"...( Eirin)has no legal powers to ban a film, but the rules of the Japan Association of Movie Promoters, which covers the owners of nearly all cinemas in the country, forbid its members to screen films that do not carry Eirins seal of approval... "
Mr. Tsuchikawa twice appealed Eirin's decision and lost both times. He proceeded to circumvent the system altogether, screening "Aino-Utsushie" uncut in Hanamatsu, a town outside of Tokyo.
Source: The Economist, March 5, 1988, pg. 91-92)