Asian Amateur Pornography.

Although pornography has a strong following across Asia, scholars rarely discuss amateur Asian pornography. When they do address it, analyses typically rely on seminal texts from porn studies research and employ theories which may not resonate well with East Asian audiences.

Asia, despite enacting laws banning sale, possession and viewing of pornography, boasts some of the longest viewing sessions ever.

Culture of Pornography in Japan or China

Tensions between China and Japan flared into nationalistic demonstrations across China this autumn, prompting some Chinese net users to vent their fury online. Pornography featuring Japanese content saw an upsurge in searches on popular sex – streaming website Pornhub; searches including terms such as ‘Japanese’ and ‘hentai’ rose rapidly (despite not ranking among top 10 most searched-for categories such as lesbian or MILF).

Japan produces sexually explicit material which is sometimes controversial – such as its wartime military prostitution system – but the government remains relatively compliant in regulating pornography, maintaining a robust adult industry in Japan and exporting this activity across East Asian nations where pornographic entertainment is popular with both men and women alike.

Toru Muranishi, one of the early pioneers in Japanese adult film, created an eromanga manga genre known as eromanga that remains immensely popular with young Japanese readers and was recently cast in a Netflix original drama entitled Naked Director to bring attention to how many Chinese viewers are looking to find an evening out with Japanese pornstar Julia Kyoka. It is the homeland of many of the most famous Asian Onlyfans sluts.

This special issue examines the lived experiences of producing and consuming pornographies across East Asia, with an eye towards understanding whether local perspectives and theories might extend, challenge, or affirm Euro-American understandings that have become axiomatic within pornography studies as an emerging field. To do this, this special issue draws upon an increasingly influential framework known as Asia as Method in Asian cultural studies which draws on diverse historical experience as well as social practices of Asian societies to provide new horizons for pornography research.

Culture of Pornography in Korea

Pornographic material of any sort is illegal in Korea, including magazines, films and internet videos. Unfortunately, however, its laws are only loosely enforced: only websites based within Korea’s primary operations and servers can be held to account; tracking down sites outside can be challenging; alternatively Korean law enforcement may seek mutual legal assistance from a foreign law enforcement agency to shut down illegal pornographic websites like Soranet which was shut down by KCSC in January 2018 was one example.

Korea lacks accurate figures regarding how many people access pornography; however, research shows that its use may lead to harmful behaviors; specifically increasing sexual impulsiveness and dangerousness as well as leading to antisocial tendencies and attitudes.

Despite these challenges, the KCSC continues to regulate online pornography. Their mission is to protect minors from harmful content on the internet by filtering out explicit or offensive material that appears therein. As their resources are limited they rely heavily on volunteer “cyber-keepers” who report offending materials for them.

KCSC policies also limit freedom of expression and create an intolerant online environment for all users, reinforcing negative perceptions of pornography by banning all sexual content that ties it back to actual crimes such as rape or molestation.

Culture of Pornography in Taiwan

Young people in Taiwan must return home by 6 pm and be proper in their behavior, yet at night, they may indulge their most primal urges – from Japanese anime to American pornography, they indulge in many wild fantasies that range from anime and pornography to more innocent fare such as Disney films. Although Taiwan offers an abundance of pornographic material, they also practice less commonly seen sexual practices compared to other countries.

Taiwanese society places great emphasis on female passivity and as such their use of pornographic materials is limited. Due to such influences, many women do not feel inclined to engage in pornographic activities or even explore them further.

Many women feel dependent on male partners for accessing pornography due to lacking technical expertise, thus necessitating an essentialization of preferred AV genres to make sense of and integrate them into daily life. Unfortunately, as a result, they treat both Japanese and American AVs alike in terms of styles and genres; missing the subtle differences in sexuality expression that exists.

Because they cannot identify with the male characters portrayed in either Japanese or American AVs, they do not appreciate advances with clear sexual implications and often feel depressed by them; instead they prefer cultural and spiritual approaches which emphasize mood and atmosphere.

Culture of Pornography in Thailand

Pornography is often perceived as immoral by most members of society and illegal to possess and distribute in some countries like Thailand. Though pornography may not appeal to everyone, some find it entertaining as a hobby due to its potential for fulfilling inner sexual desires in an entertaining way. Still others worry about its negative consequences and would rather stay away.

Pornographic magazines have long been popular in Thailand since their introduction during the 1970s. Modeled on Western erotica, these publications feature glossy photos of Thai female models along with both regular and erotic columns. Since this influx, Thai police have conducted multiple raids against publishing houses and bookstores that sell these so-called “obscene” magazines; such raids typically coincide with either moral upheaval in politics or an administrative reform within police department. There is a huge popularity spike in fake breasts in pornography.

Natchapol Jittirat, a law lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, believes Thai laws pertaining to pornography are outdated and in need of updating. Under current legislation, anyone publishing indecent material could face up to five years imprisonment or a 100,000 baht fine; but according to Mr Jittirat this approach does not address the root issue as it only makes survival harder for adult content creators.