The aim of this article is to investigate the linkage between the legal definition of indecency/obscenity and media characteristics in Japan. The diffusion of the Internet made the media use quite individualised. It means not only the increase of media choices for audiences but also the transmission routes and types of indecent/obscene object are multiplied. In this situation, the definition could be diverse because the way how indecency/obscenity is expressed would be different depending on

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... h medium. However, there are few researches that pay attention to the relationships between media characteristics and the legal definitions of indecency/obscenity, which will be scrutinised in this article. Since the definition of legal terms is negotiated in court judgements, mainly the Supreme Court, and in academic theories, this article analyses ten judgements in Japan concerning indecency/obscenity. They include cases involving print, visual, and telecommunications media. Then, Japanese academic theories will be investigated from two perspectives: the legally protected right of Article 175 and the criteria of indecency/obscenity. The article comes to three conclusions about indecency/obscenity. First, the fixed definition of indecency/obscenity has regulated Japanese trials from 1980s to this day. Second, decisions about 'indecency/obscenity objects' and the conditions of 'distribution' vary over time and depend on the characteristics of each medium. Third, in dominant academic theory, factors like the characteristics of the media are not taken into consideration from the perspective of legal stability. Indecency/obscenity in Japanese Legal System 2-1. Freedom of Speech in the Japanese Constitution To make the argument clear, this article briefly explains freedom of speech in Japan because the Constitutional value that conflicts with indecency/obscenity is obviously freedom of speech. The corresponding text of the Japanese Constitution is as