violence in Japan has been more present in
recent years is the Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO), which was established
in 2002. Rating companies like the Entertainment Software Rating Board for the United States
and CERO for Japan influence the decisions that game developers make when it comes to editing
versions of games. Developers may make censorship choices in order to get a less mature rating
in order to expand their audience. For example, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, which was

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released in 2014, has different versions between the United States and Japan due to rating issues.
In the game, there is one scene where Snake, the protagonist, has to operate on a woman in order
to retrieve a bomb that was planted inside her to save her. In the American version, the operation
includes visuals of guts during the operation, but in the Japanese version, the camera either pans
away from the insides or is positioned behind an obstacle to obstruct the view of them. Hideo
Kojima, the games director, blamed the censorship of the Japanese version on the CERO
(Nakamura). The concern about some of the aspects of the game by the CERO and lack thereof
by the ESRB highlights the changing cultural attitudes about violence in the United States. While
initially video games were generally viewed as more violent in Japan than in the United States,
the opposite is now true because of the harsher game rating system in Japan.
In addition to violence in video games, there has been some controversy regarding
sexuality in video games in the United States. Like violent video games, video games with
sexually suggestive or explicit content are controversial because of the morality regarding the
subject. The moral issues probably stem from the United States population being predominantly
Christian, and in Christianity, oversexualization is frowned upon. As such, there were laws
enacted in some parts of the United States similar to the laws about violent video games. For
example, in Illinois, a counterpart to the VVGL called the Sexually Explicit Video Game Law
(SEVGL) was created to restrict the selling of sexually explicit video games to minors. Sexually
explicit video games included those that contained actual or simulated acts or contact and those
that included exhibition of breasts or genitalia (Calvert and Richards 89). Also, some people have
conducted research in response to obvious sexist portrayals of women in video games and sex
role stereotypes in the games. For example, Dill, Brown, and Collins conducted a study to
analyze the relationship of sexist video game content with sexual harassment judgements and

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rape-supportive attitudes (Dill, Brown, and Collins 1404). The results from their study supported
the idea that short-term exposure to stereotypical portrayals in media is related to sexual
harassment tolerance, and in their results, there was also a positive correlation found between
long-term exposure to video game violence and sexual harassment tolerance and rape myth
acceptance, or acceptance of generally false ideas about rape (1402). These laws and research
provide some insight into why Americans are wary about games that sexualize women and are
sexually explicit. Some are concerned because of moral issues while others fear that exposure to
sexual video games will cause players to condone sexual harassment.
In the Japanese version of Earthbound, there is a part of the game where Ness, the
thirteen year old protagonist, walks around naked, but in the United States version, Ness is
altered from its original version so that he is wearing pajamas. Compared to the United States,
Japan could be seen as somewhat more lenient in its portrayals of sexuality in media. One of the
biggest differences between the United States and Japan concerning the topic of sexuality in
media is the sexualization of underage children, specifically in the context of animated media. In
the United States, child pornography of all kind, virtual or real, is illegal to produce and to
possess (Bird 165). However, in Japan, child pornography laws are more ambiguous and since
the children depicted in this media are not real, it is not illegal to produce sexually explicit
depictions of minors in anime, manga, and video games (Outraged Innocence 55EU). These
differences in law provide some insight about the cultural attitudes towards sexualization of
children in media. Whereas in the West, child pornography of any kind is considered highly
immoral and is widely frowned upon, in Japan, this attitude is less apparent especially since
manga with such child sexualization like Puru-Mero are commonly sold in convenience stores
(55EU). These attitudes also explain censorship of Japanese games regarding sexualization,

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specifically child sexualization, in video games in the West. Thus, it makes perfect sense that Lin
from Xenoblade Chronicles X was altered in the West so her more racy outfits are more modest
and why Earthbound is censored.
However, it should be noted that there exists contradictory evidence in that some aspects
of sexuality in media is actually more censored in Japan than it is in the United States. While
Japan is less critical of child sexualization, it is more concerned with censorship of genitalia in
general compared to the United States. Up until the 1990s, it was illegal in Japan to show pubic
hair in films. It is also currently illegal to show genitalia in pornography (Fleshing it out).
Also, while in some Japanese media including manga it is perfectly acceptable to show breasts,
female genitalia is rarely shown and if it is, it is pixelated to hide obscenity, but in the United
States, this is not the case (Tamanoi 47; Fleshing it out). In a review of a work by Anne
Allison, Tamanoi notes that Allison suggests that the censorship of female genitalia in manga is a
result of the desire to escape the performative ethos of motherhood as he acknowledges that in
some manga, male gazing and female fetishzation coexist (Tamanoi 447). Since the female
genitalia represents the idea of motherhood that the Japanese avoid when viewing pornographic
media, it makes sense that female genitalia is not shown, or at least is blurred out, in these
Japanese media. Even eroge, a subgenre of video games in Japan that primarily focus on sexually
explicit content, is subject to Japanese pornography laws about censorship of genitalia.
Therefore, it would be a mistake to consider Japan a country that has no issues with sexuality in
media. In addition, while they still do not restrict virtual media, Japan recently passed a law
tightening its previously more relaxed child pornography laws (Hellman). These Japanese
censorship laws make it clear that the Japanese are wary about sexuality just like the United
States, but the two countries differ in what they consider needs restriction.

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Since the video game industry has grown so large in the past few decades, it is important,
especially for gamers, to understand the cultural implications that stem from the alterations made
in games between countries. Japan and the United States both alter games from their initial
release, but they oftentimes censor games for similar yet different reasons. On the one hand,
Japan is less wary about children being exposed to violence compared to the United States as is
evidenced by The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but on the other hand, the Japanese are
stricter on the actual portrayal of violent and disturbing acts in games compared to the United
States. Also, while Japan is more lax about child sexuality compared to the United States as is
easily seen in Xenoblade Chronicles X, the Japanese are more wary about media portraying
genitalia compared to the United States. The alterations in video games such as these allow
gamers to realize the differing cultural attitudes that these countries have about violence and
sexuality.

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Works Cited
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Shibuya and Edward L. Swing and Akira Sakamoto and Muniba Saleem. Violent Video
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Countries: A Meta-Analytic Review Psychological Bulletin 136.2 (2010): 151-173.
EBSCOhost. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
Bird, Paula. Virtual Child Pornography and the Constraints Imposed by the First Amendment.
Barry Law Review 16 (Spring 2011): 161-177. HeinOnline. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
Calvert, Clay and Robert D. Richards. Precedent be Damned- Its All about Good Politics &
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Entertainment & Sports Law 6.1 (1 May 2005): 79-155. EBSCOhost. Web. 10 Nov. 2015
Dill, Karen E. and Brian P. Brown and Michael A. Collins. Effects of exposure to sexstereotyped video game characters on tolerance of sexual harassment, Journal of
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Nov. 2015.
Dill, Karen E. and Jody C. Dill. Video Game Violence: A Review of the Empirical Literature.
Aggression and Violent Behavior 3.4 (1998): 407-428. ScienceDirect. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
Ferguson, Christopher J. Video Games. Adolescents, Crime, and the Media. Ed. Roger J.R.
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Fleshing it out. The Economist. n.p., 21 Feb. 2008. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
Hellman, Melissa. Japan Finally Bans Child Pornography. Time. n.p., 18 June 2014. Web. 23
Nov. 2015.

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Humphries, Matthew. Japan edits Resident Evil 4. Geek. Ziff Davis Media, 31 Jan. 2005. Web.
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Tamanoi, Mariko Asano. Permitted and Prohibited Desires: Mothers, Comics, and Censorship
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