Japan outlaws possession of child pornography
Japan's parliament voted on Wednesday to make possession of child pornography a crime, after years of international calls for a crackdown, but it avoided a clampdown on sexually explicit manga comics and animations depicting young children.
Japan is the last nation in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries to criminalize possession of child pornography, although it outlawed its production and distribution in 1999, and has long been considered a safe haven for those buying child pornography.
"For too long, there was a poor understanding of children's rights. Ultimately, that's why it's taken so long," said Kiyohiko Toyama, a member of the New Komeito party and a proponent of the bill.
"By outlawing the possession of child pornography with the intent to satisfy sexual interest, we make it harder for people to trade in such material."
The new law, however, excluded an original clause calling for a study of the effects of such pornographic manga involving young children, after publishers and opposition lawmakers said it could lead to curbing free speech.
Masatada Tsuchiya, a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, supported the bill but said he was disappointed.
"I believed we should go a step further and take a look at manga and animation in which children are sexually abused," he said, recalling a case in which a child murder suspect was found to own dozens of explicit manga depicting children.
"Of course freedom of expression is important. And I love manga. But some of the things out there are so depraved they aren't worth defending," he said.
National data show a rise in child pornography crimes, with police uncovering 1,644 cases last year, around 10 times higher than a decade ago.
Lawmakers said the new legislation would likely help police crack down on child pornography as buyers can be held and questioned, possibly leading them to other collectors as well as distributors and manufacturers.
The law is due to take effect next month. Those found guilty under the new law will face imprisonment of up to a year or a fine of up to 1 million yen ($9,800), although such punishment will not be enforced in the first year.
Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said he hoped it would also help change a culture of tolerating objectification of children.
"We must fight against a tendency of looking at children as sexual objects, and allowing them to be taken advantage of, sexually and commercially," he said in parliamentary testimony on Tuesday, a day before the Upper House officially voted to adopt the bill. The Lower House passed it earlier in June.
(China Daily 06/19/2014 page11)
