Japan, last to ban child pornography possession

In a move that activists had been waiting for 10 years, Japan has finally made possession of child pornography illegal and punishable.

A bill was passed today by the parliament, stating that any person found with explicit images or videos of children will be imprisoned for up to one year and fined with as much as $10,000.

Production and distribution of child pornography was already punishable by law but finding it in someone’s possession was not regarded as a crime, until now.

Shihoko Fujiwara, from Lighthouse, a nonprofit group that helps exploited children, was excited about the new ruling:

‘It's been 10 years and it's finally changed. I'm so pleased that Japan finally moved one step toward the international standard. Under the existing circumstances, the suffering and damage has become more critical. I really hope that the law rescues suffering child victims, as well as the victims damaged in the past by stopping the circulation of child porn. This is the epoch-making event for Japan,’ he said.

However, the bill does not incriminate all forms of child pornography. Explicit anime or manga cartoons, some of which depict children being sexually abused, have not been banned.

Such a move would be considered as an unjustified restriction of the freedom of expression, as some manga representatives explained, and that ‘banning such expression in animation under this law would not satisfy the goal of the law.’

Hiroshi Chiba, manager of one of the country's best known manga production houses, said that one thing that could be done is restrict the age limit on those products with graphic content and which also feature children.

Although he admits that some products in this industry leave him and his colleagues ‘disgusted’, he still believes that this is a form of culture that has ‘to exist as a necessary evil.’

On the other hand, statistics show that Japan is a hot spot for child pornography, the number of such cases doubling in just one year, from 2011 to 2012.