Pedophilia: A Comparative Study Between Closed and Open Society

PEDOPHILIA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN CLOSED AND
OPEN SOCIETY
A
Dissertation submitted
By
SHIVANI PRIYAM KUMAR
In partial fulfillment
of requirement for the award degree of
Masters of Arts in Criminology
Under
The guidance of
MS. ANJALI NANDAN
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Department of Criminology
JHARKHAND RAKSHA SHAKTI UNIVERSITY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
cont.
cont.
DECLARATION BY THE STUDENT
I hereby declare this dissertation titled Pedophilia: A Comparative Study Between Closed and Open
Society is completed by me and is my original work. It is a record of original work findings and is
based on readily available secondary data.
I also declare that this dissertation submitted to Jharkhand Raksha Shakti University, in partial
fulfillment of requirements for the award of degree of Masters in Arts in Criminology, does not breach
any existing copyright. The findings and results embodied in this work have not been submitted to any
other university for the award of any diploma or degree.
NAME OF THE STUDENT SIGNATURE OF THE

STUDENT

1
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the research work reported in this dissertation titled Pedophilia: A Comparative
Study Between Closed and Open Society is an authentic record of research done by Miss Shivani
Priyam Kumar; Class Roll No., 15; Exam Roll No., 1803100015; Registration No.,
JRSU/PGC/15/2018; Session: 2018-2020; Semester: IV, in partial fulfillment of requirement for the
course Masters of Arts in Criminology from JHARKHAND RAKSHA SHAKTI UNIVERSITY,
Ranchi. This dissertation embodies data collected and analyzed by the student under my guidance. To
the best of my knowledge and belief, the work incorporated in this thesis does not form the basis for the
award of any degree of similar title of this or any other University or examining body.
(ANJALI NANDAN)
SUPERVISOR
DATE:
PLACE: RANCHI
2
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
In the present world of competition there is a race of existence, in which those willing to come forward
succeed. With this willing, I undertook this particular project.
I would like to extend my warmest and the most sincere regards and thanks to my worthy teacher Miss
Anjali Nandan, Assistant Professor, Psychology, JHARKHAND RAKSHA SHAKTI UNIVERSITY,
for her earnest guidance in shaping my dissertation report titled Pedophilia: A Comparative Study
Between Closed and Open Society.
I feel obliged in taking the opportunity to sincerely thank Colonel (Dr.) Rajesh Kumar, Registrar,
JHARKHAND RAKSHA SHAKTI UNIVERSITY, Ranchi for his caring and supportive role during
my dissertation work. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my special thanks to the
Faculty members of JHARKHAND RAKSHA SHAKTI UNIVERSITY, Ranchi.
At last but definitely not the least I would like to thank all my friends who have always helped and
encouraged me throughout the year. I have no valuable words to express my thanks as my heart is full
of favors received from every person I have met along the way. Thank you.

M.A, In Criminology
Exam Roll No., 1803100015
Session : 2018-2020
3
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1. WHAT IS PARAPHILIA?
Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense
sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals.
No consensus has been found for any precise border between unusual sexual interests and paraphilic
ones. There is debate over which, if any, of the paraphilias should be listed in diagnostic manuals, such
as the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual on Mental Disorders (DSM) or the International Classification
of Diseases. (ICD).
The number and taxonomy of paraphilia is under debate; one source lists as many as 549 types of
paraphilia. The DSM-5 has specific listings for eight paraphilic disorders. Several sub-classifications of
the paraphilias have been proposed, and some argue that a fully dimensional, spectrum or complaint-
oriented approach would better reflect the evidence.
1.1 TERMINOLOGY
Many terms have been used to describe atypical sexual interests, and there remains debate regarding
technical accuracy and perceptions of stigma. Sexologist John Money popularized the term paraphilia
as a non-pejorative designation for unusual sexual interest. Money described paraphilia as "a
sexuoerotic embellishment of, or alternative to the official, ideological norm." Psychiatrist Glen
Gabbard writes that despite efforts by Stekel and Money, "the term paraphilia remains pejorative in
most circumstances."
Coinage of the term paraphilia (paraphilie) has been credited to Friedrich Salomon Krauss in 1903,
and it entered the English language in 1913, in reference to Krauss by urologist William J. Robinson. It
was used with some regularity by Wilhelm Stekel in the 1920s. The term comes from the Greek παρά
(para) "beside" and φιλία (-philia) "friendship, love".
In the late 19th century, psychologists and psychiatrists started to categorize various paraphilias as they
wanted a more descriptive system than the legal and religious constructs of sodomy and perversion.
Before the introduction of the term paraphilia in the DSM-III (1980), the term sexual deviation was
used to refer to paraphilias in the first two editions of the manual. In 1981, an article published in
American Journal of Psychiatry described paraphilia as "recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies,
sexual urges, or behaviors generally involving:
 Non-human objects
 The suffering or humiliation of oneself or one’s partner
 Children
 Non-consenting partners
1.2 HOMOSEXUALITY AND NON-HETEROSEXUALITY
Homosexuality no widely accepted to be a normal variant of human sexuality, was at one time
discussed as a sexual deviation. Sigmund Freud and subsequent psychoanalytic thinkers considered
homosexuality and paraphilias to result from psycho-sexual non-normative relations to the Oedipal
Complex. As such, the term sexual perversion or the epithet pervert have historically referred to gay
men, as well as other non-heterosexual (people who fall out of the perceived norms of sexual
orientation).
By the mid-20th century, mental health practitioners began formalizing "deviant sexuality"
classifications into categories. Originally coded as 000-x63, homosexuality was the top of the
classification list (Code 302.0) until the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality
from the DSM in 1973.
1.3 CAUSES
The causes of paraphilic sexual preferences in people are unclear, although a growing body of research
points to a possible prenatal neuro-developmental correlation. A 2008 study analyzing the sexual
fantasies of 200 heterosexual men by using the Wilson Sex Fantasy Questionnaire exam determined
that males with a pronounced degree of fetish interest had a greater number of older brothers, a high
2D:4D digit ratio (which would indicate excessive prenatal estrogen exposure), and an elevated
probability of being left handed, suggesting that disturbed hemispheric brain lateralization may play a
role in deviant attractions.
Behavioral explanations propose that paraphilias are conditioned early in life, during an experience that
pairs the paraphilic stimulus with intense sexual arousal.
1.4 MANAGEMENT
Most clinicians and researchers believe that paraphilic sexual interests cannot be altered, although
evidence is needed to support this. Instead, the goal of therapy is normally to reduce the person's
discomfort with their paraphilia and limit any criminal behavior. Both psycho-therapeutic and
pharmacological methods are available to these ends.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy at times, can help people with paraphilias develop strategies to avoid
acting on their interests. Patients are taught to identify and cope with factors that make acting on their
interests more likely, such as stress. It is currently the only form of psychotherapy for paraphilias
supported by randomized double-blind trials, as opposed to case studies and consensus of expert
opinion.
Medications
Pharmacological treatments can help people control their sexual behaviors, but do not change the
content of the paraphilia. They are typically combined with cognitive behavioral therapy for best effect.
SSRIs
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are used, especially with exhibitionists, non-offending
pedophiles, and compulsive masturbators. They are proposed to work by reducing sexual arousal,
complusitivity, and depressive symptoms. They have been well received and are considered an
important pharmacological treatment of paraphilia.
Antiandrogens
Anti-androgens are used in more severe cases. Similar to physical castrations, they work by reducing
androgen levels, and have thus been described as chemical castrations. The antiandrogen cyproterone
acetate has been shown to substantially reduce sexual fantasies and offending behaviors.
Medroxyprogesterone acetate and gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (such as leuprorelin) have

also been used to lower sex drive. Due to the side effects, the World Federation of Societies of
Biological Psychiatry recommends that hormonal treatments only be used when there is a serious risk
of sexual violence, or when other methods have failed.
Surgical castrations has largely been abandoned because these pharmacological alternatives are
similarly effective and less invasive.
2. PEDOPHILIA
Pedophilia (alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older
adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to pre-pubescant children. Although
girls typically begin the process of puberty at age 10 or 11, and boys at age 11 or 12, criteria for
pedophilia extend the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13. A person must be at least 16 years old,
and at least five years older than the prepubescent child, for the attraction to be diagnosed as
pedophilia.
Pedophilia is termed pedophilic disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorder
(DSM-5) , and the manual defines it as a paraphilia involving intense and recurrent sexual urges
towards and fantasies about prepubescent children that have either been acted upon or which cause the
person with the attraction distress or interpersonal difficulty. The International Classification of
Diseases (ICD 11) defines it as a "sustained, focused, and intense pattern of sexual arousal—as
manifested by persistent sexual thoughts, fantasies, urges, or behaviors—involving pre-pubertal
children."
In popular usage, the word pedophilia is often applied to any sexual interest in children or the act of
child sexual abuse. This use conflates the sexual attraction to prepubescent children with the act of
child sexual abuse and fails to distinguish between attraction to prepubescent and pubescent or post-
pubescent minors. Researchers recommend that these imprecise uses be avoided, because although
some people who commit child sexual abuse are pedophiles, child sexual abuse offenders are not
pedophiles unless they have a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children, and some
pedophiles do not molest children.
Pedophilia was first formally recognized and named in the late 19th century. A significant amount of
research in the area has taken place since the 1980s. Although mostly documented in men, there are
also women who exhibit the disorder, and researchers assume available estimates under represent the
true number of female pedophiles. No cure for pedophilia has been developed, but there are therapies
that can reduce the incidence of a person committing child sexual abuse.
The exact causes of pedophilia have not been conclusively established. Some studies of pedophilia in
child sex offenders have correlated it with various neurological abnormalities and psychological
pathologies.
2.2 SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Development
Pedophilia emerges before or during puberty, and is stable over time. It is self-discovered, not chosen.
For these reasons, pedophilia has been described as a disorder of sexual preference,
phenomenologically similar to a heterosexual or homosexual orientation. These observations, however,
do not exclude pedophilia from the group of mental disorders because pedophilic acts cause harm, and
mental health professionals can sometimes help pedophiles to refrain from harming children.
In response to misinterpretations that the American Psychiatric Association considers pedophilia a

sexual orientation because of wording in its printed DSM-5 manual, which distinguishes between
paraphilia and what it calls "paraphilic disorder", subsequently forming a division of "pedophilia" and
"pedophilic disorder".
Comorbidity and personality traits
Studies of pedophilia in child sex offenders often report that it co-occurs with other psychopathologies,
such as low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and personality problems. It is not clear whether these are
features of the disorder itself, artifacts of sampling bias, or consequences of being identified as a sex
offender.
Impaired self-concept and interpersonal functioning were reported in a sample of child sex offenders
who met the diagnostic criteria for pedophilia by Cohen et al. (2002), which the authors suggested
could contribute to motivation for pedophilic acts. The pedophilic offenders in the study had elevated
psychopathy and cognitive distortions compared to healthy community controls. This was interpreted
as underlying their failure to inhibit their criminal behavior. tudies in 2009 and 2012 found that non-
pedophilic child sex offenders exhibited psychopathy, but pedophiles did not.
Child pornography
Consumption of child pornography is a more reliable indicator of pedophilia than molesting a child
although some non-pedophiles also view child pornography. Child pornography may be used for a
variety of purposes, ranging from private sexual gratification or trading with other collectors, to
preparing children for sexual abuse as part of the child grooming process.
Pedophilic viewers of child pornography are often obsessive about collecting, organizing, categorizing,
and labeling their child pornography collection according to age, gender, sex act and fantasy.
According to FBI agent Ken Lanning, "collecting" pornography does not mean that they merely view
pornography, but that they save it, and "it comes to define, fuel, and validate their most cherished
sexual fantasies". Lanning states that the collection is the single best indicator of what the offender
wants to do, but not necessarily of what has been or will be done. Researchers Taylor and Quayle
reported that pedophilic collectors of child pornography are often involved in anonymous internet
communities dedicated to extending their collections.
2.3 CAUSES
Although what causes pedophilia is not yet known, researchers began reporting a series of findings
linking pedophilia with brain structure and function, beginning in 2002. Testing individuals from a
variety of referral sources inside and outside the criminal justice system as well as controls, these
studies found associations between pedophilia and lower IQ, poorer scores on memory tests, greater
rates of non-right-handedness, greater rates of school grade failure over and above the IQ differences,
lesser physical height, greater probability of having suffered childhood head injuries resulting in
unconsciousness, and several differences in MRI-detected brain structures.
Such studies suggest that there are one or more neurological characteristics present at birth that cause
or increase the likelihood of being pedophilic. Some studies have found that pedophiles are less
cognitively impaired than non-pedophilic child molesters. A 2011 study reported that pedophilic child
molesters had deficits in response inhibition, but no deficits in memory or cognitive flexibility.
Evidence of familial transmittability "suggests, but does not prove that genetic factors are responsible"
for the development of pedophilia. A 2015 study indicated that pedophilic offenders have a normal IQ.
Another study, using structural MRI, indicated that male pedophiles have a lower volume of white
matter than a control group. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has indicated that child
molesters diagnosed with pedophilia have reduced activation of the hypothalamus as compared with
non-pedophilic persons when viewing sexually arousing pictures of adults.A 2008 functional
neuroimagging study notes that central processing of sexual stimuli in heterosexual "paedophile
forensic inpatients" may be altered by a disturbance in the prefrontal networks, which "may be
associated with stimulus-controlled behaviours, such as sexual compulsive behaviours". The findings
may also suggest "a dysfunction at the cognitive stage of sexual arousal processing"
While not causes of pedophilia themselves, childhood abuses by adults or comorbid psychiatric
illnesses—such as personality disorders and substance abuse—are risk factors for acting on pedophilic
urges.
A study analyzing the sexual fantasies of 200 heterosexual men by using the Wilson Sex Fantasy
Questionnaire exam determined that males with a pronounced degree of paraphilic interest (including
pedophilia) had a greater number of older brothers, a high 2D:4D digit ratio which would indicate low
prenatal androgen exposure), and an elevated probability of being left-handed, suggesting that
disturbed hemispherical brain lateralization may play a role in deviant attractions.[
2.4 MANAGEMENT
General
There is no evidence that pedophilia can be cured. Instead, most therapies focus on helping the
pedophile refrain from acting on their desires. Some therapies do attempt to cure pedophilia, but there
are no studies showing that they result in a long-term change in sexual preference. Micheal Seto
suggests that attempts to cure pedophilia in adulthood are unlikely to succeed because its development
is influenced by prenatal factors. Pedophilia appears to be difficult to alter but pedophiles can be helped
to control their behavior, and future research could develop a method of prevention.
There are several common limitations to studies of treatment effectiveness. Most categorize their
participants by behavior rather than erotic age preference, which makes it difficult to know the specific
treatment outcome for pedophiles.
10
Many do not select their treatment and control groups randomly. Offenders who refuse or quit
treatment are at higher risk of offending, so excluding them from the treated group, while not excluding
those who would have refused or quit from the control group, can bias the treated group in favor of
those with lower recidivism. The effectiveness of treatment for non-offending pedophiles has not been
studied.
Cognitive behavioral therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) aims to reduce attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that may increase
the likelihood of sexual offenses against children. Its content varies widely between therapists, but a
typical program might involve training in self-control, social competence and empathy, and use
cognitive restructuring o change views on sex with children. The most common form of this therapy is
relapse prevention, where the patient is taught to identify and respond to potentially risky situations
based on principles used for treating addictions.
The evidence for cognitive behavioral therapy is mixed. Meta-analyses in 2002 and 2005, which
included both randomized and non-randomized studies, concluded that CBT reduced recidivism. There
is debate over whether non-randomized studies should be considered informative. More research is
needed.
Behavioral interventions
Behavioral treatments target sexual arousal to children, using satiation and aversion techniques to
suppress sexual arousal to children and covert sensitization(or masturbatory reconditioning) to increase
sexual arousal to adults. Behavioral treatments appear to have an effect on sexual arousal patterns
during phallometric testing, but it is not known whether the effect represents changes in sexual interests
or changes in the ability to control genital arousal during testing, nor whether the effect persists in the
long term. For sex offenders with mental disabilities, applied d behavior analysis has been used.
Sex drive reduction
Pharmacological interventions are used to lower the sex drive in general, which can ease the
management of pedophilic feelings, but does not change sexual preference. Antiandrogens work by
interfering with the activity of testosterone. Cyproterone acetate (Androcur) and medroxyprogesterone
acetate (Depo-Provera) are the most commonly used. The efficacy of antiantrogens has some support,
but few high-quality studies exist. Cyproterone acetate has the strongest evidence for reducing sexual
arousal, while findings on medroxyprogesterone acetate have been mixed.
11
Historically, surgical castration was used to lower sex drive by reducing testosterone. The emergence
of pharmacological methods of adjusting testosterone has made it largely obsolete, because they are
similarly effective and less invasive. It is still occasionally performed in Germany, the Czech Republic,
Switzerland, and a few U.S. states. Non-randomized studies have reported that surgical castration
reduces recidivism in contact sex offenders. The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers
opposes surgical castration and the Council of Europe works to bring the practice to an end in Eastern
European countries where it is still applied through the courts.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Children are believed to be the one of the many joys of life that makes human life worth living for.
Across societies and cultures, children have always been considered as the torch bearer of a happier
and more prosperous future for mankind. Unfortunately, even children have been subjected to crime
and social injustices; more so in last few decades. Be it forceful abduction, being victims of war, child
abuse or victims of sexual abuse and assault. The last particularly, has grown into a major menace.
Pedophilia isn’t only about the person that involves themselves in the act but also about the victim who
have to live with the trauma and impact of the crime for all their lives. It also breaches moral codes of
conduct and the norms on which the functionality of any society is based. We often hear people
offering solutions in order to deal with pedophiles while conveniently disregarding or forgetting about
the causes behind the same. The layman observation points to a rising crime rate involving children,
especially of sexual nature. And the layman observation also shows the rate to be different for different
societies.
In closed societies or mechanical societies, that lays exceptional emphasis on filial relationships and
duties; it is observed that children are at a higher risk of being victims of crime of sexual nature. While
in an open society or an organic society the rate of sexual crime against children, though in existence, is
far low when compared to a closed society. The purpose of the study is to provide an effective and
easily accessible overview of how societies influence or enable the act of pedophilia. More often than
not a crime is enabled not because of lack of legislation or public awareness but because the silence of
the structure that makes a socio-cultural setup. For example, in context of India the legal principle that
governs the protection of children from sexual exploitation is ‘The Protection of Children from Sexual
Offenses Act, 2012’ also known as POCSO Act. The recent amendment to the said act made sexual
offenders victimizing children be awarded death penalty. Despite the act being in existence since 2012,
from 2009-2014 alone India saw a staggering rise of 151% in cases of sexual offenses against children
according to National Crime Records Bureau.
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In case of Republic of Korea, the legislator passed a law that allowed chemical castration of pedophiles
in 2011 along with death penalty or life time imprisonment. Despite the existence of such a law in
place, Republic of Korea woke up to two major pedophilic scandals in 2019 and 2020; where countless
of minor children were made sexual slaves and were raped repeatedly. This in turn becomes ample
proof of the fact that there is something else at play when we discuss cases of sexual violence against
children, especially pedophilia.
Laura Kowenkron (2014) in her paper titled ‘All Against Pedophilia’ argues that the idea of social
construction of pedophilia can be understood by the means of the effort of the state and society to
combat pedophilia. The politicization of sexuality, especially that of children is more often than not the
cause behind their treatment as adult. She further says that the sexual crimes against children are the
most dramatic phase of sexual violence witnessed in the society. While the public outrage and demand
to punish the perpetrators remain high, little success has been achieved when it comes to combating the
actual cases of pedophilia. Her argument was based on the notion that pedophilia is a a reaction to
control of sexuality of people by state and larger public morality. The fact that society imposes certain
codes of conduct on the sexual behavior of a person leads to deviation against the set norms of social
morality.
She further illustrates on the argument by talking about the child pornography consumption in state of
Brazil despite the heavy criticism from the general public. The fact that such material are readily
available for the consumption of people points to the fact that the social construct becomes an
important causal factor of pedophilia and sexual violence meted out to children.
Ole Martin Moen (2015) in their paper ‘The Ethics of Pedophilia’ says that society’s reaction to
pedophilia depends on the perception of whether the pedophile is good or bad. When a pedophile
engages in sexual act with a child the public outrage is higher while the same doesn’t hold true when it
happens to an ‘adult-child’ or a child that is over 16 and is nearing the Universal Adult Franchise. The
reaction to pedophilia is solely based upon the intensity of perceived harm. When a young child, who is
totally dependent on adult is made victim of sexual crime the reaction towards pedophile is severe and
the blameworthiness of the pedophile increases. This however isn’t true in case of an adult-child. In
case of an adult-child, some of the blame also falls on the victim and their activity prior to the sexual
crime against them. Moen argues that this is due the fact that adult-children aren’t as dependent on
adult for their needs and hence their treatment is similar to women victim of rape; where the first blame
14
is shared by the victim as well.
Moen further states that pedophilia is deep rooted, integral problem. Because moral principles
governing the lives of people state it to be wrong, it is rationalized in other form. The easiest being
engaging with adult-children who can give consent (however dubious that might be) and take away the
onus of the act from a pedophile. This also explains the less severe public reaction to the crime against
adult-children.
Harvard Medical School’s publication by Dominique A. Simons (2015) titled ‘Sex Offender
Typologies’ he reiterates findings of Finkelhor (1984) that child sexual abuse is when the victim is in
the ages between 13-16 or younger and the perpetrator is at least 10 years older. Child sexual abusers
often develop a relationship with a child to manipulate him or her into compliance with the sexual act,
which is perhaps the most damaging component of child sexual abuse (John Jay College, 2004).
Simons categorizes the difference between a pedophile and a rapist using these typologies. A rapist
could be younger and their victims could be older than them, of their age or younger than them. But in
all three cases the significant age difference between the offender and the victim isn’t that significant.
Also a rapist, who rapes a child, isn’t sexually attracted to the said child. The motive to a rapist’s crime
could be multiple in addition to lust. In case of a pedophile, however, they are strictly attracted to a
child as that is what provides them with sexual arousal. Their victims are young children, often at a
significant age difference of 10 years or more. Also pedophilia may or may not lead to child sexual
abuse and could only be limited to watching child pornography or fantasizing about sexual relation
with a child. The paper further states that researchers have found that pedophiles exhibited heightened
sexuality in childhood. Within the adult sex offender population, Simons, Wurtele and Durham
(2004) found that child sexual abusers, as compared to rapists, reported more experiences of child
sexual abuse, early exposure to pornography, sexual activities with animals and an earlier onset of
masturbation.
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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
The major objective of the study is to examine pedophilia in terms of ethnological and social reaction
to pedophilia in closed and open societies. For the purpose of study, three closed societies are
considered: Japan, Republic of Korea and India. Along with two open societies: the Netherlands and
Sweden.
The demarcation between open and closed societies being the family structure and emphasis on filial
relationships and expectations of duties from such filial relationships. In a closed society the family
structure and associated duties and responsibilities are laid exceptional emphasis on, while in case of an
open society; though family is important, the rigidity of expectations are absent.
HYPOTHESIS OF STUDY
The supposition or proposed explanation for the study are:
1. Closed societies tend to see an exponential rise in cases of pedophilia.
2. Pedophilia is an outcome of societal norms.

METHODOLOGY
In this study, the research is done in Qualitative Method to identify the ethnological and social reaction
to pedophilia and how pedophilia is perceived and/if enabled.
The study is done in descriptive nature thus describing the history, society, sexual deviation and present
day aspects of the various society in respect to pedophilia and child sexual fantasies. The basis of this
study is secondary data which had been obtained from National Crime Record Bureau, National Police
Agency and statistics and data available in public domain through the internet. The study comprises
study of the data and the cases/social phenomenon to arrive at a conclusion.
16
SAMPLING METHOD
1. Simple random sampling
2. Cluster sampling
17
JAPAN
1. A BRIEF HISTORY
Japan has been shaped by both its isolation as an island nation and its proximity to the the massive
Asian countries of China and Korea, During times of openness, the country absorbed ideas and cultures
from abroad: in times of retreat, it has incubated its own methods of doing things. This has created the
Japan of today.
A) Emergence of the Nation.
The people of the Jomon period (8000-300 BC) were Neolithic hunting-and-gathering bands. During
the Yayoi period (300 BC.-300 AD) extensive cultural contact with and migration from the Asian
mainland occurred, and a society arose that was based on irrigated rice cultivation. The basic genetic
stock of the population and the fundamental patterns of the language were established during that
period.
Japan came to the attention of China in the fourth century. During the Yamato period (300-552 AD),
small chieftains coalesced into a rudimentary state-level society. The mythologies of the indigenous
Japanese religion, Shinto date from that period; came to be regarded as the imperial family, which
claims an unbroken line of descent since this period.
In 552, emissaries from the Korean kingdom of Paekche established contact with the Yamato rulers.
They introduced Buddhism and thus brought Japan into systematic contact with Chinese civilization.
Almost every aspect of Japanese life—agricultural technology, written language, philosophy,
architecture, poetry, medicine, and law—was transformed. The Yamato state adopted the conventions
of the Chinese imperial court and tried to model society along the lines of Chinese civilization.
In the late eighth century, a new capital was established at what is now Kyoto, and during the Heian
period (794–1185) Japanese classical civilization blossomed. Kyoto became the aristocratic center of a
refined culture that was influenced by contact with China but developed independent and sophisticated
aesthetic, literary, and artistic styles. The tales of Genji, the world's first novel, epitomizes the culture
of the Heian period.
By the end of the Heian period, economic, social, and military power had shifted to provincial
landholders and warriors. From the beginning of the Kamakura period (1185–1333) the imperial court
appointed a Shogun: a supreme military commander who acted in the name of the imperial court but
was in fact the supreme political authority. Several successive hereditary dynasties occupied this
position until 1868. Central control was in the hands of the Shogun’s court, while regional lords
governed individual provincial domains and commanded the personal loyalty of warrior retainers
(samurai). The Kamakura period and the following periods were characterized by a warrior culture,
including the development of Japanese forms of austere Zen Buddhism, martial arts, and the
philosophic code of warrior life now called Bushido.
The medieval period ended in a century of civil war lasting from the late fifteenth to the late sixteenth
century. Contacts with the West began in the mid-sixteenth century with the arrival of the Portuguese
Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier. The introduction of Western weaponry hastened the consolidation of
power among a few increasingly dominant warlords who unified the country and ended the civil war.
In 1603 Tokugawa Ieyasu decisively defeated most of the remaining opponents, and established a
dynasty that lasted until 1868. For over 260 years, Japan experienced political stability, peace, and
rising prosperity. Ieyasu established his capital in Edo (renamed Tokyo in 1868), which commanded
the Kantō region and was distant from the imperial court in Kyoto. The Tokugawa regime ruled
through a complicated network of alliances with approximately 250 regional lords, some closely allied
to the Tokugawa and others in opposition but permanently subdued. Each fief retained its own castle
town, and as a political strategy, some fiefs maintained a high degree of economic, social, and cultural
autonomy.
During the Tokugawa period, culture and society became codified and somewhat uniform across the
country. Patterns established during this period shaped, propelled, and constrained the country's
modernization after 1868. By the 1630s, the Tokugawa regime had ruthlessly suppressed Christian
communities and broken off most ties with European nations. It disarmed the peasantry and imposed
rigid household registration requirements to keep the population spatially and socially immobile.
Traffic along the great highways was scrutinized at heavily guarded checkpoints. Trade was controlled
through feudal guilds, and detailed sumptuous regulations governed the lives of all social classes.
These social policies reflected the ideology of Neo-Confucianism, which valued social stability and the
social morality of ascribed status. Tokugawa social structure was organized around principles of
hierarchy, centralized authority, and collective responsibility. Individuals were expected to subordinate
themselves to the specific obligations of their ascribed social roles, and virtue consisted of perfecting
one's ability to fit the requirements of one's role. In the upper reaches of society, the kinship system
upheld Neo-Confucian ideals of the family as a microcosm of the social order. Neo-Confucianism also
established a rigid system of ranked social classes: warriors, peasants, artisans, and merchants. Status
reflected ideals of social utility, not wealth. Beyond those four hereditary official classes, Tokugawa
society included a tiny stratum of imperial nobility, a large clerical establishment, and a population of
outcasts.
Throughout this period, regional castle towns and the major urban centers under the direct control of
the Tokugawa authorities became increasingly integrated into a national economic, social, and cultural
network. Urban economic power increased over the agrarian sectors. This undermined Tokugawa
political power, which depended on the control of agricultural land and taxes.
In the cities, bourgeois culture flourished: kabuki drama, bunraku puppet theater, sumo wrestling,
ukiyo woodblock prints, and geisha entertainers
Irrigated fields in front of a housing development near Kyoto. Only about 15 percent of Japan is
level enough for agriculture.
were all creations of the urban culture. Japanese cities equaled or surpassed their European counterparts
in infrastructure and public amenities, but Japanese urbanites lacked a political voice commensurate
with their economic and cultural capital.
Tokugawa social patterns and institutions laid the foundations for modernization. The urban merchant
classes stimulated the development of sophisticated national economic institutions and the beginning of
industrial production. Literacy and computational ability were widespread among samurai, merchants,
and the upper levels of the peasantry. The samurai became a hereditary class of bureaucrats whose
qualifications for leadership depended on education. Society was characterized by discipline and
regulation.
The Tokugawa dynasty surrendered its authority to the imperial court in 1868 after a long struggle. The
political crisis included major internal economic problems and the unexpected confrontation with the
Western powers precipitated by the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry and a squadron of American
warships in 1853. Opponents of the Tokugawa demanded that it take a firm stand against foreign
intrusions and then overthrew the regime. The result was a largely peaceful coup known as the Meiji
Restoration, which marked the beginning of the nation's modernization.
The Meiji regime reconnected imperial rule with civil political authority and military power. Under the
nominal leadership of Emperor Meiji, the imperial government was run by the young samurai who had
defeated the Tokugawa dynasty. They were fiercely nationalistic and attempted to bring Japanese
society into parity with European and North American powers. Society was thoroughly transformed as
the leaders created a strong centralized state centered on the imperial line, built a modern military,
avoided European colonization, began imperialist expansion into other parts of East Asia, and launched
industrialization and economic development.
Although they had come to power under the slogan "Revere the Emperor; Expel the Barbarians," the
Meiji leaders built a strong state and society along the lines of an industrial European country. Meiji
leaders balanced Western powers again each other to avoid domination by any single patron. The
government sent delegations to study legal institutions, commerce and industry, science and
technology, military affairs, architecture, arts, and medicine in Europe and North America. Foreign
experts were hired, and young Japanese were sent to study at Western universities. The new slogan was
"Eastern values; Western science."
Meiji leaders also emphasized the imperial family as the foundation of the state and strengthened
institutions and ideologies, including Shinto religious beliefs, that supported the imperial family. From
the late nineteenth century until 1945, an official cult (State Shinto) dominated the national ideology.
The Meiji grafted the trappings of contemporary Western monarchies onto the sacred imperial
institution, creating a court nobility that resembled European aristocracies. Samurai ranks were
abolished in 1872. The centrality of the state was strengthened by a new national educational system,
and a growing military.
Treaties signed by the Tokugawa regime had created zones where Western citizens lived independently
of Japanese laws. These "treaty ports" were important sources of Western influence, and many schools,
hospitals, and other institutions created by foreign missionaries became prominent. The system of
extraterritoriality, however, was considered degrading, and the government tried to transform social life
and culture in ways that would command the respect of the Western powers.
Japan rapidly built a Western-style navy and army and attempted to expand its influence in East Asia. It
annexed the Ryukyu islands, took control of Formosa (Taiwan) after its success in the Sino-Japanese
War, and was granted equal status with the Western powers in dealings with China. Extraterritoriality
ended in 1899, and victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905)—resulted in the possession of
several islands north of Hokkaido and Russia's extensive interests in Manchuria. In 1910, Japan
annexed Korea. By the 1920s, Japan considered itself a world military power.
This military might was made possible by industrialization after the 1870s. The state built industries
such as shipyards, iron smelters, and spinning mills and sold them to well-connected entrepreneurs.
Domestic companies became consumers of Western technology and applied it to the production of
goods that could be sold cheaply on the world market. Industrial zones grew enormously, and there was
steady migration from the countryside to the newly industrializing centers. Industrialization was
accompanied by the development of a national railway system and modern communications.
In addition to state-sponsored innovations such as uniform national education and the creation of a
single national dialect, popular interest in Western life increased throughout the Meiji period, starting at
elite levels and eventually extending to almost all social groups, especially in the largest cities. Not all
social changes were modeled on the West, however. The goal of the state was to promote nationalist
ideolōgies centered on imperial institutions and the Shinto religion and to preserve a strong
consciousness of national identity. Many aspects of tradition and history were codified. From Shinto to
sumo, from the celebration of political loyalty and social conformity to the organization of kinship
patterns, almost all aspects of life were suffused with consciousness of the national identity.
Nation building and industrialization were complete by the early twentieth century. During the Taisho
period (1912–1926), the political and intellectual climate became more liberal, shaped by the large new
middle classes that formed in major urban areas. Mass media and popular culture developed in parallel
to the Jazz Age in the West. Political democracy was encouraged; and leftist groups agitated for
political freedom and workers' rights.
With the beginning of the Showa period in 1926 (when Hirohito, the Emperor Showa, succeeded to the
throne), society shifted increasingly toward the right. The military assumed a larger role in politics, and
conservative forces made international "respect," military expansion, and the sanctity of imperial
institutions the cornerstones of public life. Throughout the 1930s, military and colonial adventures in
Manchuria and elsewhere in China led to open war, and society became increasingly militarized. The
war in China grew more intense, and international condemnation of Japanese atrocities poisoned
relations with the Western nations. Japan joined with Italy and Germany in the Axis because its
military planners saw the United States and its interests in Asia as inimical.
Diplomatic relations with the Western powers grew worse, and on 7 December 1941, Japanese forces
attacked Pearl Harbor. Japan almost simultaneously attacked all the major territories claimed by
Western colonial powers, including American possessions such as Hawaii and the Philippines. The
stated goal was to create a "Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere" in which Western imperialism
would be banished.
In the first year and a half of the Pacific War, Japanese forces were on the offensive, but by 1944,
Allied forces were recapturing the Western Pacific. Allied naval victories destroyed Japan's fleets and
shipping, and bombing raids began in 1944. They destroyed most of the domestic infrastructure and
took an enormous toll on civilians. Anticipating that an invasion of Japan would be a bloodbath,
American military planners proceeded with the development of the atomic bomb. American military
scientists developed the atomic bomb in secrecy, and it was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki after
the Allies called for Japan's unconditional surrender. On 15 August 1945, the Emperor announced that
his government had capitulated.
From 1945 until 1952, Japan was occupied by Allied troops under the command of U.S. General
Douglas MacArthur. The early postwar years were a time of massive rebuilding. Millions of people
were homeless, and millions more were repatriated from the former colonies. The economy was
shattered, and mass starvation was a threat. Disillusionment with the cultural and social frameworks of
prewar and wartime life was widespread.
The Occupation launched social and cultural reforms, including a democratic constitution and political
system, universal adult suffrage, the emperor's renunciation of divinity and separation of religion from
state control, agricultural land reform, the dismantling of major economic and industrial combines, the
expansion of education, language reform, and expanded civil liberties.
By the mid-1950s, the initial reconstruction of society and economy had largely been accomplished,
and the government had built a conservative consensus that the national priorities were economic
growth and social stability, which would be achieved through the close cooperation of business and a
government directed by bureaucratic elites. After the late 1950s, this "developmental state" created the
social, economic, and political contexts in which ordinary people could experience middle-class urban
lifestyles.
The characteristics of postwar urban middle-class life included small nuclear families in which mothers
focused on their children's education and from which fathers were largely absent because of their
occupational obligations. The typical white-collar urban family was secure in the knowledge that
lifetime employment was the norm.
In the 1960s and 1970s, success in the domestic economy began to be felt around the world as
consumer products from Japan began to dominate overseas markets. Economic growth was politically
unassailable, but the costs in terms of pollution, declines in the agricultural sector, and massive urban
growth without adequate infrastructure were enormous. Grassroots movements developed to combat
problems spawned by the developmental ethos; those movements were limited in their effectiveness.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Japan experienced unprecedented prosperity. Riding massive trade
surpluses and producing top-quality products, the economy was regarded as a model for other industrial
and postindustrial societies. That economic strength allowed investment in overseas assets. The
affluence of ordinary consumers manifested itself in a growing market for luxury items, conspicuous
consumption, and very short product cycles. Although work schedules permitted little leisure time,
travel became a desired commodity. High levels of disposable income, however, masked the
astronomical cost of real estate and the growing division in urban society between the wealthy and the
poor.
Political leaders have rarely acknowledged Japan's role as a conqueror of neighboring countries, and
the nation has not expressed explicit regret.
National self-identity after the war focused instead on the pursuit of peace, and many Japanese stress
their own country's losses.
Because of the intensity of pacifism in contemporary society, opposition to the military runs very
strong, and the article in the constitution that prohibits military involvement is of great symbolic
importance.
The Showa Emperor died in 1989, succeeded by his son, who became the Emperor Heisei. His
coronation and the elaborate Shinto rites that accompanied it were reminders of prewar rituals that
evoked unwelcome memories of nationalism. The Heisei period (1989 to the present) began with great
hopes that it would usher in the "Japanese century," but the era of prosperity sputtered to a halt. The
Heisei period has thus far been a time of unremitting economic stagnation. Simultaneously, the political
system has been shaken by the breakup of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in 1993 and by
widespread corruption scandals. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, there is a general sense
that the postwar model of a stable, prosperous, and well-governed society has run its course.
B) Classes and Castes.
Japanese society has been portrayed as being essentially classless or as having a class structure in
which very tiny elite groups and underclasses bracket an enormous number of middle-class people.
However, there are significant social differences among rural and urban residents, including family
composition, educational attainment, and labor force participation. Within the urban population, social
differentiation exists between the white-collar, salaried "new middle class," blue-collar industrial
workers, and the self-employed petty entrepreneurial classes of shopkeepers and artisans.
The Neo-Confucian class system was abolished in the 1870s, but remnants of it continue to influence
cultural attitudes toward social position, including the entitlement of elite groups to lead society and
ideas about conformity to social expectations. Other legacies of pre modern stratification include the
continued existence of "outcast" populations. This "untouchable" status results
A farmhouse in Hokkaido. Only a small portion of Japan's work force is employed in agriculture.
from stigmas associated with Shinto and Buddhist beliefs about purity and pollution. The status is
hereditary, but the people so stigmatized are indistinguishable from other residents in terms of
language, ethnic background, or physical appearance.
Other marginalized urban social categories include a large floating population of day laborers and
migrant laborers, who have been joined by an increasing number of illegal and quasi-legal immigrants
from China, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
One of the most important determinants of social stratification is educational attainment. Japanese
people refer to a "credential" society, and educational credentials have often been regarded as the most
important criteria for employment and marriage, particularly among the urban middle classes.
B) Division of Labor by Gender.
Because of Shinto beliefs about ritual purity and pollution, women were excluded from many aspects
of ritual life. Women were not permitted to enter certain sacred spaces, and in some communities were
forbidden to board fishing vessels or enter mines or tunnels. Most of these prohibitions have vanished,
but in some ritual contexts they continue. For example, women are still excluded from sumo wrestling
rings.
Neo-Confucianism defined all social roles in terms of hierarchical relationships; including the
domination of husband over wife and of father over children. In the late nineteenth century, when new
legal codes institutionalized family norms, the control of husband over wife was codified. In virtually
all legal, political, and social contexts outside the home, women were subordinate to the male
household head.
C) The Relative Status of Women and Men.
Authority and autonomy for women traditionally were confined to domestic matters. A male household
head represented the family to the outside world and controlled its public affairs; within the home, his
wife might exercise great control in managing the day-to-day life of the family. Changes in family
structure since the end of World War II have eroded the patriarchal domination of households.
The constitution of 1947 made equality of the sexes an established principle, and the legal framework
of the traditional family structure has been dismantled. However, the practical impact of legal changes
on women's status has been gradual. Despite
Downtown Hiroshima and the memorial of the atomic bomb. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
brought Japan to unconditional surrender in World War II.
new employment laws, equality in education, and employment, career advancement remains an ideal,
and "glass ceilings," gender gaps in salaries, and different educational and employment tracks remain
common.
Women's social participation also reflects various gendered divides. The Japanese language includes
sharply divergent styles of speech for men and women. Women often are expected to use a more polite
and formal style of speech that implies deference and observance of the established hierarchy.
D) Marriage, Family, and Kinship
Marriage.
Marriage is generally based on mutual attraction between individuals; this is known as a "love
marriage" in contrast to the traditional "arranged marriage" in which a go-between negotiated a match
in a process that might give parental opinions more weight than those of the prospective bride and
groom. Some vestiges of arranged marriage continue and many couples rely on matchmakers to find
mates. Background checks on a prospective spouse and his or her family are routine.
Weddings are almost always held in hotels or wedding halls, with a lavish banquet for several dozen
guests. The ceremonies blend elements from Shintō marriage rituals and stylized adaptations of
Christian weddings. Weddings are elaborately staged, and the bride and groom typically go through
several changes of costume.
Domestic Unit.
Most families, especially in urban areas, are nuclear, consisting of the parents and their children.
Slightly extended families, such as an elderly parent living with a married couple and their children, are
not uncommon, but in general extended kin groups no longer play a major role in people's daily lives.
Inheritance.
The primary imperative of the family as a social institution was to survive across the generations. The
household head's role ideally was to be steward for a family's intergenerational fortunes, honoring the
memories of ancestors who had established the family's position and ensuring that family assets,
traditions, and social standing would be passed on intact to an unbroken line of future heirs.
In traditional agrarian life, land was almost never divided, because to do so might imperil the next
generation's ability to survive. So in most cases, inheritance was by a single child, usually the eldest
son. In the case of an extremely prosperous family, they might be able to establish other children in
newly independent family lines, which would remain forever subservient to the original line.
Various kinds of fictive kinship modeled on patterns of adoption and relationships between family
branches have been used to sustain other kinds of social relationships. Patron-client relationships
sometimes are referred to as parent-child ties, and may involve elaborate formal rituals of bonding.
Traditional artistic life is structured around master-apprentice relationships that involve adoption and
the establishment of lineages.
Kin Groups.
The kinship system before World War II was based on upper-class family patterns established during
the late Tokugawa period. In the late nineteenth century, the Meiji government put in place legal norms
and standards that defined an ideal family structure. It established clear rules about membership,
inheritance patterns, and the authority of the household head over assets and
Women in costume at the Needle Festival in Tokyo.
marriages.
This legal structure was radically altered after World War II, by reducing patriarchal authority,
increasing the legal rights of women, and requiring that estates be shared among children and widows.
Patterns of traditional kinship still shape the social conventions of family life. The traditional family
system was organized around a multi-generational household with a single central authority: the male
household head. Inheritance of a family's estate and succession to a family's occupation, social position,
and obligations devolved to a single child. In most regions, this involved inheritance and succession by
the oldest son. All other children were expected to leave the natal household and become members of
another family system through marriage or adoption. In terms of social participation, the household was
considered as a single unit rather than the sum of its members.
2. EMERGENCE OF SEXUAL DEVIANCE IN JAPAN
A) RAPE OF NANJING/ NANJING MASSACRE
Nanjing Massacre (December 1937–January 1938), mass killing and ravaging of Chinese citizens and
soldiers by soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army after its seizure of Nanjing, China on December 13,
1937, during the Sino-Japanese War that preceded World War II. The number of Chinese killed in the
massacre has been subject to much debate, with most estimates ranging from 100,000 to more than
300,000.
The destruction of Nanjing—which had been the capital of the Nationalist Chinese from 1928 to 1937
—was ordered by Matsui Iwane, commanding general of the Japanese Central China Front Army that
captured the city. Over the next several weeks, Japanese soldiers carried out Matsui’s orders,
perpetrating numerous mass executions and tens of thousands of rapes. The army looted and burned the
surrounding towns and the city, destroying more than a third of the buildings. In 1940 the Japanese
made Nanjing the capital of their Chinese puppet government headed by Wang Ching-wei. Shortly
after the end of World War II, Matsui and Tani Hisao, a lieutenant general who had personally
participated in acts of murder and rape, were found guilty of war crimes by the International Military
Tribunal for the Far East and were executed.
A TIME LINE OF EVENTS
In November 1937 , Chinese forces abandoned the imperial capital of Nanjing—before the Japanese
even arrived. From December 1937 to March 1938, Japanese terrorized the people of Nanjing.
Prisoners of war and men suspected of being Chinese soldiers in civilian clothes were marched by
Japanese soldiers to execution sites and gunned down the masses. Women were gang-raped in front of
their families; streets were filled with rotting corpses; Japanese soldiers pulled carts full of loot;
children were casually murdered. The world was shocked by Japan's brutal aggression. Even swastika-
wearing Nazis set up safety zones for Chinese. In many Japanese cities, by contrast, people held lantern
parades to celebrate the capture of Nanjing. [Source: Ian Buruma, New York Review of Books,
October 13, 2011]
The heads of women raped and murdered in Nanjing by Japanese Imperial Army.
ATROCITIES COMMITTED BY THE JAPANESE IMPERIAL ARMY
a) The slaughter lasted for six weeks. One relief agency buried 100,000 people; the Red Crescent
buried 43,000. In just five days, the Japanese disposed of 150,000 bodies by throwing them in the
Yangtze. [Source: Denis and Peggy Warner, International Herald Tribune]
b) According to Women Under Siege: “Japanese troops forced families to commit incest, according to
Chang. Fathers were forced to rape their daughters; sons, their mothers. Those who refused were killed
instantly. Some of the most despicable forms of torture leveled at the civilian population, according to
Chang, included being buried waist-deep in the earth and then attacked by German shepherd dogs;
being buried alive; and being doused in gasoline and set on fire. [Source:Women Under Siege
womenundersiegeproject.org]
c) A document from February 3, 1938, among the papers of The Nanjing Massacre Project of Yale
Divinity School Library, lists a series of abuses perpetuated against Chinese soldiers and civilians by
Japanese troops: acid poured over the dead bodies of executed soldiers, as well as those who were still
alive; a young farmer virtually decapitated; young children shot; and Chinese civilians injured or killed
during the Japanese troops’ search for women to rape.
d) Japanese soldiers raped thousands of girls and women, many of whom were dragged from their
homes. By the end of December, 20,000 cases of rape had been reported. One girl was raped 37 times.
Another had her four-month-old son smothered by the soldier who raped her. Some Japanese soldiers
raped pregnant women, killed them, cut the fetuses out of their bodies and then had their picture taken
with the fetuses. Some young Chinese women disguised themselves as elderly women to escape being
raped.
e) Reports say that on the way to Nanjing two Japanese officers, Toshiaki Mukai and Tsuyoshi Noda,
held a killing contest to determine who could kill 100 men the fastest, using only a sword. The “contest
was widely reported in Japanese newspapers, with some keeping tally and reporting scores as if it were
a sporting event. [Source: Women Under Siege womenundersiegeproject.org]
A young Chinese
man kneels
down, his
hands tied
behind his back,
awaiting
execution by a Japanese soldier.
An article describing "The Contest To Cut Down 100 People" — a brutal competition in which two
Japanese soldiers challenged one another to massacre as many people as possible.The bold headline
reads, "'Incredible Record' - Mukai 106 – 105 Noda—Both 2nd Lieutenants Go Into Extra Innings"
Bodies of women raped and murdered lying on steps of the city of Nanjing.
JAPANESE REACTION AND SUBSEQUENT DENIAL OF THE MASSACRE
In Japan, interpretation of the Nanjing Massacre is a reflection upon the Japanese national identity and
notions of "pride, honor and shame." Takashi Yoshida describes the Japanese debate over the Nanjing
Incident as "crystallizing a much larger conflict over what should constitute the ideal perception of the
nation: Japan, as a nation, acknowledges its past and apologizes for its wartime wrongdoings; or...
stands firm against foreign pressures and teaches Japanese youth about the benevolent and courageous
martyrs who fought a just war to save Asia from Western aggression. In some nationalist circles in
Japan, speaking of a large-scale massacre at Nanjing is regarded as “Japan Bashing” (in the case of
foreigners) or 'self-flagellation' (in the case of Japanese).
INITIAL REACTION TO NANJING MASSACRE
During the war, Japanese media and newspapers typically portrayed a positive view of the war in
China. Reports on the massacre were generally muted, and newspaper reports and photos typically
emphasized cooperation between Chinese civilians and Japanese soldiers. Those who deny the
massacre claim that the news published in the Japanese media and newspapers were "true" and
"reliable" stories. However, most mainstream historians counter that it is well known that the Naikaku
Johokyoku (Cabinet Information Bureau), a consortium of military, politicians and professionals
created in 1936 as a "committee" and upgraded to a "division" in 1937, applied censorship of all the
media of the Showa regime and that this office held a policing authoring over the realm of publishing.
Therefore, the Naikaku Johkyoku's activities were proscriptive as well as prescriptive. Besides issuing
detailed guidelines to publishers, it made suggestions that were all but commands. From 1938, printed
medias "would come to realize that their survival depended upon taking cues from the Cabinet
Information Bureau and its flagship publication, Shashin Shuho, designers of the "look" of the soldier,
and the "look" of the war."
Article 12 of the censorship guideline for newspapers issued on September 1937 stated that any news
article or photograph "unfavorable" to the Imperial Army was subject to a gag. Article 14 prohibited
any "photographs of atrocities" but endorsed reports about the "cruelty of the Chinese" soldiers and
civilians.
Japanese schoolgirls wave the national flag in front of Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan to celebrate the
conquest of Nanjing by the Japanese Imperial Army.
Japanese leaders General Iwane Matsui (foreground) and Prince Asaka ride into Nanjing shortly after
its capture.
AFTERMATH OF THE MASSACRE
Owing to the heavy censorship of the Japanese Imperial Forces, the common Japanese were not well
informed of what went down in Nanjing during the December of 1937-January 1938, when the actual
horror took place. The war crimes could have been excused if they did not lead to another phenomena
that the Japanese Imperial Army gave rise to.
The rape and subsequent massacre of the city of Nanjing showed the Imperial heads that it was
important to keep their army sexually satisfied. For the very purpose comfort stations were established,
These stations housed prostitutes who could help satisfy the soldiers. Gradually women were abducted
from neighboring provinces and countries (primarily Korea) to fill these stations. It furthered the sexual
fall of the Japanese society that already, owing to Shinto practices, considered women inferior and
subjected to ownership by men,
THE CASE OF COMFORT WOMEN DEPLOYED BY JAPAN
Its been nearly a century since women were first forced into sexual slavery for imperial Japan, but the
details of their servitude remains painful and politically divisive in Japan and the countries it once
occupied. Records of the women’s subjugation is scant; there are very few survivors and an estimated
90 percent of “comfort women” did not survive the war.
The first comfort station was established in the Japanese concession in Shanghai in 1932. Earlier
comfort women were Japanese prostitutes who volunteered for such service. However, as Japan
continued military expansion, the military found itself short of Japanese volunteers, and turned to the
local population to abduct or coerce women into serving in these stations. Many women responded to
calls for work as factory workers or nurses, and did not know that they were being pressed into sexual
slavery.
In the early stages of the war, Japanese authorities recruited prostitutes through conventional means. In
urban areas, conventional advertising through middlemen was used alongside kidnapping. Middlemen
advertised in newspapers circulating in Japan and the Japanese colonies of Korea, Taiwan, Manchuko
and China.
These sources soon dried up, especially from Japan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs resisted further
issuance of travel visas for Japanese prostitutes, feeling it tarnished the image of the Japanese Empire.
The military turned to acquiring comfort women outside mainland Japan, mostly from Korea and
occupied China. An existing system of licensed prostitution within Korea made it easy for Japan to
recruit females in large numbers.
Many women were tricked or defrauded into joining the military brothels. Based on false
characterizations and payment from Japanese or the local recruitment agents which could help relieve
family debts, many Korean girls enlisted to take the job. Furthermore, the South East Asia Translation
and Interrogation Center (SEATIC) Psychological Warfare Interrogation Bulletin No.2 states that a
Japanese facility manager purchased Korean women for 300 to 1000 yen depending on her physical
characteristics, who then became his property and were not released even after completing the
servitude terms specified in the contract. In northern Hebei province of China Hui Muslim girls were
recruited to "Huimin Girls' school" to be trained as entertainers, but then forced to serve as sex slaves.
Under the strain of the war effort, the military became unable to provide enough supplies to Japanese
units; in response, the units made up the difference by demanding or looting supplies from the locals.
The military often directly demanded that local leaders procure women for the brothels along the front
lines, especially in the countryside where middlemen were rare. When the locals were considered
hostile in China, Japanese soldiers carried out the “The Three Alls Policy” ("kill all, burn all, loot all")
which included indiscriminately kidnapping and raping local civilians. Taking women from other
Asian countries occupied by Japan to serve as "comfort women" was intended by the Japanese state to
symbolically "castrate" other Asian men to show that they could not defend their women as fathers,
brothers, husbands or boyfriends (the ultimate failure of a man in the patriarchal, Confucian cultures of
East Asia) and to degrade the women themselves.
An original photograph showing comfort woman Park Young-shim taken on Sept. 3, 1944, is being
publicly exhibited for the first time. (By SNU research team)
B) GANG RAPE AND MURDER OF JUNKO FURUTA
Junko Furuta was a 16 year old Japanese girl who underwent 44 days of rape and torture before dying
in the hands of her captors on November 22, 1989. Known throughout Japan as “concrete-encased high
school girl”,(due to her body being discovered in a concrete drum) the case of Junko Furuta drew
nationwide attention owing to sheer brutality the girl had to endure before death found her. The abuse
was mainly perpetrated by four teenage boys: Hiroshi Miyano, Jo Ogura, Shinji Minato and Yashushi
Watanabe. All four either belonged to or had connections to low-ranking yakuza (Japanese mafia).
Approximately 100 people knew about Furuta’s captivity, but either neglected it or themselves
participated in the torture and murder.
Junko Furuta
BACKGROUND
Furuta was born in Misato, Saitama Perfecture. As a teenager, she attended Yashio-Minami High
School and worked part-time during after-school hours. She lived with her parents, her elder brother,
and her younger brother. Prior to her abduction, she had accepted a job at an electronics retailer, where
she planned on working after graduation. One of her schoolmates, Hiroshi Miyano, had a crush on her
and asked her out on multiple occasions. However, Furuta turned him down as she was not interested in
a relationship. Miyano, a member of the Yakuza, sought revenge for this unrequited affection.
CRIME
On 25 November 1988, Miyano and his friend Nobuharu Minato wandered around Misato with the
intention of robbing and raping local women. At 8:30 pm, they spotted Furuta cycling home after she
finished her part time job. ders, Minato kicked Furuta off her bicycle and immediately fled the scene.
Miyano, under the pretense of it being a coincidence that he had witnessed this attack, approached
Furuta and offered to walk her home safely. Furuta, accepting this offer, was unaware that Miyano was
leading her to a nearby warehouse, where he revealed his yakuza connections. Miyano threatened to
kill her as he raped her in the warehouse and once again in a nearby hotel. From the hotel, Miyano
called Minato and his other friends, Jo Ogura and Yasushi Watanabe, and bragged to them about the
rape. Ogura reportedly asked Miyano to keep her in captivity in order to allow numerous people to
sexually assault her. The group had a history of gang rape and had recently kidnapped and raped
another girl who was released afterward.
Around 3:00 AM, Miyano took Furuta to a nearby park, where Minato, Ogura, and Watanabe were
waiting. They had gleaned her home address from a notebook in her backpack and told her that they
knew where she lived, and that yakuza members would kill her family if she attempted to escape. She
was overpowered by the four boys, and taken to a house in the Ayase district of Adachi, where she was
gang-raped. The house, which was owned by Minato's parents, soon became their regular gang
hangout.
On 27 November, Furuta's parents contacted the police about their daughter's disappearance. In order to
discourage further investigation, the kidnappers coerced her into calling her mother. She was forced to
say that she had run away, but was safe and staying with a friend. Furuta was also forced to ask her
mother to stop the police investigation into her disappearance. When Minato's parents were present,
Furuta was forced to pose as the girlfriend of one of the kidnappers. They later dropped this pretence
when it became clear that the Minatos would not report them to the police. The Minatos stated that they
did not intervene because they were aware of Miyano's yakuza connections and feared retaliation, and
because their own son was increasingly violent towards them. Minato's brother was also aware of the
situation, but did nothing to prevent it.
ACCOUNT OF TORTURE
On 27 November, Furuta's parents contacted the police about their daughter's disappearance. In order to
discourage further investigation, the kidnappers coerced her into calling her mother. She was forced to
say that she had run away, but was safe and staying with a friend. Furuta was also forced to ask her
mother to stop the police investigation into her disappearance. When Minato's parents were present,
Furuta was forced to pose as the girlfriend of one of the kidnappers. They later dropped this pretence
when it became clear that the Minatos would not report them to the police. The Minatos stated that they
did not intervene because they were aware of Miyano's yakuza connections and feared retaliation, and
because their own son was increasingly violent towards them. Minato's brother was also aware of the
situation, but did nothing to prevent it.
Furuta was held captive in the Minato residence for forty days, during which time she was abused,
raped and tortured. The group responsible also invited and encouraged their other yakuza friends to
torment Furuta. According to their trial statements, the four of them raped her over 400 times, beat her,
starved her, hung her from the ceiling and used her as a “punching bag", dropped barbells onto her
stomach, forced her to eat live cockroaches and drink her own urine, and forced her to masturbate in
front of them. They inserted foreign objects into her vagina and anus including a lit light bulb and
fireworks. They burned her vagina and clitoris with cigarettes and lighters, and her eyelids with hot
wax. They also tore off her left nipple with pliers and pierced her breasts with sewing needles. When
her body was found, Oronamin C bottles were stuck up her anus and her face was unrecognizable. She
was also found to be pregnant, despite the severe damage to her uterus.
Some of the accomplices have been officially identified, including Tetsuo Nakamura and Koichi Ihara,
who were charged with rape after their DNA was found on and inside the victim's body. Ihara was
allegedly bullied into raping Furuta. After he left the Minato household, he told his brother about the
incident. His brother subsequently told their parents, who contacted police. Two police officers were
dispatched to the Minato house; however, they were informed that there was no girl inside. The police
officers declined an invitation to look around the house, believing the invitation alone was sufficient
proof that there was nothing untoward to be found. Both officers faced considerable backlash from the
community. Had they indeed searched the house and located Furuta, her ordeal would have only lasted
sixteen days and she may well have recovered from her injuries. The two officers were fired for failing
to follow procedure.
At the beginning of December, Furuta attempted to call the police. However, she was discovered by
Miyano before she could say anything. When the police phoned back, Miyano informed them that the
original emergency call was a mistake. As punishment for contacting the authorities, Furuta's attackers
doused her legs and feet in lighter fluid and set them on fire. They also pushed a large bottle into her
anus, causing severe bleeding. She reportedly went into convulsions. During their trial, they stated that
they thought she was faking a seizure so they set her on fire again. She survived these injuries and
continued to be raped and tortured. Furuta is reported to have asked her captors on multiple occasions
to "kill her and get it over with", but they refused. Instead, they forced her to sleep outside on the
balcony during wintertime and locked her in a freezer. One of the kidnappers told the court that her
hands and legs were so badly damaged that it took her over an hour to drag herself downstairs to the
toilet. Due to the severity of the torture, she eventually lost bladder and bowel control and was
subsequently beaten for soiling the carpets. She was also unable to drink water or consume food and
would vomit after each attempt, for which she received further beatings.
The brutality of the attacks drastically altered Furuta's appearance. Her face was so swollen that it was
difficult to make out her features. Her body was also severely crippled, giving off a rotting smell that
caused the four boys to lose sexual interest in her. As a result, the boys kidnapped and gang-raped a 19-
year-old woman who, like Furuta, was on her way home from work.
On 4 January 1989, after losing a game of Mahjong, Hiroshi Miyano decided to vent his anger on
Furuta. At this point, Furuta was barely alive. Out of frustration, the boys beat her with an iron barbell,
kicked and punched her, and placed two short candles on her eyelids, burning them with the hot wax.
They made her stand, and struck her feet with a stick. At this point, she fell onto a stereo unit and
collapsed into a fit of convulsions. Since she was bleeding profusely, and pus was emerging from her
infected burns, the four boys covered their hands in plastic bags, which were taped at the wrists. They
continued to beat her and dropped an iron exercise ball onto her stomach several times. They poured
lighter fluid onto her thighs, arms, face, and stomach and once again set her on fire. Furuta allegedly
made attempts to put out the fire, but gradually became unresponsive. The attack reportedly lasted two
hours. Furuta eventually succumbed to her wounds and died that day.
Less than twenty-four hours after her death, Nobuharu Minato's brother called to tell him that Furuta
appeared to be dead. Afraid of being penalized for murder, the group wrapped her body in blankets and
shoved it into a travel bag. They then put her body in a 55-gallon (208 liter) drum and filled it with wet
concrete. Around 8:00 pm, they loaded and eventually disposed the drum into a cement truck in Kyoto
Tokyo.
ARRESTS
On 23 January 1989, Hiroshi Miyano and Jo Ogura were arrested for the gang-rape of the 19-year-old
woman who they had kidnapped in December. On 29 March, two police officers came to interrogate
them, as women's underwear had been found at their addresses. During the interrogation, one of the
officers led Miyano into believing that police were aware of a murder committed by Miyano. Thinking
that Jo Ogura had confessed to the crimes against Furuta, Miyano told the police where to find Furuta's
body. The police were initially puzzled by the confession, as they had been referring to the murder of a
different woman and her seven-year-old son that had occurred nine days prior to Furuta's abduction.
That case remains unsolved to this day.
The police found the drum containing Furuta's body the following day. She was identified via
fingerprints. On 1 April 1989, Jō Ogura was arrested for a separate sexual assault, and subsequently re-
arrested for Furuta's murder. The arrest of Yasushi Watanabe, Nobuharu Minato, and Minato's brother
followed.
PROSECUTION
Despite the shocking brutality of their crime, the identities of the boys were sealed by the court as they
were all considered to be juveniles at the time of the crime. Journalists from the Shukan Bunshun
magazine discovered their identities, however, and published them.
They stated that, given the severity of the crime, the accused did not deserve to have their right to
anonymity upheld. All four boys plead guilty to "committing bodily injury that resulted in death",
rather than murder.
In July 1990, a lower court sentenced Hiroshi Miyano, the alleged leader of the crime, to 17 years in
prison. He appealed his sentence, but Tokyo High Court judge Ryuji Yanase sentenced him to an
additional three years in prison. The 20-year sentence is the second-highest sentence given in Japan
before life imprisonment. He was 18 at the time of the murder. Miyano's mother reportedly sent
Furuta's parents 50 million yen (US$425,000), after selling their family home.
Miyano was denied parole in 2004. In January 2013, Miyano was re-arrested for fraud. Due to
insufficient evidence, he was released without charge later that month.
Nobuharu Minato, who originally received a four- to six-year sentence, was re-sentenced to five-to-
nine years by Judge Ryūji Yanase upon appeal. He was 16 at the time of the murder. Nobuharu's
parents and brother were not charged. Furuta's parents were dismayed by the sentences received by
their daughter's killers and won a civil suit against the parents of Nobuharu Minato, in whose home the
crimes were committed. After his release, Minato moved in with his mother. He has not worked since.
In 2018, Minato was arrested again for attempted murder after beating a 32-year old man with a metal
rod and slashing his throat with a knife.
Yasushi Watanabe, who was originally sentenced to three-to-four years in prison, received an upgraded
sentence of five-to-seven years. He was 17 at the time of the murder.
For his participation in the crime, Jo Ogura served eight years in a juvenile prison before he was
released in August 1999. He was 17 at the time of the murder. After his release, he is said to have
boasted about his role in the kidnapping, rape and torture of Furuta. In July 2004, he was arrested for
assaulting Takatoshi Isono, an acquaintance he thought his girlfriend may have been involved with. Jō
tracked Isono down, beat him, and shoved him into his truck.
He drove him from Adachi to his mother's bar in Misato where he allegedly beat Isono for four hours.
During that time, Ogura repeatedly threatened to kill the man, telling him that he'd killed before and
knew how to get away with it. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for the assault on Isono and
has since been released. Ogura's mother allegedly vandalized Furuta's grave, stating that she had ruined
her son's life. It has also been reported that Ogura had depleted his father's savings, money which was
intended to be provided as restitution o Furuta's family, buying and consuming a number of luxury
goods.
The sentences were largely regarded as being far too light for the crimes committed, and all four
individuals were protected by special provisions applied to individuals 18 years old and younger.
During sentencing, the judge commented that "exceptionally grave and atrocious violence" had been
inflicted upon the victim, and that Junko Furuta had been "murdered so brutally at the young age of 17,
[that her] soul must be wandering in torment". Upon hearing the details of the brutal rape and torture, a
spectator in the gallery fainted. Furuta's mother also reportedly had a mental breakdown, which
required psychiatric treatment.
3. THE PRESENT DAY JAPAN
A) ADULT COMICS AND JAPANESE OBSESSION
Japan as country has countless attributes that clearly sets it apart from the other in the world. One such
major fad among the Japanese general public is ‘manga’ comics. Manga are comics or graphic novels
originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century,
though the art form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term manga is used in Japan to
refer to both comics and cartooning. Outside Japan, the word is typically used to refer to comics
originally published in the country.
In Japan, people of all ages read manga. The medium includes works in a broad range of genres: action,
adventure, business and commerce, comedy, detective, drama,historical, horror, mystery, romance,
science fiction and fantasy, erotica ( hentai), sports and games, and suspense, among others. Many
manga are translated into other languages. Since the 1950s, manga has become an increasingly major
part of the Japanese publishing industry. By 1995, the manga market in Japan was valued at 586.4
billion YEN ( 6–7 billion USD), with annual sales of 1.9 billion manga books and manga magazine in
Japan (equivalent to 15 issues per person). Manga have also gained a significant worldwide audience.
In 2008, in the US and Canada, the manga market was valued at $175 million. Manga represented 38%
of the French comics market in 2005, equivalent to approximately ten times that of the United States,
and was valued at about €460 million ($569 million). In Europe and the Middle East, the market was
valued at $250 million in 2012.
TYPES OF MANGA
In Japan, manga covers a variety of subjects and is aimed at a variety of audiences. Here are some of
the audience names and genres. Remember though, most of the manga that is imported into the United
States by domestic publishers usually comes from one or two genres.
Shonen
This genre of manga tends to focus on action, sports, or romance from a young male point of view.
That is why it is called "Shonen" , a word which means "Boy" in Japanese. Examples of Shonen series
are DragonBall Z, Love Hina, and Sgt Frog.
Shoujo:
This genre of manga is aimed at girls from about the ages of 12 to 18. Shoujo series focus on romance
and relationships from a young female point of view. This is why it is called "Shoujo", a word which
means "Girl" in Japanese. Examples of Shoujo series are Sailor Moon, Fruits Basket, and Peach Girl.
Josei:
This genre of manga is aimed at adult women, usually college age and up. That is why it is called
"Josei", which means "Ladies" in Japanese. "Josei" manga are similar to Shoujo manga except they
tend to contain more mature content and topics. Examples of Josei series are Happy Mania and Honey
and Clover.
Seinen:
This genre of manga is aimed at adult men, usually college age and up. That is why it is called
"Seinen", which means "Adult" in Japanese. "Seinen" manga are similar to Shonen manga except they
tend to contain more mature content and topics. Examples of Seinen series are Ai Yori Aoshi and
Battle Royale.
Shoujo-ai or Yuri:
These are manga series that focus on stories revolving around lesbian relationships. "Shoujo-Ai" is a
Japanese term that literally means "Girl-love". An example of a Shoujo-Ai series is Revolutionary Girl
Utena.
Shonen-ai or Yaoi:
These are manga series that focus on stories revolving around homosexual relationships. "Shonen-Ai"
is a Japanese term that literally means"Boy-love". An example of a Shonen-Ai series is Gravitation.
THE MANGA AND PEDOPHILIA
Usually, in the art style of anime and manga, female characters (including adults) are drawn with
infantile/childish features, and have a tendency to be sexualized. This is because of their “cute” focused
culture, known as Kawaii culture. Pedophilia and child pornography isn’t as taboo in Japan as it is in
Western cultures.
Many Japanese after they finish school, cut themselves off from society to focus on working. This is
because of their work culture, which makes it not uncommon for 80 hour work weeks. Because of this,
they fondly look back at their time of youth, which includes their young romance and dating.
Historically Japanese have always been attracted to young-looking people. Over their history, they’ve
sexually selected people with the youngest appearance, causing them to look more childish and
infantile. They have physical traits similar to young children and infants such as larger heads, flatter
faces, smaller physical size, and reduced chin size. This in turn leads to heavy consumption of
materials, both print and otherwise, to cater to this need of the general public. The sexual interests in
any adult manga are purposely made to look young, preferably in the age bracket of 14 to 16. The
cover art is often focused on making the female or the sexual protagonist to look young. They are
drawn with big childlike eyes and overtly sexualized; either by disproportionate anatomy or in a state
of undress or both.
The manga usually, if not always, have a story line that focuses on consent-less relationship in the
name of an intimate relationship. The sexual interest in such adult manga are portrayed as weak and
easily manhandled and their feelings or emotions overlooked in favor of the wants of the protagonist.
These protagonists are often designed to resemble the general mass in order to allow them a self insert
and live their fantasies. In addition to the said fact, the sexual interest are usually drawn with a
storyboard that makes them financially dependent, even for their most basic needs such as food and
shelter; thereby making a stark and strong comparison to a child.
This particular manga cover to the manga comic called “My Secret With The Girl Next Door’ is an
example of archetype that feeds into the fantasy of the general public.
In the cover art illustration presented above, few things immediately visible are 1) the sexual interest, in
this case the female character, is shown to be physically younger that the male protagonist 2) the facial
features of the female character resemble more to a teenager than an adult woman and 3) it is very
suggestive of aggressive male character and absence of consent and use of force.
A major trend seen among the Japanese general masses is their fetishization of school girls, especially
in their school uniforms. Manga comics dealing with such a relationship: a relationship between an
adult and a school student, are quite popular. In this scenario as well, the concepts of consent is absent
and the sexual interests are shown to be weak and totally under the control of the protagonist of the
comic.
This cover art for the manga called ‘I’ll Make You Mine’ explicitly shows the female sexual interest in
a school uniform and the male protagonist to be an adult.
This particular cover art is for the manga comic called ‘Running a Love Hotel With Maths Teacher’.
The age difference is visible and adds to the narrative of young, teenage and dependent sexual interest.
The adult comics aren’t only centered around heterosexual relationships. They also explore
homosexual relationships, despite it being a taboo in the Japanese society. The manga of this category
are called Shoujo-ai or Yuri ( focusing on lesbian themes) or Shonen-ai or Yaoi (focusing on gay
themes).
The adult variants of both these types have explicit sexual content and more often than not sport a huge
gap between the protagonists or have a protagonist that is underage.
This is the cover a Shoujo-ai manga called beloved. The lead protagonist is called Dr. Wei ( a woman
in her 30s, illustrated with white hair) and she is shown
to be in a sexual relationship with a young girl of
16( illustrated in red).
Even in Shonen-ai or Yaoi manga, written mainly for

women, the age gap is often dramatic and is full of explicit
sexual content often leaning towards bestiality as well.
This particular manga, titled ‘Beasts Giving Love’, explores a sexual relationship between two beast-
men of age 40 with a young 16 year old school boy.
The above examples shed ample light on the inclination of the Japanese general public towards themes
of non-consensual relations, rape fantasy and pedophilia. The manga industry is in midst of its boom
and has exploded outside of Japan into the western market. The Western sensibilities often criticize and
condemn the pedophilic nature of these comics, yet it finds a string market for the readers in its home
country.
B) JAPANESE PORNOGRAPHY INDUSTRY AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
Pornography in Japan has unique characteristics that readily distinguish it from Western pornography
Reflecting Japan's views on sexuality and culture, Japanese pornography delves into a wide spectrum
of heterosexual, homosexual, and transgender sexual acts in addition to unique fetishes and paraphilia
mostly pedophilia.
Starting with erotic stories and wood block prints from before the 20th century, Japanese pornography
evolved into distinct subcategories. In addition to pornographic videos and magazines featuring live
actors, there are now categories of pornographic manga (within Japanese comics), pornographic
computer games(for both PC and game consoles), and pornographic anime (animated depictions of
sexual activity).
By Japanese law, any lawfully produced pornography must censor the genitals of actors and actresses
and up until the mid-1990s so was the depiction of pubic hair. Anuses are only censored at contact or
penetration. This type of censoring also extends to hentai comics, video games, and anime. In the
attempts to circumvent this type of censoring (and to cater to particular fetishes), actors and producers
have featured subject matter unseen or rarely depicted in western pornography. Bukkake, gokkun,
omorashi, and tentacle erotica are a few uniquely Japanese genres. Lolicon and its contribution to the
controversy regarding the regulation of pornography depicting minors has been a major issue
concerning free speech both inside and outside Japan.
Due to the lax laws that allowed production, possession and distribution of pornographic films with
censored genitalia up until the 90s, child pornography industry found a boom. During the 80s and 90s,
the industry witnessed its growth. With the Japanese work culture throwing numbers like 80 hours a
week a respite was needed. It initially translated into erotic art and subtly made way to more visulal
presentation. The public outcry in the domestic ground and around the world made the Japanese
government to wake up and criminalize the possession, production and distribution of pornographic
content involving a minor.
Japan now outlaw child pornography. The production, sale, distribution, and commercialization of
child pornography is illegal under Article 7 of the Act on Punishment of Activities Relating to Child
Prostitution and Child Pornography, and the Protection of Children and is punishable by a maximum
penalty of five years in prison and/or a fine of 5,000,000 YEN. Possession of child pornography with
any intent of distribution and sale is also illegal.
Manga artists and anime directors have argued that it is dangerous to try to define child pornography
when it comes to artworks, drawings, and animation when regarding hentai due to it being highly
ambiguous, and have cited freedom of expression to prevent it from being abused.
Arts depicting underage characters (lolicon) and photography of underage models (junior idols)remain
controversial in Japan.
THE LOOPHOLE: LOLICON AND JUNIOR IDOLS
A) LOLICON
Lolicon is the dark matter of Japanese pop culture, infusing everything from best-selling comics and
animation to the nation’s ever popular girl groups. Yet it’s almost never discussed in polite society.
Indeed, the very term is something virtually synonymous with pedophilia. Lolicon also romaized as
rorikon, is Japanese discourse or media focusing on the attraction to young or prepubescent girls. The
term lolicon is a portmanteau of the phrase Lolita Complex; it describes an attraction to young or
prepubescent girls, an individual with such an attraction, or a genre of manga and anime wherein
childlike female characters are often depicted in an "erotic-cute" manner (also known as ero kawaii), in
an art style reminiscent of the shoujo-ai manga (girls' comics) style.
Outside Japan, lolicon is in less common usage and usually refers to the genre. The term ‘loli’ usually
refers to characters that comply with the lolicon aesthetic. The term is a reference to Vladmir Nabokovs
book Lolita. in which a middle-aged man becomes sexually obsessed with a twelve-year-old girl. It was
first used in Japan in the 1970s and quickly became used to describe erotic dojinshi amateur comics)
portrayals of young girls.
The legal status of lolicon manga and anime that portray children involved erotically with adults has
changed with time and is currently under intensive debate in Japan. A Japanese non-profit organization
called CASPAR has claimed that lolicon and other anime magazines and games encourage sex crimes.
According to Galbraith, Yasushi Takatsuki has noted that sexual abuse of minors in Japan has declined
since the 1960s and 1970s, which "roughly coincides with the increasing presence of fictional lolicon".
Galbraith feels that this is not an argument that lolicon "compensates for or relieves real desires", but
instead that lolicon imagery does not "reflect the desires" of readers, or inspire them to commit crimes.
It has been suggested that restricting sexual expression in drawings or animated games and videos
might actually increase the rate of sexual crime by eliminating a harmless outlet for desires that could
motivate crime.
Cultural critic, Hiroki Azuma said that very few readers of lolicon manga commit crimes. He states that
in the otaku culture, lolicon is the "most convenient [form of rebellion]" against society. Azuma says
that some otaku feel so "excluded from society" that they "feel as if they are the sort of 'no good' person
who should be attracted to little girls". Sarah Goode describes the accumulation of lolicon materials as
being "a medium through which disaffected men may choose to express their sense of anomie and
disconnection with society".
A typical depiction of lolicon genre where children are dressed suggestively with focus on their body.
According to year end insights as provided by Porn Hub, the biggest porn site, Japan was the second
country in the world with maximum visits on its site with most viewed porn being under the keywords
‘Japanese’, ‘hentai’ (anime with explicit porn) and ‘cartoon’. Along with this, according to the insight
provided by Porn Hub, the category of porn with old and young dynamic was the third most viewed
category; and that it remains the top most searched and viewed category by men.
B) JUNIOR IDOLS
In east Asia, people pursuing a career in modeling or music are often termed as idol celebrities or
simple idols. The phenomena is typically witnesses in China, Japan, South Korea and Thailand where
the idol industry is an industry worth billions of dollars and have a fan following across the globe. In
Japan however, there exists a variant of such idols called junior idols who are children between the
ages of 13-16. They perform in what is known as the J-Pop.
Like any idol in the east Asia, the junior idols too undergo intense training when it comes to singing
and dancing. But what sets them apart is the way they are presented. They are often marketed as a
fantasy to the masses instead of talented children. The shows of such idols are often watched by fully
grown adults, especially men. The fan service includes autographing on t-shirts and taking pictures
which could only be termed as bizarre. The junior idols are more often than not marketed as quasi-
pornography, depicted in swim suits or bathing in a bath tub. With no genitalia on display and no adult
in the picture frame these depiction of young children, along with lolicon often pass the legal radar and
end up at the hands of an adult.
Here is one such depiction of junior idols in performance with adults in attendance. The choreography
for the group is designed to look more appealing as opposed to cute as is expected of a child.
A typical scene at a junior idol fan meeting. The young children are subjected to the fantasies of the
adults.
4. THE STATISTICS OF JAPAN
According to National Police Agency of Japan, in 2019 alone 1559 minor victims of sex crime and
child pornography were registered nationwide. This marks a sharp increase in the percentage of cases.
Compared to the data of 2018, National Police Agency, the number of minor victims of sex crime and
child pornography went up by 22.2%. Most of the victims here were female, the number of such minor
victims being 1350. The total number included 584 who ended up sending nude photos or videos to
suspects, 381 whose images were photographed or filmed secretly, 221 who were involved in
prostitution or sexual acts, and 126 who were raped or indecently assaulted.
The data clearly reflects that despite a nationwide ban on child pornography and acts that could be
termed as pedophilia, the number has only increased manifold. The data of 2018 released by the
National Police Agency shows record 2,082 minors aged under 18 were victims in criminal cases
involving social networking platforms, up 271 from a year before. Most of the cases were sex-related
offenses.
More than half of the victims were high school students at 1,044, an increase of 53, but there were also
72 elementary school pupils, up 17. The number of junior high school students surged 223 to 847.
Total number of crime and its frequency recorded by National Police Agency, Japan in 2018.
A data figure from 2014 show that in 2013, the number of minor victims of child pornography were
646, the number has increased to 965 in 2019.

Pedophilia: A Comparative Study Between Closed and Open Society

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PEDOPHILIA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN CLOSED AND

SHIVANI PRIYAM KUMAR

of requirement for the award degree of

Masters of Arts in Criminology

MS. ANJALI NANDAN

JHARKHAND RAKSHA SHAKTI UNIVERSITY

DECLARATION BY THE STUDENT

NAME OF THE STUDENT SIGNATURE OF THE

SHIVANI PRIYAM KUMAR

JHARKHAND RAKSHA SHAKTI UNIVERSITY

SHIVANI PRIYAM KUMAR

 The suffering or humiliation of oneself or one’s partner

1.2 HOMOSEXUALITY AND NON-HETEROSEXUALITY

Medroxyprogesterone acetate and gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (such as leuprorelin) have

2.2 SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

In response to misinterpretations that the American Psychiatric Association considers pedophilia a

Comorbidity and personality traits

Cognitive behavioral therapy

is shared by the victim as well.

The supposition or proposed explanation for the study are:

1. Closed societies tend to see an exponential rise in cases of pedophilia.

2. Pedophilia is an outcome of societal norms.

1. Simple random sampling

A) Emergence of the Nation.

B) Classes and Castes.

B) Division of Labor by Gender.

C) The Relative Status of Women and Men.

D) Marriage, Family, and Kinship

Women in costume at the Needle Festival in Tokyo.

2. EMERGENCE OF SEXUAL DEVIANCE IN JAPAN

A) RAPE OF NANJING/ NANJING MASSACRE

A TIME LINE OF EVENTS

ATROCITIES COMMITTED BY THE JAPANESE IMPERIAL ARMY

execution by a Japanese soldier.

INITIAL REACTION TO NANJING MASSACRE

THE CASE OF COMFORT WOMEN DEPLOYED BY JAPAN

B) GANG RAPE AND MURDER OF JUNKO FURUTA

3. THE PRESENT DAY JAPAN

A) ADULT COMICS AND JAPANESE OBSESSION

THE MANGA AND PEDOPHILIA

Even in Shonen-ai or Yaoi manga, written mainly for

B) JAPANESE PORNOGRAPHY INDUSTRY AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

THE LOOPHOLE: LOLICON AND JUNIOR IDOLS

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