Japanese manga has a long history. We can see its beginnings in 12th-century caricatures that already have an erotic side to them. Of course, these caricatures differ greatly from modern manga. The manga we know today truly formed only after the end of World War II (1939–1945). Erotic manga developed in tandem with it. The evolution from the first caricatures that developed into shunga and later on into different kinds of erotic illustration was not all smooth sailing. We can see that erotic manga was the subject of government censorship throughout its history: even in the Edo period (1603–1868), when the general public had no major qualms with it. But eventually, in the Meiji period, the government’s influence as well as the influence of Western countries made it so that the public changed its mind on erotic art, and in the 20th century regulation of shunga became stricter. While developing its obscenity laws, Japan was influenced by Western countries, especially the USA, which occupied Japan after the war until 1952. However, the different laws around obscenity did not stop the production of ero manga. Rather, they may have encouraged the creation of new genres such as lolicon. When Japan was defeated and occupied by the USA, it was forced into demilitarization, and it had to rely on diplomacy to spread its influence. The movement »Cool Japan« helped the rise of its pop culture around the world. Despite erotic manga being quite controversial for the wider public, that didn’t stop its spread outside of Japan. The moral dilemmas surrounding it are now a worldwide phenomenon.
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