Credit card restrictions are spreading even to Japanese platforms for women’s adult content, including audio dramas and BL doujinshi
Starting from the suspension of Mastercard payment on DMM in 2022, Japanese platforms hosting adult content (particularly doujinshi), have been targeted by payment processors one after the other (Related article). Most recently, this wave seems to have reached even adult entertainment for women, such as boys’ love doujinshi and erotic audio dramas.
On December 10, pictSPACE, a boys’ love doujin platform, announced that it will no longer be able to receive payment via Visa and Mastercard starting January 1, 2025. The platform was contacted by its payment agency, which has a collective contract with each credit card brand, and informed that these two options would be suspended. They were not informed of the reason for the termination.
Similarly, Animate, one of the biggest anime- and manga-related retailers in Japan, announced on December 9 that Pokedora, their site for CD/audio dramas, will no longer be accepting credit cards, effective December 12. The suspension applies specifically to the platform’s “For Adult Women” category.
Earlier this month, the president of Visa’s Japanese subsidiary Cietan Kitney confirmed that the company considers it “necessary” to occasionally suspend payment in order to “protect the brand” of Visa, even if the content in question is legal. This issue has been generating growing dissatisfaction both in Japan and overseas, but Kitney’s statement suggested that this policy will continue to be practiced.
