When Will the Third Amendment to Japan's Child Pornography Law Come?
Since last year, a number of illustrations and cartoons, such as "Onsen Musume" and "Tawawa," have been criticized for their sexually explicit content.
In addition, petitions concerning "a request for the third revision of the Child Prostitution and Child Pornography Prohibition Law in line with the UN recommendations" have been frequently submitted to the Diet.
There are growing calls for the criminalization of sexual expression in cartoons and animations.
These developments are reminiscent of the eve of the second revision of the Child Pornography Prohibition Law (2014).
Toward the third amendment, what are the points of discussion?
For your reference, here is what I once said in an interview with Kyodo News, which is now available online for the first time.
The need to eliminate the sex crime factor
-The background of the argument for stricter regulations is the international criticism that "Japan is a child pornography powerhouse."
"Child pornography originating in Japan is very popular overseas. Japanese pornography often features violent stories that subordinate women and give men a sense of superiority. In other countries, there is a lack of such stories, perhaps because of the strong position of women. "
"The number of cases involving child pornography in Japan has been increasing every year and is at an all-time high."
-What is the relationship between child pornography and crime?
"People who commit sex crimes, such as child prostitution, have various factors, such as stress in their relationships and family environment, and they use children as an outlet for their dissatisfaction. Child pornography is at least a factor, as it can be a clue, or a trigger at the end of a crime. It cannot be said that if we don't look at it, it will disappear completely, but we must eliminate the factors one by one."
"I am conducting surveys and interviews with students at several universities to determine the impact of media sex information, and we have found that they are quite turned on by it since childhood. One male student forced to have sexual intercourse with his girlfriend when he was in the third grade of junior high school. He said it was because there was a pattern in many comic books of girls refusing verbally to have sex with him but gradually becoming pleased. Many boys believe that it is OK to come on to a girl when she comes to their house, and there is no end to the damage done to girls as a result of this."
-Is the influence of manga, anime, and video games significant?
"Manga and anime depict children who are happy to be sexually victimized. It eliminates the sense of guilt. In addition, manga and anime are accessible entertainment for children and inexpensive. They are a significant source of information."
"In games, the influence of them in which you are the main character is great. When they see how girls react to bishojo (beautiful girls) games and the like, they assume that real women are the same way."
-There is a fear of violating freedom of expression. Are the current regulations insufficient?
"I want to protect freedom of expression because I was also a creator of TV programs. However, I do not think it is right to allow depictions of humiliation that use force to subdue women to go unchecked. It goes beyond the guarantee of freedom of expression."
"There are many stakeholders in the pornography market, and an incomplete approach will not stop child sexual abuse material. In fact, the regulations that have been put in place so far have not stopped it."
-How do you see the way newspapers and TV stations handle the issue?
"The newspapers' tone varies, but I get the impression that they are somewhat biased toward opposition to the regulations. They seem to be too focused on the crisis of freedom of expression, and their tone seems to be one of opposition for the time being."
"Recently, there have been reports on TV blaming children, saying that children are voluntarily selling their naked pictures and selling their bodies, and that this is shameful. This is outrageous. The focus is not on the problem of the adults who buy them. We should make it clear that this is a problem for us adults."
(September 1, 2010, "What to do about child pornography regulations," Kyodo News Disputes)
▶Mayuko Watanabe Official Website
