In a move aimed at curbing child exploitation, Japanese politician Masako Okawara submitted a petition during the 213th session of the Diet calling for stricter regulations on content, including manga and anime, contains inappropriate depictions of child-like characters.
The initiative comes amid growing concerns about the increasing number of cases of exploitative material involving minors in the media and the inadequacy of of existing laws to protect them.
Recent statistics have revealed that the number of arrests for child pornography crimes has not improved despite amendments to the Law prohibiting child prostitution and child pornography. The recent prominent case of Your Name producer Koichiro Ito is an example.
Okawara's petition is urging the government to amend existing laws, including the Child Prostitution and Child Pornography Prevention Act, based on the 2019 recommendation of the United Nations Commission by criminalizing “produce, distribute, make available, sell, access, view and possess images and depictions of children or people who appear primarily to be children, engaged in explicit or depicted sexual acts depicting sexual parts of a child's body for sexual purposes“.
Currently, the law does not regulate depictions of sexual content in manga or anime—specifically including lolicon (depicting youthful-looking female characters) and shotacon (depicting male characters with a youthful appearance) youthful appearance).
However, the petition specifically focuses on the visual aspect used to make the characters appear as children, which may cause the government to reconsider again.
The debate surrounding “loli” and “shota” characters is intense, with critics arguing that such depictions contribute to a harmful culture that normalizes sexual behavior adolescentization.
Supporters of the anime and manga industry argue that these characters are fictional and that their regulation would violate freedom and artistic expression.
This was evident in 2014 when a similar amendment to the Child Pornography law was proposed but faced significant opposition from the industry, which argued that the law would severely limit freedom creative.
Despite precedent, Japan may consider regulating content in anime and manga due to alarming statistics surrounding the issue. Okawara's petition has garnered more than 300 signatures.
As of 2022, 86% of victims were girls, with 14% being boys, a growing trend. Even in cases where victims have been identified, this number is the second highest since the pre-Covid-19 era.
When including cases identified by age assessments performed by medical professionals, the actual number of victims is even higher.
“Ignoring the sexual commodification of children through their images perpetuates harmful values in society and seriously violates children's right to live and grow up safe and secure,” Okawara declared.
Okawara emphasized the need for comprehensive measures to limit the spread of these exploitative practices.
“Unchecked sexualization of children in the media will continue to damage social norms and pose a serious threat to children's safety and well-being,” she said. added.
As the Child Prostitution and Child Pornography Prevention Act approaches its 25th anniversary, Okawara emphasized the importance of further amending related laws, including the Penal Code, Child Welfare Law , and the Law on Child Abuse Prevention.
By incorporating the voices of survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation, Okawara aims to strengthen enforcement measures to protect children from harm.
Source: Japanese House of Representatives
