 Japan and Child Pornography
In America, the age of consent is either sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen. In Japan, it is thirteen which makes it the second youngest in Asia after the Phillipines.
In 1998, Japan was the largest producer of child pornography, and Parliment refused to ban it due to "business reasons". It was because of American pressure in 2003 that selling and passing on child pornography became illegal. However, people in Japan are still allowed to possess child pornography. This is illegal in America.
Lolicon is a lucrative industry in Japan. In fact, 3 million photo books were sold in 2006. For those who are unaware of what lolicon is, it is art with childlike characteristics with often erotic undertones. The fact of the matter is that animated material featuring young children does not apply to Japan's law.
Lawmakers and activist groups are calling for tighter controls on a certain subculture of "anime" magazines, videos and computer games -- pornographic material featuring young girls.
In late April, Seiko Noda, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, launched a multiparty group of lawmakers to deal with the issue. They listened to the views of the National Police Agency and two nonprofit organizations working for children's rights.
"I think (pornographic) animation, although it is fiction, has become a problem that we cannot ignore," Noda said at the meeting, expressing concern that some men who watch small girls sexually assaulted in animated material might be inspired to commit similar acts.
Behind such concerns is the increase in sex crimes involving small children.
According to the NPA, the number of recognized sexual crimes involving victims under 13 years old -- mostly girls -- stood at 1,762 in 2004, up from 1,298 in 1995. The crimes include rape and indecent assault.
Kaoru Kobayashi, 36, who is on trial for the kidnap-murder of a 7-year-old girl in Nara Prefecture last November, has testified in court that he began to have an interest in small girls after watching an animated pornographic video when he was in high school.
Kobayashi was convicted of molesting small girls in 1989 and served time in prison for the attempted murder of a young girl in 1991.
In Japan, making, distributing, selling and displaying child pornography are banned by the 1999 Law for Punishing Acts related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and for Protecting Children.
However, animated material is not covered by the law.
But Shinpei Nawa, director of the NPA's Office for Protection of Juveniles, said it is difficult to control all of this material with Article 175, given the massive number of such publications in circulation.
Roughly 2,000 pornographic animation titles -- videos, DVDs and computer games -- are distributed in Japan annually, and half feature schoolgirl characters, according to Michiko Nagaoka, director of Juvenile Guide, a Kyoto-based NPO set up in 2003 to promote public awareness of the problem of animated child pornography software.
Makers of pornographic animation materials have set up ethics organizations to voluntarily censor obscene images, including depictions of sexual acts, in animated software.
Some experts voice caution about tightening legal controls, saying such measures could infringe on freedom of expression.
Hisashi Sonoda, a professor of criminal and information law at Konan University in Kobe, said pornographic child animation is different from material that contains real images of children.
"Using real children in pornography is an abuse, and those children suffer an additional ordeal as those materials are distributed," Sonoda said. "Comic books and animation computer games involve no real children as victims."
But Mitsue Kondo, representative of the Campaign to Stop the Abuse of Asian Children and to Safeguard Their Rights, argued that juveniles who watch animated pornography -- just like nonanimated pornography -- may develop distorted views about girls or women.
On March 11, 2008 UNICEF Japan issued a statement saying that there should be a tightening of child pornography laws including minors depicted in video games, anime, and manga.
But it is estimated that 30–40% of manga contains sexual themes or content, much of it representing schoolgirls of elementary or junior high school age in themes including rape, sado-masochism and bondage.
Japanese police took action against over 300 child pornography cases in the first half of 2008, up 17 percent from the same period last year, and the easy access to child pornographic materials in Japan could account for some of this.
In June 2008, a bill to ban possession of child porn was submitted to parliament's lower house. It is set to be debated in a parliament session expected to start in September.
So, ED, what do you think about this? Do you think Japan should ban the possession of child pornography? Do you think animated minors should be depicted in pornographic ways?  |
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