CATDOLL: UN official asks Japanese government to ban comics for children aged 18+

A very famous gentleman's topic in Japan is child pornography, which has also attracted international attention. Although the Japanese government has officially passed the "Child Pornography Law" and expressed its intention to intensify the crackdown, it still excludes the parts of animation, comics, CG, and games that design child pornography from the scope of prohibition, and only prohibits the possession of three-dimensional child pornography products. At that time, the Japanese ACG industry was quite satisfied with this result.

However, there is still a lot of pressure from the international community. We previously reported that the UN special observer will inspect Japan on this issue. At that time, many people in the industry expressed their concerns, because in this way, child pornography related to the second dimension will also be banned, which will be a heavy blow to the ACG industry. Now, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, the UN observer, has ended her inspection in Japan and held a press conference, issuing a statement urging the Japanese government to ban child pornography comics.

As the only country in the G7 that did not prohibit the possession of child pornography, Japan finally passed the "Revised Child Pornography Prohibition Law" last year to prohibit the "pure possession" of child pornography photos and videos, and it came into effect in July this year. However, after the new law was implemented, related books and images are still widely circulated, and child pornography related to comics is still legal.

In this regard, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio said at a press conference after concluding a week-long inspection in Japan: "Particularly radical child pornography should be banned." However, she also admitted: "It is difficult to strike an appropriate balance between the freedom of artistic expression and the need to protect children."

When the child pornography prohibition law was revised, some people believed that comics should also be included. But at the same time, cartoonists, publishers and people who advocate freedom of speech believed that if comics were included, it would infringe on the freedom of expression, which was a crude interference of the authorities in art, so they resisted fiercely. Maud de Boer-Buquicchio believed that this led to too many loopholes in the law, and some revealing things were exploiting the value of children.

In the current revised version of the Child Pornography Prohibition Law, photos and pictures of semi-naked children in bikinis and other highly exposed areas are still legal. And related DVDs and photo albums are still on public sale. Maud de Boer-Buquicchio said: "All these things are sold in plain sight. What worries me is that Japanese society allows and condones this phenomenon." Will the UN's opinion affect the development of related industries in Japan?