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No cracks in stiff new sex business laws
By Masuo Kamiyama
April 30, 2005
After years of grinding their teeth in frustration while they watched Japan's
sex industry openly grow and flourish, Spa! reports that authorities have begun
fighting back in earnest, with a spate of new laws and ordinances designed to
curb the worst excesses of the commercial and amateur sex trade. Particular
attention is being devoted to enforcement of laws against child pornography and
open recruitment of minors.
To advise readers on the complexities of the new laws, Spa! adopts a
question-and-answer format. One question it raises concerns Nagano Prefecture,
which, unlike many other prefectures or municipalities in Japan, does not yet
have an ordinance against sex with girls under age 18. Does that mean they are
fair game? Apparently they are. But let's say you are a registered resident of
Tokyo, where sex with a minor is illegal. If you go to Nagano and do it there,
can the Tokyo police extradite you for breaking a Tokyo law outside its
boundaries?
"In theory, as a Tokyo resident you are obliged to follow its laws no matter
where you go in Japan," states attorney Takashi Yamaguchi. "But in practice
it's hard for the MPD to enforce this. Laws and ordinances should be
interpreted as covering only the territory specified therein."
Another question to Spa! involves whether it's now illegal for you to try to
pick up a girl on the street. After all, a new Tokyo ordinance that went into
effect from April 1 specifically prohibits men known as "scouts" to solicit
young women on the street for appearances in adult videos or to model for adult
magazines, or to recruit them to work in sex-related businesses. But is it
illegal to try to make new friends?
"The present codes, if enforced to the letter, make 'nampa' (mashing) an
offense," says journalist Yoshiyuki Nagaoka. "At present they are only being
enforced selectively; but that may change in the future. Back in February, for
example a 25-year salaryman in the city of Tottori was arrested for violating a
similar ordinance after he tried to pick up two middle-aged school girls."
This poses another question: Suppose you go to a sex shop in urgent need of,
uh, stress relief. But as long as the girl only stimulates you to orgasm
manually or orally, i.e., no intercourse takes place, and then even if she
happens to mention in passing that she's under 18, you're off the hook right?
Wrong. If you know, or if the girl looks young enough to make you suspicious,
you remain culpable in the eyes of the law.
While most sex shops insist girls flash some form of identification when
applying for work, it seems that adherence to the 18 and over requirements is
not always followed.
"I'm aware of cases where the girl was 16, even though physically she appeared
over 18," advises Spa! columnist Kureichi Matsuzawa. "If you suspect the shop's
not following the rules, the safest thing to do is just get the heck out of
there."
With such seemingly complex laws, one wonders if the police don't have their
work cut out for them to apprehend and punish offenders. Try telling that to
economist Kazuhide Uegusa. In April 2004 he was caught by police allegedly
using a hand mirror to peer up a high school girl's skirt and was charged with
public obscenity. Last March 23, he was found guilty and fined 500,000 yen.
"When the police stopped me, I didn't even have the mirror in my hand --- it
was in my pocket," Uegusa insists. "They never saw me holding it."
"Then they told me if I denied my action, they would keep me confined for a
prolonged duration and release the news of my incarceration to the media,
whereas if I acknowledged my 'wrongdoing' I'd be released the following day.
"I wasn't particularly concerned about myself, but I was concerned about my
family and job, so I told them I'd go along with it.
As it turned out at his trial, Uegusa's "admission," made under police duress,
was the sole piece of evidence. Yet he chose not to appeal the guilty ruling.
"Over a full year, preparing for the trial drained me of time and energy," he
says. "I provided plenty of information to refute the charges, but didn't want
to subject my family to any more grief. I intend to continue to make discreet
efforts outside of the courts to prove my innocence."
Mainchi Daily
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