In Japan it soon will be illegal to possess child porn — almost
By Albert Siegel Tribune News Service In Japan, selling or producing child pornography has been illegal for 16 years. Possession of it has not. That’s about to change. Starting July 15, anyone in possession of any form of child pornography featuring real people will face fines and imprisonment for the first time. The change will make Japan one of the last industrialized nations to ban depictions of children having sex, leaving only South Korea as the last economically advanced country to allow possession. Japan passed the new restrictions last year, after a 15 year battle, providing a grace period before penalties would be enforced. Those penalties kick in this week. But the new ban still skirts one key sector _ anime, the lifelike Japanese animation that is deeply embedded in Japanese culture and is popular across all age ranges. Anime is used for everything, from children’s advertisements and safety warnings to military recruiting. And pornography. Even under the new laws, there is nothing illegal in Japan about owning illustrated depictions of child sex. And it remains easy to find in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, a hot-spot for animation and gaming with countless shops and cafes dedicated to those modern cultural icons _ and the darker side of what animation has to offer. The selection of child pornography can range from traditional comics to animated movies and interactive games. One store displays a pornographic comic titled the “little girl collection” and featuring what appear to be preteens. There are multiple other forms, including computer-generated movies and a simulator that depicts an adult male engaging in intercourse with an elementary school …
