As some of you know, there was a level of concern during the Toronto Comic Arts Forum (TCAF) when a programmer was caught in the Canadian border for having Madoka doujinshi in his laptop. Many people have raised valid concerns over the injustice of this arrest and a couple of others that were caught in the borders because of their “graphic” novels, Â but the news has also brought enough paranoia to make some otaku travelers like myself worried when I cross international borders.
While I find the cultural defense logic of Roland Kelts in CNN GO flawed (please, using ukiyo-e as a cultural stand when lolimanga is already a far deviation of ukiyo-e), I find that the article was strong enough to remind me of my mild paranoia during my recent visit to the United States.
I recently traveled to the United States to present in the International Comic Arts Forum where I spoke on the topic of scanlations. And while my topic lies in a safe space, the material I held in my hard drive was something that could probably get me arrested. I’m not speaking of materials exactly similar to those arrested  (although I think I had some of those stuff), but this fujoshi would have some materials in her hard drive that does contain underage boys, boys who are younger than 18 who are getting laid with men over 30 or 40.  I know for a fact that such topics already taps pedophilia but hey… this fujoshi likes her May-December BL affairs. Most of those who have been apprehended for carrying these materials were male so… will I ever get caught in an airport for my BL?
I’m not exactly sure if I’m lucky or if dressing up quite decently for my trip gave the immigration and custom officers the impression that I was a decent person and there’s no way I would hold such questionable material in my person. But the fact of the matter is I did, and in fact I even brought home some more of that questionable material (Book Off New York had some treasures!). Â And these were hard copies!
I haven’t done this only in the US but pretty much in every country in Asia where I know there are BL and doujins being sold. I’ve brought home countless of questionable material, and my Denden town swag was strong enough to make any guy weep on how naughty my tastes are but somehow I’ve been lucky enough to be out of their moral radar. Don’t even ask me of what I’m capable of lugging out of Singapore. They have a treasure trove of Gintama BL Anthologies in a quiet nook in Kinokuniya.
As a fujoshi, I have not been caught or questioned for the questionable materials that I’ve bought. I wondered if I didn’t have the face of a pervert or these immigration folks just didn’t sense my strong fujoshi aura. Maybe they haven’t added the “fujoshi” profile in people they have to watch out for. Maybe it pays to brush my hair and look clean when travelling. Or maybe it’s the fact that I’m a girl and that already sets a double standard that I’m not just capable of holding such material. They didn’t sense that I like reading manga about young boys taming old men nor did they think that I was even capable of enjoying old men torturing young boys until they weep. Will I ever be apprehended for carrying a Naono Bohra or Chitose Piyoko title? If I brought a Haruka Minami or CJ Michalski title, will I face deportation and be kicked out of any country? If I brought home Kaze to Ki no Uta, will they interrogate me for enjoying Auguste’s torture of Gilbert? Will I ever be arrested in my own country for ordering my favorite brand of BL online?
I’m not sure for other countries. But I’d definitely get arrested in Canada.
In 2006, Elizabeth McClung was searched thoroughly in Canadian borders because she simply carried manga which has a “high potential” of displaying pornographic material. When I found out about this, I had a good laugh because I remember that a lot of the translated ero manga that I read when I was younger, depicting pornography of all examples, were published in Canada. Â Seeing Elizabeth’s story made me mildly scared, and the idea that my carry-on bag had a Kumota Haruko title made me wonder if her mildly childish and whimsical BL style would make the Chinese immigration in Shanghai seize all of my belongings because it’s a threat to Communist China.
It’s scary isn’t it? But it’s a reality. Â I’ve been fortunate that I haven’t randomly searched and that other countries seem to not care, but I still worry about that day when I do get randomly searched and I will have to explain to some uptight moralistic customs official why I am not a sexual predator and why I happen to hold this material. I will definitely have a hard time convincing them of the subtleties of the material.
To be honest, I feel torn and still quite paranoid on the possibility of my arrest for lugging BL across borders. Right now, I think that being a woman makes things a whole lot safer for me but if these people were dumber, there’s a great chance I could get arrested as well.
Can I do something about it? The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) has some handy tips for you. They can get wordy, so these are the best of that lot, just in case something does happen. I will add in some tips from my own travelling experiences of lugging BL across borders.
- Bring as little information with you as you travel
- While I think this is IMPOSSIBLE for most travellers, it does pay to clean your HD of any questionable material before your trip. For airport travelers, there’s also a greater chance that your carry-ons will be inspected at almost every corner, especially in the Philippines and in the US. Just check-in your laptop and any manga that you have. Â Just make sure you’ve secured them so they don’t get damaged while in transit. If you want reading material, find some other thing to read other than your BL.
- Mail your material rather than lugging it around
- An awesome tip especially when you went on an all out BL shopping spree in Japan. There are door to door delivery services that you can hire to ship your stuff straight to your doorstep. They’re not exactly like Fed Ex as these guys are willing to mail you things by the box. These boxes are hardly inspected in customs and it would save you tons instead of having an overweight luggage. Japan post is a good start. The Philippines has their own door to door service and it varies from country to country.
- Choose your titles wisely
- You can’t bring home everything. So make smart choices on the titles you wish to bring home and see if these are titles that you won’t have any trouble with. If what you love gets really risky, mail it. If that is a hassle for you, then put it at the bottom of your check-in luggage and forget about wanting to read it so bad until you get home in your bedroom. Checked-in luggage at airports is hardly inspected open unless you really have a weirdly shaped material that looks exactly like a gun or there’s liquid oozing out of your luggage or if the dogs sniff something funny in it.
- Dress smart
- This may be difficult for long travels, but it pays to look like as if you’re a decent person. Smile and answer them appropriately and give them no reason to stop you just by your looks. I think it really helps.
- Travel light
- One check-in luggage and one-carry on. Don’t make it look like you’re bringing home the entire store of Animate.
Wow. I didn’t know that they will actually check the content of your hard disk as well? I guess the western countries are stricter?
I’ve had my order with Kinokuniya (a josei title with scenes depicting sexual intercourse) being inspected and handed to me with some pages torn off without knowing. Luckily I noticed they had a perfect copy on the shelves and they allowed me to exchange it.I actually just brought around 50 BL manga back from Japan to Malaysia in my check-in luggage. I had my worries and tried stacking them in a way that if they open the top, they would see safe titles. But in the end, all were safe without any suspicions from the airport custom staff. I guess checking in your luggage is one of the safest ways if we don’t want to pay for mail shipping.I’ve also ordered BL online by EMS shipping a few times, and so far they don’t look like they’ve been opened, but ever since the josei incident, i am scared to buy anything with explicit covers, especially in small packages (i would think the officers would be lazy to check big parcels of books). at this point, i can say i’m glad that the checking here is not consistent and thorough.
Singapore Kinokuniya has Gintama BL anthologies? Will definitely check it out on my next trip.
I always scared of Malaysian customs ( they randomly choose people to screen ) even i am not bringing anything sensitive. But different airport terminal have different type of service, like the LCCT, the customs there are strict and really stops you if the “fat officer” ( often with a big stomach ) doesn’t like you that much.Â
No idea about KLIA but i pass through them last year after my trip at Tokyo with some “sensitive” stuff packed inside my luggage.Â
wonderful tips. thank you for simplifying them. i clicked the link and immediately got intimidated by the length, small font, and excessive wording. 😀
No. >:C I still won’t do it.
I’ve been a fujoshi for years now, and I take it seriously. What I’m seriously confused about is things are still like this. I’m a Vancouverite–surrounded by homos and Asians (frequently fellow “rottens”). You’d think that with all the gay/bi/lesbians, BL/yaoi fangirls and slash fans out there nowadays they’d have gotten used to it.
I won’t hide all these things I have just liked at first–then being in fear when being told that I would outgrow these hobbies–and after all those years have passed, I can only scoff at that comment, because my love for this subculture has grown so intense.
I mean really, why should I? The stuff I like is moving, beautiful, meaningful, and in poor diction: just really effing good! (Well, I am extremely high-maintenance, though…)
They can try to detain me, even with the more morally questionable things I have (though the closest there would only be Shizaya and SebaCiel fanfic, J no Subete, Sakura Gari…) In my eyes, if they can’t appreciate it, they’re the blind and tasteless dolts.
This is pretty scary. 🙁
I live in Switzerland, and I’ve never heard of such a case but I brought home tons of questionable material from Japan. Well, I’ll think of it if I ever visit America or Canada. D:
The thought that scares me the most is: Imagine you’d draw a questionable sex scene (underage characters, BL, torture, you name it) and would want to cross the border to Canada with it. Imagine that you could get arrested for something you drew? Something that isn’t even published and only for our personal amusement. That borders on thought crime. D:
Anyway, I wanted to say that I really love your blog and that we have almost exactly the same tastes when it comes to Manga, with a few differences. 😀
Thanks for this Khursten, interesting food for thought. Always better to be safe than sorry in this case. If one must insist on having their fujoshi trove crossing customs then why not invest some time in, say, making fake covers 8D
Oh wow, I was actually wondering this last night when I was walking my dog! Especially since I own a lot of doujinshi, it’s really scary knowing that to our behind societies stuff like that is considered worthy of an arrest.Â
Actually, what I didn’t expect is that for a country that claims itself as modern such as the US and Canada, they would actually arrest people for things like this as well! It’s kind of expected from conservative societies but strangely, I haven’t been kicked out of Singapore! Nor are my friends who like BL from Indonesia have been arrested.Â
A good reminder that I should post my copies of Kaze to Ki no Uta before I get on the plane back to Canada in a couple weeks. And maybe a few of the more risque doujinshi I picked up at Mandarake…My stealth fujoshi powers have kept me safe thus far, but they seem to be cracking down and the last thing I want is to be forced to explain to Canadian customs why those men are doing those things in my suitcase.
I know! ;A; How long will our stealth fujoshi powers last, right? But since you’re heading back to Canada, I strongly support you in considering having your things delivered by post rather than keeping them in. Be safe and if you don’t mind, tell me if you do get a problem receiving your BL in Canada. There have been issues on posts as well but so far, lolicon manga were the only ones questioned.Â
I’ve always wondered, especially during my first few trips to Singapore. Thanks for this.
Isn’t it scary? Considering how some countries are very conservative about this.Â
but yes… Singapore does have BL. 😀 Liang Court, Kinokuniya. :3Â