Posted March 11, 2008 Japan has failed to bring child pornography under control, leaving children around the world at risk, UNICEF said on Tuesday as it launched a campaign to stamp out exploitation of minors. Japan's government is inching towards a ban on the possession of obscene images of children, which would bring it into line with most other industrialised countries. But the Japan branch of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) urged Tokyo to beef up its laws by banning child pornography in manga comics, animated films and computer games as well as individual possession. "Japan, a major player in information technology, is left uncontrolled, meaning children both here and around the world are suffering sexual exploitation for the sake of child porn," UNICEF said in a statement. A previous campaign prompted laws, enacted in 1999 and 2004, that banned child prostitution and the production and sale of obscene images of children under 18, but simple possession of such material remains legal. "The media report child pornography cases almost daily," the statement continued. "Hundreds of cases have been brought to court, but they are the tip of the iceberg and figures are still rising." A committee of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party set up to look into a possible ban on the possession of child pornography, as well as penalties, held its first meeting last week. "It turned out that almost all the members were in favour of banning individual possession, so we are moving in that direction," Mayumi Moriyama, a former justice minister who heads the committee, told the news conference. Critics, including Washington's ambassador to Tokyo, Thomas Schieffer, say Japan's failure to ban possession has hampered international investigations into child pornography rings. Schieffer was set to visit Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama later on Tuesday to press him on the issue, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. Hatoyama has already said he is in favour of a ban. "I am ashamed to say that our society takes the view that it is all right to possess child porn," lawyer and children's rights campaigner Keiji Goto told reporters, adding that obscene photographs were often used by paedophiles to persuade children that sexual exploitation is normal. UNICEF also called on prosecutors and courts to apply current legislation more strictly, pointing out that photo books and DVDs featuring small children in bikinis are freely available in stores and over the Internet. Japan and Russia are alone among G8 countries in not banning possession of child pornography. Some members of Japan's main opposition Democratic Party oppose a ban because it might grant police too much power, domestic newspaper reports have said. uk.reuters.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 11, 2008 I find it a little...alarming...that Japan does not already have laws in place banning possession of child pornography... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 11, 2008 *Moves to Japan* Waht? No? Seriously, that's pretty fucked up, Japan always has has a reputation for being pretty liberal, socially, with pornography...but I'd have thought they would have anti child porn laws for sure... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 11, 2008 Some animes has girls aged 18 looking like 10 years old. Which i cant understand why draw them as young girls. Example: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 11, 2008 Yeah, like I once stumbled upon some yaoi shit, and one of the characters literally looked 7 years prepubescent. I suppose, if its not real life children being abused, its not as bad, but still... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 Pedobear does not approve of UNICEF. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 lolirapesims ftw! OK, let me be more constructive. You see lots of underage sex in Hentai and doujins, however (and I don't have any sources, I read this somewhere, but I'm not sure), child abuse in Japan is VERY low. I wouldn'tbe surprised if this is because they portray this kind of things in fiction a lot, so it's not... how to put it... taboo maybe? Well my point is, avoiding such material leads to people being more interested. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 Some of the stuff is a bit worrying, I know a mother and son from Japan who frequently sleep in the same bed when dad is away. Apparently "He needs love". The dude is 18... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 I have to say, for all it's success Japan has an oddly seedy seam running through things. Mangas and anime's about girl robots/demons/sexy, sexy aliens being utterly subservient to angst ridden adolescent male students, and so forth. It's all very well when you're fourteen, but by the time you're twenty-two and you're performing public acts of "air sex"... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 lolirapesims ftw!OK, let me be more constructive. You see lots of underage sex in Hentai and doujins, however (and I don't have any sources, I read this somewhere, but I'm not sure), child abuse in Japan is VERY low. I wouldn'tbe surprised if this is because they portray this kind of things in fiction a lot, so it's not... how to put it... taboo maybe? Well my point is, avoiding such material leads to people being more interested. A japanese underage fetish is called loli in anime world which could be the main force for them than the real thing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 As long as what they're buying has no victim and reduces the chances of it happening, I say don´t rock the boat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 A japanese underage fetish is called loli in anime world which could be the main force for them than the real thing. So that's what loli means... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 Lolita (1955) is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov. The novel was first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris, later translated by the author into Russian and published in 1967 in New York. The novel is both internationally famous for its innovative style and infamous for its controversial subject: the book's narrator and protagonist Humbert Humbert becoming sexually obsessed with a twelve-year-old girl named Dolores Haze. After its publication, the novel attained a classic status, becoming one of the best known and most controversial examples of 20th century literature. The name "Lolita" has entered pop culture to describe a sexually precocious young girl. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 Yeah, like I once stumbled upon some yaoi shit, and one of the characters literally looked 7 years prepubescent. I suppose, if its not real life children being abused, its not as bad, but still... Stumbled eh? As for the matter at hand, I find it quite alarming. I won't deny, I've seen the sort of shit coming out of japan in relation to this on the manga/hentai/whatever it's called aspect, and whilst I don't approve of it, I don't see it as the sort of thing you could deny them, as it IS just lines and colours. Then there's the whole teen idol thing too, they need to sort that out as well. There's appears to be a slightly disturbing complex behind alot of these things, but it's one I don't particularly wish to dwell upon. Actual child porn though? I was not aware at all that there was no ban on possession in Japan. What a backwards thing to do! If it's banned in all other respects, why allow it to be possessed? It shouldn't be able TO be possessed if the other laws were working, and clearly they aren't. If you're gonna ban it all otherwise, ban the possession too. Anything, anything at all, that could possibly lead to/promote/cause/raise the chances of children suffering or being exploited, needs to be stamped right out imo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 I have to say, for all it's success Japan has an oddly seedy seam running through things. Mangas and anime's about girl robots/demons/sexy, sexy aliens being utterly subservient to angst ridden adolescent male students, and so forth. It's all very well when you're fourteen, but by the time you're twenty-two and you're performing public acts of "air sex"... You're totally right about that. The problem is that otakus are actually messed up - though westerners generally use the term to talk about anime fans, in Japan the word has far more negative connotations, suggesting people with bizarre fetishes and poor social hygiene who become consumed by their love of anime and manga. It's a pity, anime has a great deal of potential, yet most shows are aimed at children or cultivating "moe" characters that will attract otaku. Worse than this is the brand of otaku subculture labelled as lolicon and shotacon... despite how dodgy these are, they generate a lot of money, and that is why Japan is reluctant to ban them. Regarding the novel Lolita: everyone should read it, it is great. That includes you Dante, don't just reference Wikipedia. :wink: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 Being the only non western, economical and technological power and having a completely different culture and alphabet, they just don't give a fuck. Racism, discrimination, paedophilia, whale hunting, are just some of the stuff they should sort out in a global society. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 At Uni we've been try to get amazon to stop selling this sort of stuff. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2330433946 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 having a completely different culture and alphabet They don't have an alphabet at all, unless you're talking about the limited use they make of the Roman one - there are two syllabalries and a semanto-phonetic script. [/pedantry] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 They don't have an alphabet at all, unless you're talking about the limited use they make of the Roman one - there are two syllabalries and a semanto-phonetic script. [/pedantry] Technically hiragana and katakana are alphabets. Syllabaries, but still alphabets. [/pedantry] :wink: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 i guess im the only one who isnt shocked. you can get school girls worn panties from vending machines (i belive this was confirmed) now even if the girls are legal age, is the demand for pants that high. alot of fantasy reflects real world desire. the loli mangas point to an alarming trend for the sexualisation of children. that said, it is just manga, can it really be damaging to society? id argue that it may move someone along the path, but lets face it, its only going too appeal to people who are already curious about it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 Daft wins. Also, if Japan stopped the underage shit, half the stores over there might have to shut down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 12, 2008 Technically hiragana and katakana are alphabets. Syllabaries, but still alphabets. [/pedantry] :wink: Incorrect, I'm afraid. In an alphabet each symbol represents a phoneme, whereas in a syllabary each symbol represents a collection of phonemes. For instance, in English the word cow is transcribed under IPA as [kʰaʊ], whereas the Japanese word for cow, ushi/牛/うし is transcribed under IPA as [uʃi], so each kana does not correspond to each word. So while scripts such as Hangul are indeed alphabets, the kana scripts are not. [/pedantry] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
