Japan takes step to ban possession of child pornography

Japan edged closer on Wednesday to banning the possession of child pornography, the last major developed country to do so, but pedophilia portrayed in the country's popular anime comics will be exempt.

Under current Japanese law, only the production and distribution of child pornography are banned, a situation that campaigners say is damaging to children.

On Wednesday, the judicial affairs committee of the Diet's lower house unanimously decided to expand the scope of the legislation.

A new bill, agreed upon by the ruling coalition and three opposition parties, will be submitted to the main chamber shortly, a Diet official said.

The legislation is expected to be passed quickly and sent to the upper house before the current parliamentary session ends on June 22.

A revised law would ban possession of photographs and videos depicting real children, but would exclude manga comics and anime videos, following calls to protect freedom of expression.

"The primary reason (for the new rule) is to protect the rights of real children. So-called mangas, animes and computer graphics are outside its scope," said an official at the house legislative bureau.

The move comes after the Tokyo city government last month said it was banning sales to children of a manga depicting incestuous relationships.

Little Sisters Paradise! 2, which was published in April, was set to be classified as an "unhealthy publication" that must be kept out of children's reach.

The draft law that moved through committee on Wednesday says anyone who "possesses child pornography for the purpose of satisfying his/her sexual interest" could be punished with imprisonment of up to one year, or fines of up to 1 million yen ($9,800).

To encourage disposal of material, the penalties would be delayed for one year after the revised law comes into force.

Those sent child porn by others without asking would be exempt but keeping it and looking at it repeatedly could be penalized.

Campaigners against child porn have long urged Japan to outlaw the possession of sexually explicit images of children.

Japan is the only member of the G7 group of industrialized nations where the possession of child porn remains legal, while it is banned and subject to penalties in more than 70 countries.

Japan is seen as a major global source of child pornography in photo and video form.

Images that can be legally possessed in Japan show real children being abused, raped and molested, campaigners have said.

Police data show the number of victims hit a record of 646 in 2013 only for those minors identified. This number, however, is believed to be just the tip of the iceberg.

(China Daily 06/05/2014 page11)