Real field reports and columns on Japan's adult-entertainment world
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An exploitative structure of 'binding through debt,' in which the sex industry and illegal money lenders work together, has come to light through the testimony of a former worker and a survey by a support group. Women take on debt from loan sharks and are then placed into sex-industry venues, where the debt keeps growing under a perpetuated system.
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A man who worked as a transport driver for a delivery-health service while stealing cash and valuables from customers' homes was arrested. The driver was a member of a theft group, and the number of incidents is believed to exceed 30, with total damages topping 5 million yen.
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Support groups calling for a law to prevent and remedy harm related to adult-video appearances submitted a petition to the Diet. Discussions in a cross-party parliamentary league have also intensified, with the aim of submitting a bill during the 2022 ordinary Diet session. Industry organizations have shown resistance, arguing that 'self-regulation is sufficient.
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A cross-party parliamentary league aiming for a fundamental revision of the Anti-Prostitution Act held its first meeting on the 8th and began discussing the direction of new legislation on the sex trade. The focus is on enacting a 'Special Sex-Trade Law' centered on the principles of 'not punishing victims' and 'harsher penalties for exploitation and coercion.
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Marking a decade since organized-crime exclusion ordinances were in place across all 47 prefectures by 2011, the National Police Agency released an assessment report. While excluding organized crime groups (boryokudan) from the sex industry has produced certain results, latent involvement through front companies and 'hangure' (semi-gangster) groups continues, and the report assessed the effort as 'only halfway done.
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On the 13th, Osaka Prefectural Police announced that they had simultaneously searched 21 adult-entertainment-related venues across the prefecture, arresting or referring 17 operators and others to prosecutors for violations of the Businesses Affecting Public Morals Regulation Act and prefectural ordinances. Unregistered operation was the most common offense, with late-night employment of minors and operation outside permitted hours also confirmed.
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On the 14th, the Metropolitan Police Department's Cybercrime Division arrested a man who ran a website brokering prostitution online, on suspicion of violating the Anti-Prostitution Act (procuring prostitution). About 3,000 people from across the country had registered on the site, and its monthly revenue is believed to have exceeded three million yen.
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On the 16th, the National Police Agency announced that it had carried out nationwide simultaneous searches in cases of sexual exploitation targeting minors. Forty-two people were arrested or referred to prosecutors, and more than 30 minors were victimized. Contact made through social media is cited as the main driver of the spread of victimization.
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On the 21st, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly passed a revised ordinance strengthening regulation of operations involving the sexual exploitation of youth, including the so-called 'JK business.' Penalties were raised from administrative fines to criminal punishment, and the scope of regulated operations was expanded. The move drew attention as a precedent for ordinance revisions by local governments nationwide.
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On the 9th, the Tokyo District Court handed down a guilty verdict against a man charged with coercion and other offenses for forcing a woman to appear in an adult video. According to the victim's testimony, she was 'driven into a situation where she could not refuse,' and the court found that there had been 'a substantive absence of free will.' The ruling drew attention as a judicial judgment concerning harm from coerced adult-video appearances.