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DE RUEHKO #0820/01 0850710
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 250710Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2855
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCLC/CHILD LABOR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCRI/VIENNA CRIME COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA PRIORITY 5316
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA PRIORITY 9225
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE PRIORITY 0509
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO PRIORITY 7438
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY IA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/FBI WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIAO/HQ ICE IAO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/JUSTICE DEPT WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 000820 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/J, L/LEI, INL, G/TIP 
JUSTICE FOR CEOS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KOCI PREL JA
SUBJECT: CHILD PORNOGRAPHY IN JAPAN: THE AMBASSADOR,S MARCH 
19 MEETING WITH THE HEAD OF KOMEITO 
 
REF: TOKYO 0694 
 
TOKYO 00000820  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  Summary: Something must be done to save children who are 
being abused everyday for child pornography, the Ambassador 
told Komeito Chief Representative Akihiro Ota on March 19. 
Questions about possible human rights abuses if simple 
possession is criminalized are not as important as preventing 
the abuse that is occurring right now.  Arguments about 
possible abuses are theoretical, agreed Ota.  Children with 
futures are being damaged right now.  Once these children are 
saved, then society can address any problems with police 
abuse of power, Ota said.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  Child pornography is a terrible crime that is occurring 
not only in Japan, but also in the United States and across 
the world, the Ambassador told Komeito Chief Representative 
Akihiro Ota during a March 19 meeting.  Unlike prostitution, 
gambling, or drug abuse, which are described as victimless 
crimes, there is always a victim in child pornography.  A 
child doesn't have the legal capacity to give consent.  One 
of the crime's most heartbreaking aspects is that a record of 
the abuse exists for the rest of the victim's life.  The 
United States and Japan should work together to address this 
terrible crime, the Ambassador asserted.  Although some 
people are concerned that criminalizing simple possession 
might give the police too much power, child abuse is 
occurring now as a result of child pornography.  It's not a 
question of abuse that might occur in the future.  If 
governments don't take action, this abuse will continue, the 
Ambassador added. 
 
¶3.  "I feel the same way - the same sense of crisis," said 
Ota.  Dietmembers with legal backgrounds fear possible abuses 
of police power or of the freedom of speech, but children 
with futures are being damaged right now.  Governments must 
rescue these children first, and then address human rights 
issues.  This prioritization is important, said Ota.  Japan 
must face the fact in a "candid and honest way" that it and 
Russia are the only two G8 countries where it is legal to 
possess this material.  It is possible to protect civil 
liberties and protect children, replied the Ambassador.  As 
other G8 countries have done, the Diet can come up with 
legislation that will protect both children and the rights of 
individuals. 
 
¶4.  After the embarrassment of being singled out in the 1996 
Stockholm Conference as a "major" country for child 
pornography, passing the child pornography law in 1999 was a 
positive step, said Komeito Upper House member Toshiko 
Hamayotsu.  She added her thanks to the Ambassador for his 
advocacy on this matter with the Minister of Justice (reftel) 
and with other members of the Diet.  Even though many 
lawmakers who participated in drafting the 1999 law wanted to 
criminalize simple possession, they allowed a compromise on 
the issue to ensure the bill would pass.  As a result, Japan 
is now a major child pornography exporter.  Japan should also 
criminalize child pornography anime (cartoons) and manga 
(comics), stated Hamayotsu. 
 
¶5.  It is important to recognize that there is a difference 
between anime and manga and child pornography that involves 
real children, the Ambassador responded.  It is most 
important to criminalize the possession of child pornography 
involving real children, but the U.S. position is that anime 
and manga with child pornographic images should be also 
criminalized.  When people engaging in deviant behavior see 
this material, it encourages them to do more deviant things 
by making them feel that their behavior is normal.  The 
internet has the same effect by allowing people who view 
child pornography to meet and connect with people like them. 
The U.S. government applauds the 1999 legislation passed in 
Japan, but subsequent expansion of the internet has caused an 
explosion in this activity, the Ambassador pointed out. 
 
¶6.  During a March 18 meeting with members of the Democratic 
Party of Japan (DPJ), some DPJ members stated that they could 
 
TOKYO 00000820  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
never support criminalizing simple possession because they 
would lose the support of the police and of anime/manga 
publishing companies, reported Komeito Councilor Akira Matsu. 
 In Japan, there is a tendency to differentiate between 
reality and the theoretical, added Ota, suggesting that the 
DPJ position is based on the latter.  Human rights issues 
like freedom of speech are important, but expanding rights 
from the child's point of view is the direction that Japan 
must choose, said Ota. 
 
¶7.  "I couldn't agree more," the Ambassador answered.  The 
United States faced a similar issue when outlawing "snuff 
films" that depicted a person's death.  No one was talking 
about freedom of expression at that time because killing a 
person is a crime.  Child pornography is the same: the crime 
begins when the material is made, and persons who possess the 
material are legally liable for aiding and abetting the 
crime.  The United States and Japan must make it known that 
the children of every country are suffering.  Noting that 
some DPJ Diet members had told him how important the child 
pornography issue is to them, the Ambassador told Ota that he 
plans to meet with members of the DPJ, and asked if Ota and 
his colleagues had any other meeting recommendations. 
Hamayotsu suggested that the Ambassador meet with DPJ 
Representative Edano, who is one of the proposed revision's 
most vocal opponents, as well as the leadership of the Japan 
Federation of Bar Associations, which actively opposes any 
action that could be seen to be infringing on the rights of 
the individual. 
 
¶8.  People who oppose criminalizing simple possession are 
most likely the minority among the Japanese public, noted 
Komeito Representative Kaori Maruya.  The "silent majority" 
of Japanese would probably support criminalization, but they 
are not aware of the problem.  The more we can cooperate, the 
more we can make them aware, the Ambassador replied.  No 
mother or father would want their child to suffer this kind 
of abuse, and neither the United States nor Japan has the 
kind of civilization that can allow it to continue.  Although 
some will raise legal questions about ways to protect rights 
and prevent police abuse, these are discussions about what 
might happen if the laws pass.  Children are being abused 
today and will be abused tomorrow, and if we don't do 
something about it, "it is on all of our consciences," the 
Ambassador concluded. 
SCHIEFFER