Child Prostitution, Pornography and Pedophilia in Japan - 2007

Definitions

Enjo kōsai (援助交際) - Enjo kōsai or "supportive relationship" is a euphemistic term used in Japan for the prostitution of school-age girls. Older men pay the teenagers to accompany them on dates and although it need not involve sexual activities the majority of customers expect and attempt sexual relations. Prostitution has been illegal in Japan since 1956 but the law banning child prostitution and pornography was only introduced as late as 1999 in reaction to the government being labelled an exporter of child pornography at a meeting in Sweden. To date enjo kōsai has not been regulated by the Japanese government as the legal definition of prostitution is strictly limited to coitus. This means that the sale of oral sex, anal sex, and many other non-coital sex acts are all legal. These types of businesses are regulated by the Businesses Affecting Public Morals Regulation Law of 1948 (Fūzoku eigyō torishimari hō (風俗営業取締法), amended in 1985 and 1999. In the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child - 2004 it states that, 'The low minimum age of consent, which might contribute to the practice of "enjo kosai", hampers the prosecution of sexual abuse of children." Article 177 of the Penal Code puts the age of consent for sexual activity at thirteen (13) years under Japanese national law. But many prefectures and municipalities have their own laws so the age of consent ranges from 13 to 17 depending on jurisdiction. (See also here and here for further information.)

TBD

Burusera (ブルセラ) - Burusera, or "panty fetishism," is a play on the English words bloomers (buru) and sailor (sera), with sailor derived from the sailor uniforms worn by Japanese schoolgirls. Customers are typically Japanese men who...

Lolicon (ロリコン) - xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lolicon Otoko - Men with a Lolita Complex.

Others???

Related Pages

Child Abuse in Japan

Bullying, Racism and Other Crime in Japanese Schools; Scroll down for section on Teachers involved in child prostitution, molestation of students etc.

Recent Articles on Child Prostitution and Pornography

Child Prostitution and Pornography - 2006

Media Coverage of Child Prostitution, Pornography in Japan

2007

(EJ) means the article is available in both English and Japanese;

• Other articles on Child Prostitution / Pornography for December; (J) December 31, 2007

• Update: Ex-school vice principal gets slap on wrist for sex with child prostitutes; (EJ) December 28, 2007

  • Pedophile 'superstar' school vice principal fired for child prostitution; (EJ) October 2, 2007

• Pair face charges for sending child pornography DVD to U.S.; (EJ) December 14, 2007

• A slippery slope to kiddie porn; (E) December 9, 2007; She's known as a "U-15 idol," in other words, a sexy female model under the age of 15. And she's not alone. The U-15 market is made up of dozens of girls in their pre- and early teens who are seen in photos and videos dressed in lingerie and G-string bikinis, often in semi-erotic situations.

• Sapporo cops warn of possible pedophile predator; (EJ) December 8, 2007

• Other articles on Child Prostitution / Pornography for November; (J) November 30, 2007

• Ex-civil servant pleads guilty to using child prostitutes; (EJ) November 29, 2007

• Elementary school security guard arrested over kiddy porn blackmail attempt; (EJ) November 29, 2007

• Teacher arrested for posting images of naked children on website; (J) November 27, 2007

• New cell phone rules eyed to protect kids; (EJ) November 25, 2007; The council judged that strengthened regulations on dating service Web sites--which are accused of drawing underage girls into prostitution and other crimes involving minors--are needed. The draft proposal states that parents should make sure cell phones used by their children are equipped with the filtering functions. According to the NPA, police across the nation cracked down on 1,915 cases involving dating service Web sites in 2006. Of 1,387 victims in the cases in which child prostitution, child pornography, confinement and violence were discovered, 1,153, or more than 80 percent, were aged under 18.

• Predators extorting sex from schoolgirls lured into cell-phone porn; (E) November 25, 2007

• Pedophile nerd gets hard lesson on not stiffing teen hookers; (E) November 21, 2007

• Other articles on Child Prostitution / Pornography for October; (J) October 31, 2007

• Regulations for Internet dating sites to be strengthened; (EJ) October 28, 2007

• Teen prostitute dies in Okinawa brothel blaze; (EJ) October 16, 2007

• 7 suspects, 96,000 DVDs netted in child pornography crackdown; (EJ) October 10, 2007

• Man arrested for buying junior high schoolgirl's panties; (EJ) October 10, 2007

• Pedophile 'superstar' school vice principal fired for child prostitution; (EJ) October 11, 2007

  • Arrested school vice principal says he is a 'superstar' among pedophiles; (EJ) October 2, 2007

• Other articles on Child Prostitution / Pornography for September; (J) September 30, 2007

• Gov't official collared for using schoolgirl prostitute; (EJ) September 29, 2007

• How low can they go? Pseudo pedo-porn peddlers loll in lascivious limbo; (E) September 28, 2007; Japan's child cheesecake market is thriving, but Spa! (10/2) says the borderline kiddy porno business is on the verge of belatedly being busted.

• JAL mechanic busted for paying minor for sex; (EJ) September 12, 2007

• Banker arrested for child prostitution; (J) September 5, 2007; Saitama City--The assistant bank manager paid ¥140,000 to have sex with a 14-year-old girl on 3 separate occasions.

• Other articles on Child Prostitution / Pornography for August; (J) August 31, 2007

• Nagoya pair arrested for using teenage prostitute; (EJ) August 29, 2007

• Men netted ¥ 80 million selling child porn; (J) August 23, 2007; Miyagi/Aichi Prefectures -- Police arrested 3 men for selling obscene DVDs of children over the internet and confiscated around 15,000 DVD originals.

• Update: Sexual cyber crimes involving minors soars; (EJ) August 23, 2007; Of the crimes during the first six months of 2007, 385 cases involved criminals who mostly paid minors for sexual services or who victimized children in other ways. Of the 385 cases, some 275 involved violating the anti-child prostitution law, a 62.7 percent increase, while there were 110 cases of other crimes victimizing minors.

  • More minors being attracted to crime through cell phone dating sites; (J) August 10, 2007; National Police Agency figures for the first half of 2007 revealed that of the 907 people rounded up for crimes related to cell phone dating sites 604 were minors aged between 11 and 17. The largest number of arrests (357) were for child prostitution while 238 people were apprehended for violating a law to protect and nurture minors. Fourty-four arrests were made for child pornography, 62 for fraud, 20 for rape and 19 for blackmail.

• Child pornography cases hit record levels in first half of 2007; (EJ) August 10, 2007.

• Social Insurance Agency worker arrested for schoolgirl prostitution; (EJ) August 9, 2007.

• Man busted for selling obscene DVDs of high school girls on Net; (EJ) August 8, 2007.

• Other articles on Child Prostitution / Pornography for July; (J) July 31, 2007

• 77-year-old man busted for child prostitution; (J) July 25, 2007; The man allegedly paid ¥5,600 to a 12-year-old girl for sexual services.

• 5 arrested over sharing boys' photos; (EJ) July 13, 2007; The Web site is reportedly accessed an average of about 6,000 times each day and is believed to be one of the most popular Web sites for those with a pedophiliac interest in boys, having been accessed 6.84 million times over three years.

• 5 arrested for forcing teenage girls into prostitution; (J) July 11, 2007; Tokyo -- From October 2006 to May this year the 5 suspects netted around ¥10 million yen from a prostitution ring which employed 13 high school girls aged between 15 and 18.

• High school pimp arrested for forcing 3 girls into prostitution; (EJ) July 9, 2007; Investigators are interrogating the boy on suspicions that he forced the girls, aged 16 to 17, to sell themselves to around 120 men between September last year and March this year, netting about 3.8 million yen.

• Man gets suspended sentence for filming himself having sex with school girls; (J) July 6, 2007; The 31-year-old man met the 4 junior high school girls aged 14~15 through cell phone dating sites between October '05 and February '06. He filmed himself having sex with them and recorded the videos onto CDs. He received a 2½ year prison term, suspended for 5 years, for manufacturing child pornography and for violating a law which protects minors.

• Man nets ¥ 6.5 million yen selling child porn images on internet; (J) June 5, 2007; Sakai police have arrested a man for the possession and sale of child pornographic images through internet aution sites. They confiscated 409 child pornographic photo albums, obscene DVDs and videos from his house in Sakai City. The 26-year-old suspect allegedly began selling child porn online in April 2005 and made around ¥6.5 million yen over a 2-year period.

• U.S. official says Japan should consider revision of child pornography law; (J) July 3, 2007.

  • U.S. officials meet Diet members over 'loophole' in Japan's child pornography law; (EJ) June 10, 2007; In an interview with the Mainichi, U.S. government officials said there was a "huge contradiction" in Japan, where it is illegal to sell child pornography, but it is legal to buy it. "This legal loophole creates a massive demand for these images," an official said.

• Assistant professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology busted for child prostitution; (J) July 2, 2007.

• Other articles on Child Prostitution / Pornography in Japanese media for June; (J) June 30, 2007

• Lecturer busted for having sex with 14 year old; (J) June 28, 2007; The 64-year-old polytechnic teacher met the girl through a telephone dating service and paid ¥200,000 to have sex with her.

• 15,000 child porn DVDs confiscated in Sendai; (EJ) June 15, 2007; The three suspects have allegedly been selling child porno DVDs online since August 2005, netting more than 100 million yen, police say.

• Update: Kids TV director becomes 3rd NHK employee arrested for molestation in 1 month; (EJ) June 9, 2007; Another employee of public broadcaster NHK has been arrested for molesting a high school girl on a train, police said.

  • NHK employee on loan to affiliate busted for child prostitution; (EJ) June 1, 2007.

• Hokkaido government official gets slap on wrist for sexual relationship with girl, 13; (EJ) June 5, 2007.

• Other child prostitution / pornography cases in Japanese media for May; (J) May 31, 2007

• Increase in minors caught up in prostitution in Shizuoka prefecture; (J) May 25, 2007.

• Photos of preteen girls in thongs now big business; (E) May 3, 2007; From pornographic animation to raunchy dolls, Japan leads the world in eccentric products and media that sometime push the boundaries of what people consider to be decent — or even legal. This latest trend of preteen girls striking provocative poses in slinky bathing suits has some people questioning whether this is child pornography and if the parents are actually selling their children for sex.

• Other articles on Child Prostitution / Pornography in Japanese media for April; (J) April 30, 2007

• Government official busted for paying 15-year-old girl for sex; (EJ) April 26, 2007; Kaneko told officers that he had paid some 10 other girls for sex.

• Former yakuza boss, gang members arrested for enticing runaway teens into prostitution; (J) April 24, 2007; Osaka - The 6 girls were between 14 and 19 years of age.

• Police seek filtering on telephone dating sites, more than 90% of victims under 20 years old; (J) April 19, 2007; The number of crimes connected to telephone dating sites in Kanagawa prefecure increased from 48 cases in 2001 to 248 cases in 2006. More than 90% of the arrests were related to child prostitution, child porno and violations of a prefectural law to protect minors.

• Defense Ministry official busted for having sex with minor; (EJ) April 11, 2007.

• Swedish queen urges more action to fight child porn; (EJ) March 30, 2007; Former Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki was also a guest speaker at the symposium. He admitted that Japan remains an exporter of child pornography despite government efforts to break the networks. "I still remember very clearly how Japan was named (as an exporter of child pornography) at the (Stockholm) congress in 1996," Tanigaki said. "It was a shocking event." Although a record high 315 people were detained in 2006 for violating the child pornography law, that number is believed just the tip of the iceberg.

• Oita civil servant arrested for paying cash to have sex with junior high school girl; (J) March 29, 2007.

• 81-year-old man busted for paying junior high school girl for sex; (EJ) March 23, 2007.

• Man arrested on suspicion of child pornography, makes obscene video with teenage girl; (J) March 7, 2007; The man met the 13-year-old girl on a mobile phone dating site and lured her with the promise of a modelling job.

• Man gets suspended prison term over child pornography; (E) March 6, 2007; Kobe: A 28-year-old man was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison, suspended for four years, for having sex with a 15-year-old Cambodian girl in Phnom Penh in 2003, taking pictures of her naked and posting them on his website.

• Branch manager of transport company busted for child prostitution; (J) March 6, 2007.

• Pedophile doctor let off with reprimand despite child prostitution conviction; (EJ) March 3, 2007; A national hospital here failed to punish a doctor fined for child prostitution two years ago until Friday, because bosses feared that if he quit, it would adversely affect its medical service.

• Cyber crimes soar: Growing number of children fall victim to prostitution, pornography; (EJ) February 22, 2007; There were 463 cases where suspects were involved in prostitution with children they got acquainted with on the Internet, an increase of 44.7 percent.

• Man faces charges for producing obscene DVDs featuring school girl; (EJ) February 21, 2007; He is standing trial for paying about 80,000 yen to the high school girl, who was then 17, to have sex with him at a Sendai hotel on two occasions in 2005. Investigators suspect that he sold tens of thousands of obscene DVDs, netting more than 10 million yen.

• TV station employee held for violating child prostitution law; (J) February 19, 2007; The man is suspected of molesting a teenage girl at a Tokyo hotel.

• Alleged offenses tied to online dating hit record 1,915 in 2006; (EJ) February 15, 2007; According to one of the Japanese online articles there were 856 child victims of online dating sites in 2006, an increase of 29 children from the previous year. Child prostitution was up 18.5% (775 cases), while there was a 96.2% increase in child pornography (104 cases).

• Teenage girls among 6 reported to prosecutors for posting their naked images on Net; (EJ) February 9, 2007; The manager of the website has been arrested for assisting the six in their crime.

• Tiny tattooed terror defends delinquent daughter's 'honor' with the cruelest cut of all; (E) February 2, 2007; The allegedly attacked man immediately contacted the police, even though he knew that by doing so he risked being arrested for paying the underage prostitute daughter for sex.

• Yokohama man arrested for child prostitution; (J) January 30, 2007; The man met the junior high school student through a telephone dating site.

• Chiba man arrested on suspicion of fixing up clients with child prostitutes through the internet; (J) January 24, 2007.

• Police to promote cell-phone filtering to stop students accessing 'harmful' sites; (EJ) January 20, 2007; Police said that 134 of those involved in child prostitution last year "fell victim," as they put it, through mobile dating sites, including 41 junior high school students and 55 high school students.

• Former director of cosmetic surgery department arrested a second time for child prostitution; (J) January 18, 2007.

• Pianist busted for child prostitution; (EJ) January 17, 2007.

• Jobless man busted for paying high school hooker with drugs; (EJ) January 11, 2007; He molested her at the hotel and gave her an injection of stimulant drugs as payment for her sexual services, police said.

2006 Articles

Child Prostitution and Pornography in Japan - 2006

Offences against Children by Police Officers, Priests, Doctors etc

2007

• Firefighters arrested for groping, taking photos up woman's skirt; (EJ) November 30, 2007; A member of the Kyoto City Fire Dept. was also arrested on November 30 for molesting a 13-year-old girl on a train. (12/1--Japanese only)

• Police sergeant held for taking photos up schoolgirl's skirt; (J) November 30, 2007

• Ex-cop jailed for 'trampling on women's human rights' in sex cases; (EJ) November 22, 2007; Court records showed that in January the former Sumiyoshi Police Station officer threatened a junior high schoolgirl with a paper cutter at a hotel where he stripped her, tied her up and took photos of her.

• Preacher arrested over lewd acts with teenage girl; (EJ) November 21, 2007

• Saga doctor charged for using teenage prostitute; (EJ) November 20, 2007

• Policeman faces charges for copping peep up schoolgirl's skirt; (EJ) October 5, 2007

• Assistant police inspector busted for child prostitution; (J) October 4, 2007; The man paid the 14-year-old girl ¥12,000 for sexual services after meeting her through a cell phone dating site.

• Police sergeant arrested for molesting high school girl on train; (EJ) October 2, 2007

• Ex-cop nabbed for trying to force high school girl into hotel; (EJ) September 20, 2007

• Government official arrested for molesting 12-year-old girl he met through date site; (EJ) September 14, 2007

• Police officer arrested for molesting junior high school girl; (EJ) September 10, 2007

• Wakayama cop arrested for molesting schoolgirls; (EJ) August 10, 2007.

• Update: Ex-NHK children's TV director gets suspended sentence for groping girl on train; (EJ) August 9, 2007.

• Man overpowers police officer who photographed up daughter's skirt; (EJ) July 18, 2007.

• Chiba municipal assemblyman arrested for molesting junior high school girl; (EJ) July 9, 2007.

• Police sergeant faces prosecution for copying, distributing illegal DVDs; (J) July 5, 2007; Saitama--A police sergeant has been reported to the public prosecutor's office for distributing obscene material and for violating the anti-child pornography law. At the request of his bosses the sergeant copied pornographic DVDs which had been confiscated from video rental shops. Nine senior police officers have been reprimanded for receiving the copied DVDs including two chief inspectors who have been suspended for a month.

• Atsugi Municipal Government official busted for molesting high school girl; (EJ) July 4, 2007.

• Univ. hospital doctor busted for child prostitution; (EJ) June 30, 2007 - Update: (J) September 8, 2007; The doctor was handed a 14-month jail term suspended for 3 years.

• Policeman busted for molesting 14-year-old girl in Kanagawa; (J) June 27, 2007.

• Ex-cop gets suspended jail term for paying children for sex; (EJ) June 8, 2007.

• Town assembly member busted for sneaking into girl's home, molesting her; (EJ) May 17, 2007; A town assembly member, who was just re-elected to a sixth term in an election in April, has been arrested for molesting a junior high school girl while she was asleep at her home, police said.

• Physician nabbed for taking nude photos of patient; (EJ) May 1, 2007; Investigators said Onuki photographed the 16-year-old patient about 10 times between November 2005 and February this year, while he was working at an orthopedic clinic in Tokyo's Nerima-ku. He allegedly had her lie down on a bed, lifted up her underwear and photographed her breasts and lower private parts, making her think his actions were a necessary part of the treatment.

• Juvenile reformatory instructor arrested for child prostitution; (EJ) April 23, 2007.

• Police officer arrested for groping 18-year-old; (EJ) March 31, 2007.

• Police officer arrested for child prostitution; (J) March 23, 2007; The man met the junior high school girl through a telephone dating site and paid ¥20,000 to have sex with her at a Kobe hotel.

• Buddhist monk arrested over child prostitution; (EJ) March 23, 2007.

• Train pervert cop arrested for molesting high school girl; (EJ) February 3, 2007; An assistant police inspector has been arrested for molesting a high school girl on a train in Tokyo Thursday, police said.

2006 Articles

Child Prostitution and Pornography in Japan - 2006