Akiyuki Nosaka as a "defendant" - with the historical background of 1972

Akiyuki Nosaka as a "defendant" - with the historical background of 1972

In 1972, Akiyuki Nosaka was standing in court as a defendant in the "Indecent Document Sales Case" involving "Yonmajuhan Fusuma no Shimotari". At the time, Japan was at the height of its rapid economic growth and maturing consumer society, and at the same time, social regulations regarding sexual expression were being strictly questioned. Although postwar democracy was said to have penetrated the country, freedom of publication and broadcasting was subject to strong police and judicial intervention, and the line between freedom of speech and state control was constantly shifting.

Throughout the trial, Nosaka was repeatedly confronted with the awareness that he was the defendant in his daily life. For example, when he was refused to give a lecture in a rural area because "there is no coeducational school in the town," or when he was asked to appear on TV because of the sponsors' wishes, he was keenly aware that he was viewed by society as a "defendant of obscene documents" under colored glasses. Even though I am usually unaware of this, the reality suddenly hits me on these occasions.

However, he did not become despicable, but rather positioned himself in a position to confront the enormous presence of "state power. As a generation that experienced defeat in the war, he fully understood that postwar democracy and freedom of speech were still fragile, and he recognized that this trial was not merely a matter of selling obscene materials, but was part of the struggle for freedom of expression. Although he was reluctant to defend himself one way or the other in the media, he remained convinced that justice was on his side and continued to stand proudly in the courtroom.

At that time, while sexual liberation was progressing in society, conservative values were strongly opposed. At the same time that TV strip shows and adult movies were flourishing, police raids and court cases were frequent, and it was an unstable period in which liberalization and stricter regulations were at odds with each other. Nosaka's awareness as a "defendant" embodied this contradiction, and at the same time as being a personal trial, it was also a symbolic case of cultural freedom in postwar Japan.

-- Thus, the "awareness" that Nosaka spoke of was not merely a personal sentiment, but carried a weight directly connected to the historical background of the time.