Anime Vice News

Warning for Traveling Otaku in Canada: Beware Customs

There have been reports of trouble with manga at Canada's borders.

Uh-oh, eh?
Uh-oh, eh?
Danny Choo has spotted word that seems to indicate that Canadian customs is blocking the importation of hentai manga and other materials from Japan, and direct word from someone who actually brought manga-- non-hentai manga –through customs and was treated poorly by the officers.


As more and more officers were called in, the six manga books I had were examined in detail. They were looking, they told me, for pornographic, obscene and adult material. “The age rating is on the back of each book.” (each manga book has ratings like 13+ or 15+ - mine were 13+). I was informed that I could have put different covers on or done anything else I could to get the pornography in and that if I spoke anymore, the books would be seized. So I stood there and watched my previously new books get examined page by page, thumbed through and pressed open because it was assumed if I read manga, that I was a sex offender.


It's pretty awful to hear, and the victim goes into great detail about the history of the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and their history of seizing books. So Canadians and travelers into the country, be careful what you carry in for the time being. I have an e-mail out to the CBSA to see if I can get any comment on what their official stance/policy is for manga.

yuriconon Dec. 31, 2008 at 7:41 a.m.
It's been well known in the GLBT publishing world that the Canadian customs officials are completely out of control and have been for over a generation. They seize and destroy GLBT themed books without cause, they harass bookstores and hold their shipments indefinitely. There's no one to oversee them and hundreds of lawsuits against them. No one in the Canadian government has seen fit to address this issue. Nor will they, because they confine themselves to looking for "obscene material" which we all know is bad....
giaon Dec. 31, 2008 at 7:47 a.m.
This is really awful. Has it just been impossible to get citizens together to protest or petition or write their representatives or whatever?
SimonJoneson Dec. 31, 2008 at 9:13 a.m.

To echo yuricon, this isn't new (the post he referenced was made in 2006).

Canadian customs operate with little oversight, employ arbitrary enforcement which differs from province to province, and act in open defiance of Canada's own Supreme Court.  Agents apply obscenity standards which are lower than that of Canadian law, meaning material which would be legal inside Canada may still be seized at the border.  But Canada gets free healthcare, so it's a wash.

Seriously, look at the beady smirk and the molestor mustache on the agent to the right.  I wouldn't leave a kid with that guy.

Agent_Loston Dec. 31, 2008 at 10:01 a.m.
as a Canadian, i field ashamed
OkazukiIchigoon Dec. 31, 2008 at 2:38 p.m.
That never happened to me when I brought "that" type of manga, customs back to Canada can be a pain.

And please no Canadian jokes....
hazelnutmanon Dec. 31, 2008 at 3:02 p.m.
I'm Canadian, and I can't help but to shake my head in disgust.

Remind me to ship everything to myself via secret underground postal services when I get back from Japan.
Pyroon Dec. 31, 2008 at 3:40 p.m.
Ugh, even more overzealous people pushing their ideals on others.  We need moral laws for a reason, but we're talking about manga here (hentai, or not).

On a side note, this article's picture made me laugh.
Lunarmothon Dec. 31, 2008 at 8:23 p.m.
Canada, what the hell! This sounds like a uptight thing us Americans would do instead of you Canadians. But now that the pieces are set I can see a way to make money off this. O if it was only that easy to make cash (no really I need money).
MoonStormon Dec. 31, 2008 at 8:28 p.m.
Well that no good the sad thing is they probably do the same things in the states.
Chicken008on Dec. 31, 2008 at 8:39 p.m.
...WTF, why aren't like officers at comic shops and book stores then?
Sigueon Jan. 2, 2009 at 12:43 a.m.
I feel bad for the customs workers. Let's face it - if you lived in an igloo you'd be pretty disgruntled too, especially if the hockey game was canceled. If I was Canadian, I would import manga during the summer month, when the customs officers are likely to be a little more pleasant.
Lemegeton300on Jan. 2, 2009 at 5:23 a.m.
this kind of thing disgusts me. people like that have such a stereotypical view of the world and other cultures
Damnation_Leeon Jan. 3, 2009 at 2:58 p.m.
Ya well personally F**K Canada. They're just pissed because they suck and don't ever do anything relevent to anything. I'm mean if they disappeared then nobody'd even notice.
HeeroYuyon Jan. 4, 2009 at 8:02 p.m.
As it says in their pledge, "Oh Canada..."

lol
ninjadude853on March 26, 2011 at 7:29 p.m.
Canada is doing this? I guess I've been overestimating Canada.
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