Japanese banks are restricting access to revenue generated from adult games sold on Steam, raising concerns about freedom of expression.

Approximately 6,000 of the 122,000 games on Steam are categorized as Adult Only, with nearly half falling under the Hentai genre. However, developers in Japan have reported difficulties in receiving payments for these titles.

Taro Yamada, a member of the Japanese Diet’s House of Councillors, revealed that banks are rejecting transfers for games aimed at adult audiences. He stated, “If the game in question is for adult audiences, their remittances from abroad are rejected by Japanese banks, meaning they are unable to receive the profits.”

Yamada also mentioned that companies involved in adult games are struggling to open bank accounts.

Reports from Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) confirm these issues. Banks attribute their decisions to comply with laws meant to prevent the funding of illegal activities, yet Yamada questions whether these laws apply to legitimate sales like those on Steam.

He highlighted that the absence of clear legal guidelines in Japan is allowing banks to impose their own restrictions, which raises significant questions about censorship and free speech in the media production.