Explicit, Sex-Themed Visual Imagery as Regulated Representations in China and Japan

Abstract

In November 2003, the Chinese News Agency Xinhua reported that three Japanese students and a lecturer were expelled from the Chinese Language School of Northwest China University in the historic city of Xi’an after they staged an “obscene” cultural performance in which they wore red brassieres and fake genitals over their clothes. The Chinese students in the audience were outraged. They disrupted the performance, and the next day, thousands of them held a demonstration in front of the dormitory of the international students of the university, demanding an apology from the Japanese performers. The matter quickly became a diplomatic incident between China and Japan. The Chinese Foreign Ministry lectured the Japanese government about intercultural respect. It asked Japan to educate Japanese students who wished to study in China to abide by the laws of China and the regulations of Chinese universities and to respect the customs of the Chinese people (Japanese FM Criticizes Obscene Performance in China, 2003). In response, the Japanese Foreign Minister, Yoriko Kawaguchi, criticized the three Japanese students and teacher for the performance. She said Japanese students studying abroad should understand and respect the customs of their host countries (Japanese Embassy Cops an Earful, 2003).