Japanese Rape Fantasy Video Games Under Fire, Calls To Ban Them (VIDEO)

Japan has often come under fire for creating content that in most countries would be considered pornographic but there is sold as mainstream items. However, the country's latest controversy concerns rape fantasy video games that are widely available. Women's rights groups say they are so offensive and harmful to society that they should be banned.

In one such game the object is to find and rape the woman who fired the player from his imaginary job. In another, called "Rapelay," the player stalks a young woman, her mother and her sister on a train, all while being able to grope them with a click of your mouse. They also include much more graphic, interactive scenes that cannot be shown.

CNN's Kyung Lah investigates. WARNING: there is graphic content in the report. The screenshots CNN captured from the video games are very disturbing.

WATCH:

Comments

[Anti-Panoptic]

07:45 PM on 05/22/2010

Um When/how did rape become cool?

[Anti-Panoptic]

07:42 PM on 05/22/2010

Im sorry but seriously...when did RAPE BECOME COOL?!!!!

[J T]

11:19 PM on 04/23/2010

that's not correct. i live in japan for awhile. rape statistics aren't 1:20 compared to the US.
In japan, they only consider brutal stranger rape as rape. everything else is dismissed up to even "misdemeanor". the most common date rape is non-existent there. you can't say it's 20:1, especially given JP:US conviction rate avg is 1:70.

also, for those who think japan is bad for war rape, it's not just them. only because ww2 popularized the nanking rape doesn't mean this hasn't been done by every group before including US http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3w2mGQ7V3Q
back in ww2, what did US soldiers do after japan surrendered? there was no aggression or intimidation left to impose on a surrendered nation, not a war crime. they raped innocent women too

According to a review of "The GI War against Japan: American Soldiers in Asia and the Pacific during World War II",[20] rape is seen as a method for soldiers to bond with each other, and also to enhance their aggressiveness, and it also "reflects a burning need to establish total dominance of the other"[the enemy]. As a consequence U.S. soldiers rape of Japanese women was "general practice". One Okinawan historian estimates that 10,000 women were raped during the three month Okinawa campaign. During the first 10 days of the occupation of mainland Japan following the Japanese surrender 1,336 cases of rape were reported in the prefecture of Kanagawa alone. (see also Allied war crimes during World War II)

[skyfisher12]

12:40 AM on 04/12/2010

These games are protected by the freedom of speech as long as they are marketed towards adults. These games can be considered an art form, and depictions of rape are protected as forms of artistic expression.

The chance that any girl will be raped in the United States is 20 TIMES HIGHER than the change a girl will be raped in Japan. If you are going to say how playing rape fantasy video games makes you more likely to commit violent crime, than explain how a country that publishes rape games like Rapelay has FEWER annual rapes than a country that does not, even after we take in account population differences.

Look at it this way: Do terrorists own guns? Possibly. Does owning a gun make you a terrorist? Probably not. Do convicted Japanese rapists play Rapelay? Possibly. Does playing Rapelay make you a rapist? PROBABLY NOT.

Finally, if you are going to claim that games like Rapelay are "sick, perverted and dehumanize women," then why don't you look closer to home, become a Feminist and work on dismantling the Porn industry?

[Anti-Panoptic]

07:41 PM on 05/22/2010

I agree with the latter end of the comment.

[JUVENTUSER]

06:28 PM on 04/01/2010

See! That's Japanese. Horrible horrible nation. What if they start another Pacific War one day? Rape every woman in the world.
No offense, Japanese really have to introspecting a lot.

[Slapmewhenitsover]

10:04 PM on 04/01/2010

Thanks for that advice???

[SteepleAston]

02:41 PM on 04/01/2010

Pornography is an old art in Japan, so it is improper to attempt to ban part of Japanese culture.

[Gwiwer]

10:53 AM on 03/31/2010

Wait, alright... None of the games mentioned have ever been for sale anywhere but Japan. In the case of Rapelay, it hasn't even been on sale in Japan for quite some time, mostly because the game was pretty poorly designed and remained relatively obscure since most people thought that it was junk regardless of its content. Then, suddenly, over a year after the game has gone off the market, a bunch of media outlets, for no apparent reason, have started doing sensationalized stores bemoaning the horror and depravity of the game. So, now, everyone's interest is piqued and people in the U.S. and Europe are seeking out illegal copies of the game online. Hmm, who could have ever guessed that was going to happen? I mean, come on... This is an example of a self-fulfilling news story. Before these news stories came out, 99.9% of the world's population probably never even heard of Rapelay, and most of those that had knew it was pretty much poorly coded rubbish. Now that news outlets like CNN have published these sensationalist stories, including descriptions of how people can illegally download copies of the game, curious people are suddenly going out and doing just that. Well, what do you know?

[th3sk3ptic]

09:28 AM on 04/01/2010

@Gwiwer I agree with everything you said. I looked up the game and found out it's like 4 years old. I had never heard of it *until* CNN talked about it. What I don't understand is why no outrage on games that promote killing. I don't think they should ban games like this because I care more about free speech and non-censorship. As long as the game is sold only to adults like pr0n etc. As John Locke would say "Don't tell me what I can't do!"

[Quelthias]

07:11 PM on 05/15/2010

People have to stop going after others for thinking or fantasizing about topics they don't like.

The vast majority of "bans" in the internet age result in the exact same scenario you talk about: higher marketability.
Nothing sells books, games and movies quite as much as saying it is naughty you cant have it.

[Oscar Regalado]

10:05 AM on 03/31/2010

Please go here for a more informed article on the subject:
http://kotaku.com/5506016/why-is-cnn-talking-about-rapelay

Since most of you won't, I'll summarize for you. The game was made in 2006. In 2009 it first caught the attention of western media. While these game makers broke no Japanese laws, the country's Ethics Organization of Computer Software held an emergency meeting in June 2009 in which nearly 100 representatives from various erotic game companies concluded that the manufacturer and sale of rape-type games should cease. This was not a government decision or even a legal one, but instead a self-policing policy on the part of the EOCS.

In the U.S., pornography featuring staged rape is legal, because both actors are consenting adults. Granted, there are obscenity laws that exist in the U.S., but these niche videos exist in America.

There was also a bill in Japan that would deal with how minors and "non-existent minors" are represented in media. The "visual depictions" are understood to encompass underage characters in manga, anime, computer games and video games - i.e., virtual characters. Some of Japan's most beloved anime and manga creators stood up to this bill, stating that it impedes on freedom of expression. The bill has since been delayed.

[AnthonyVolpe]

09:43 AM on 03/31/2010

CNN: Late to the Party.

[xtiangodloki]

09:24 AM on 03/31/2010

For those of us who have been to Japan we can probably all agree that Japan is one of the safest place to visit. So I would say that mangas/videogames probably does not attribute much to people actually committing crimes.

Although it is a bit creepy to see middle aged men reading x-rated comics on the train.

[AnthonyVolpe]

09:44 AM on 03/31/2010

The same age demographic in America reads the Wall Street Journal on the train, harasses their secretaries at work, goes home, and cheats on their wives with a babysitter.

[CaveatLector]

09:06 AM on 03/31/2010

Seems to me what's good for the goose, etc, etc. I want to create a game in which women stalk men and cut their genitalia off. They can use knives, box cutters, a chain saw, cattle prods, and any other weapon that seems 'fun'.

Come to think of it, why not go further; a game where men who oppress women and play rape-fantasy video games are captured, strung up by their feet, and subjected to torture. Maybe have their testicles twisted and twisted until they fall off. Man! That DOES sound enteratining, huh?

[xtiangodloki]

09:20 AM on 03/31/2010

Well, according to the game forums in Rapelay one of the woman does take out a knife and kill the main character eventually. Not sure how she kills the guy though.

[Sacchinftw]

09:33 AM on 03/31/2010

Go look up "School Days Ending" on youtube.

[Sacchinftw]

09:38 AM on 03/31/2010

I forgot to mention:
School Days was notorious for its absolutely terrible male protagonist and featured a number of horrible endings for him. The "bad endings" ended up being far more popular than the good ones.

[boston2008]

08:49 AM on 03/31/2010

Sickos!!!... This is disturbing as hell. --i would be really pissed off right now, if i had a daughter.

[Slapmewhenitsover]

10:06 PM on 04/01/2010

Good for your non-daughter that you don't...I mean have one!!!

[Jyoti Naik]

07:53 AM on 03/31/2010

There are huge cultural differences in what turnsJapanese men on vs. American man. I remember a scene in the movie "Lost in Translation" where a hired japanese prostitute pretends to be reluctant even though she is a prostitute. I guess willing women don't turn japanese men on so they need rape fantasies.
Rape statistics in Japan would be handy.

[Bjarni]

08:27 AM on 03/31/2010

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap_percap-crime-rapes-per-capita

But Rape Statistics are mostly unreliable because most victims don't speak up out of shame and in some countries it's more shameful than in others.

[Sacchinftw]

09:26 AM on 03/31/2010

Then on what basis do you have to say that games such as these promote sexual assault against women in Japan...?

[T-Faz]

07:40 AM on 03/31/2010

Japanese are into some weird sick stuff.

P.S. Where can I buy this game.

[Geovan]

07:29 AM on 03/31/2010

CNN provided zero evidence of the correlation between these computer generated image games and any violence towards anyone, just mere hearsay. Crappy reporting at best, and at worst, a Fox News like yellow journalism story designed to stir up non-domestic pressure against a bill under consideration in the Japanese Diet.