Japan, where child pornography is the most rampant in the world:
Before discussing regulatory measures by law, it is necessary to confront the appalling reality of moral decay.
Ms. Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography for the United Nations, on October 26, 2015, called on Japan to prohibit manga depicting children in an extremely sexual manner.
She also made the following commentary:
“All of these things have clearly become profitable businesses. What is concerning is the trend of societal acceptance or tolerance towards them.”
写真（国連の「子どもの売買、児童売春、児童ポルノ」に関する特別報告者、マオド・ド・ブーアブキッキオ氏） 出典：AFP
The online reactions of Japanese people to this United Nations report mostly consist of the following:
“This is blatant interference in our domestic affairs.”
“The ones complaining are usually old women.”
“If it’s not live-action and just two-dimensional anime, what’s the problem? There are no victims.”
“Don’t impose Western values on us.”
“Why can’t there be children in it?”
“The spread of child pornography is helping to deter sexual crimes.”
“I don’t want to hear this from countries with more sexual crimes than Japan.”
“If child pornography is bad, then stop all movies with murder scenes.”
“They’re trying to destroy Japan’s anime industry.”
Japanese people tend to avoid expressing their opinions face-to-face, but online, they candidly share their true feelings without hesitation, making it quite insightful.
Arguing against each individual comment seems foolish, and there’s a sense that the degradation of public sentiment has reached an extreme point.
The country where child pornography is rampant is a difficult place to live:
Children, lacking in knowledge and wisdom, and without money or power, cannot resist or protest.
Therefore, throughout the long history of humanity, they have continued to be targets mercilessly exploited and abused.
Exploiting and abusing the weak is a barbaric act driven by primal instincts.
However, as human morality and reason developed, the idea emerged: “Let’s actively protect those in a weak position. It leads to the construction of a better society.”
The recognition of children’s rights began relatively recently in the brutal history of human being.
Even now, in Japan where child pornography is rampant, exploitation of the vulnerable by those in power pervades every field, creating a society that is very challenging to live in.
There is a growing trend of disregarding human emotions and treating people as mere objects.
The Japanese society still carries the pre-war mentality without the concept of human rights.
It can be said that the proliferation of child pornography in Japan is a natural consequence of this.
Unchanged Situation Despite the Enactment of the “Revised Child Pornography Prohibition Law”:
The “Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography” was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on May 25, 2000.
Japan ratified this protocol on January 24, 2005, becoming the 90th contracting state.
However, even after ratification, the situation of rampant child pornography within Japan has continued to worsen, and the country has failed to demonstrate self-cleansing capabilities.
In 2014, the revised Child Pornography Prohibition Law, which included a ban on the “simple possession” of explicit images of children, was passed and came into effect in July 2015.
Despite the implementation of the new law, books and videos depicting children in sexually provocative poses are still widely circulated, and manga depicting child pornography remains legal.
写真（児童ポルノの氾濫） 出典：ガーディアン Toru Yamanaka/AFP/Getty
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