The Story of the "Shimabari of the Four-and-a-Half Tatami Fusuma Sliding Door" and the Japanese Government Officials "Caught in the Act

The Story of the "Shimabari of the Four-and-a-Half Tatami Fusuma Sliding Door" and the Japanese Government Officials "Caught in the Act
The story of the "Yonjohan fusuma no shimabari" in the mid-1970s is remembered as an example of how the overreaction of government officials turned into a satirical and funny story amid the turbulence of "obscenity" regulations at the time. The point of the story, along with the atmosphere of the times, is not so much the content of the work itself, but rather the flurry of the authorities who saw it as a "problem" and rushed in. How would the authorities react if a work was published? The situation became a kind of ironic drama when the authorities jumped in as expected.
Since the Chatterley trial in the 1960s, the debate over what constitutes obscenity has lingered in Japanese society, and despite the existence of the law, the criteria for judgment have been vague and arbitrary. The field of publishing moved constantly to explore the boundaries of expression, and this ambiguity often provoked oversensitive reactions from the police and prosecutors. The story of "Yonchu-no-Seppari" is also told as a symbol of a scene in such an era in which the government officials could not keep up with the sway of the new culture and moved en masse with the old values.
In the narrative, he says, "It is poor to say that Mr. Konaka Nosaka has also fallen for it. What is indicated by the words, "I was so surprised that he was caught up in it," is the simplicity with which the authorities judged it only on the basis of superficial stimuli and "obscenity," rather than considering artistic and social qualities. This "poverty" is not a personal quality, but rather a cultural lag caused by the power structure of the 1970s. While the high economic growth of the 1970s raised living standards and diversified urban culture, the standards for public policing remained outdated, and this led to a major discrepancy.
At a time when youth culture and underground expression were gaining momentum, laughter that made fun of authority was widely shared, and the actions of government officials themselves became the object of satire. The phrase "it's political criticism" indicates that the reaction of state power itself, rather than the work itself, served as a mirror of society. As culture shook and values changed, power moved reflexively, unable to keep up with the changes, and this created a sense of humor and irony.
This case is a typical example of the gap between culture and power, and the story of the government officials being "caught in the act" conveys the atmosphere of the time as if it were a small play that took place at the turn of the age.