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Japan's Child Pornography Bill Would Not Restrict Anime, Manga
posted on by Egan Loo
On Wednesday, Japan's Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee discussed a bill to make the possession of child pornography a crime. Japan currently only outlaws the creation and distribution of child pornography. The bill adds possession, but would not criminalize depictions in manga and anime. The Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee unanimously passed the bill to the full House of Representatives, who is in turn expected to pass and send the bill the upper chamber for a vote before June 22.
The bill will replace the previously proposed child pornography bill that included instructions to investigate pornography in manga and anime.
According the bill, anyone found in possession of child pornography could face one year in prison and a fine of one million yen (about US$10,000). The law will not go into effect until one year after it is passed to give potential violators a chance to throw away any child pornography they currently own. Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven industrialized nations that does not criminalize possession of child pornography.
Thanks to Gilles Poitras for the news tip
Source: The Japan Times, The Yomiuri Shimbun's The Japan News
