Is anime edited for audiences in Japan?

LOL at people putting Japan up on this higher pedestal.

Yes, there are something on tv that Japan finds more acceptable than we do in America, and yes anime airing later at night is less susceptible to having censorship- but Japan still has plenty of censorship.

For example, check out this TV to DVD comparison of Rosario + Vampire. The left aired on TV in Japan, whereas the right is the DVD release: http://kankeishorui.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/ca...

This is a rather toned down example. I needed to keep it PGish for Yahoo. If you search the internet, you can find plenty of other examples where the DVD version contains more sex, nudity, and violence.

Also, you may not realize this but at least 50% of games that were adapted into non-hentai anime were originally hentai games. Kanon? Fate/Stay Night? Tsukihime? Shuffle? Utawarerumono? Originally these games all had adult scenes that were removed for the anime adaption.

So yes, Japan DOES censor plenty of things.

Nope! Actually the japanese are much more comfortable with these issues(sexual themes, violence). They don't have crazy parents demanding less violence on tv.

Think of all the shows we have on tv now that contains these themes. CSI is a good example, since it has violence, blood, gore, sex, clubs, etc. It's on tv, where anyone, including kids, can watch it. It's not edited. Same deal for anime. It's just not usually aired in the middle of the day, usually in the evenings or night.

Anime is for all ages, from little kids to mature adults. Since anime is common in Japan, everyone knows that some might not be suitable for children. However, in America, since it's a 'cartoon' people will assume it's for kids ("it looks like Pokemon/Sailor Moon so it must be for kids"). And parents would get angry about seeing some things on these 'children' shows, so the companies take out what wouldn't be appropriate for kids, and stick a warning before the show.

Mostly things that are edited out, like the gay couple in Sailor Moon, are totally acceptable in Japan but not in America. Japanese don't sensor their shows as much.

nope. they are usually just shown later at night. that's what's so great about japan.