Japan: Coerced filming of Adult Pornographic videos

Human Rights Violations against Women and Girls Manifesting fromthe Adult Pornographic Film Industry in Japan

Note: The original report is in Japanese, and while this tentative English translation has been
prepared in good faith, we do not accept responsibility for the accuracy of the translations.
Reference should be made to the original Japanese language texts.

International Human Rights NGO

Human Rights Now
7F Creative One Akihabara Bldg. 5-3-4 Ueno
Taito-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN 110-0005
http://hrn.or.jp/eng/
Phone: +81-3-3835-2110 Fax: +81-3-3834-1025
info@hrn.or.jp

1

Table of Contents
Summary of the Report ......................................................................................................................3
I. Preface..........................................................................................................................................6
II.
Investigation by Human Rights Now.....................................................................................6
III.
Background .............................................................................................................................7
1. Pornographic Video Industry ................................................................................................7
2. Related Parties in Pornographic Video Industry .................................................................7
3. Relationship among the Parties related to Pornographic Videos .......................................9
4. Laws and Regulations in Japan ...........................................................................................10
IV.
Overview of Damage .............................................................................................................13
1. Characteristic of Damage reported by supporting organizations ...........................13
2. Increasing Request for Consultation ...................................................................................14
V. Situation of Damages Revealed by this Investigation ............................................................16
1. Required to Pay Penalties and Coerced to Appear in the Video ......................................17
2. Cases in which production companies forced or tried to force women to appear in
pornographic videos using malicious solicitation and persuasion. ...........................................21
3. Other cases.............................................................................................................................24
4. Cases in which women continue to appear in pornographic videos .................................25
VI.
Identifying Root Causes of Problems ..................................................................................26
1. From Being Scouted to Signing Contract with a Production Company ..........................26
2. Coercion to Appear in Pornographic Videos ......................................................................28
3. Filming of the Pornographic Videos ....................................................................................29
4. At the Stage of the Contract Execution with a Maker .......................................................30
5. Problems Related to the Contract .......................................................................................30
6. At the Stage that the Pornographic Video is Sold ..............................................................31
7. Problems related to the Distribution of Unexpurgated Videos using Overseas Servers .32
8. At the Stage of Legal Action.................................................................................................32
VII. Legal Remedies......................................................................................................................34
1. Regulation by Application of Labor Law ...........................................................................34
2. Protection under Consumer Contract .................................................................................38
3. The Criminal Code................................................................................................................38
VIII.
Responsibility of the Government and Enterprises under International Human
Rights Laws .......................................................................................................................................39
1. Responsibility of the Government under International Human Rights Laws .................39
2. Responsibility of the Relevant Industry and Enterprises under International Human
Rights Laws ...................................................................................................................................41
IX.
Recommendations .................................................................................................................42
1. To the Cabinet Office (the Gender Equality Bureau) .......................................................43
2. To the Cabinet Office Consumer Commission ...................................................................43
3. To the Consumer Affairs Agency ........................................................................................44
4. To National Consumer Affairs Center and Consumer Affairs Centers ...........................45
5. To Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.........................................................................45
6. To Police and Prosecutors ....................................................................................................46
7. To Members of the Diet ........................................................................................................46
8. To Related Enterprises .........................................................................................................47
Proposed regulations to eradicate pornographic video damage ...................................................48

2

Summary of the Report

There have been a number of cases in which Japanese women were coerced to appear
in adult pornographic videos.

It has been frequently reported that many young women who were scouted and had agreed
to work as a “talent” or “model” in the entertainment industry were forced to appear in
pornographic videos.
Human Rights Now, an international human rights NGO based in Japan, conducted aninvestigation into the damage caused by the use of force and coercion in pornographic videos byinterviewing both victim-support groups and the victims themselves.
Our investigation revealed that there have been a number of cases in which young women,
who never intended to appear in pornographic videos, were forced participate in the industry
after signing contracts with their production companies. These companies would threaten themwith remarks such as “you can’t refuse the work since it’s required under contract,” “if you
refuse the work, you have to pay penalty charges for defaulting,” or “we’ll inform your parents
about your work (if you don’t take the job).”
It is a grave human rights violation to take advantage of young women who are uninformedof the responsibilities and risks entailed in their contracts and/or in financial difficulties, by
coercing them into performing unconsented sexual acts in public display (in front of the filmingcrew) and to later circulate these pornographic videos on the internet. Furthermore, it iscommon practice in the pornographic film industry to portray young women experiencing
hostility and violence, such as assigning them roles similar to slavery or “debt bondage”
accompanied by threats of penalties for refusal.
No relevant legal provisions or regulatory agency exist to regulate the pornographic
film industry.

No relevant regulatory agency exists to regulate production companies and persons
involved in the making of pornographic videos. Further, provisions from the “Act on Control
and Improvement of Amusement Business, etc.” do not apply to such activities, thus unlawful
practices are unrestrained and victims are unable to seek protection or remedy.
While there are some seemingly relevant laws for protection, unlawful practices in the
pornographic film industry often slip through the legal net. For example, the “Act on
Punishment of Activities Relating to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and theProtection of Children”, only applies to persons under 18 years old. Also, in many cases,
pornographic videos do not fall under “indecent acts” under the Criminal Code.
Additionally, even though many women have been forced to have brutal sexual intercourse
which result in injuries as a result of physical abuse during the filming of the pornographic
video, cases for rape, compulsion, injury or battery are rarely brought against production
companies, their producers or other relevant parties. This is because the women had given their“consent” to “perform” in the film. The Anti-Prostitution Law is also not applicable because thewomen are “performing” in the film.
As appearance in pornographic videos falls under work which is “harmful to public healthor morals” under the Employment Security Act and Worker Dispatching Act, a production
company’s recruitment of pornographic actresses and its subsequent dispatch of such actresses
to film producers are subject to punishment under the Employment Security Act and the Worker
Dispatching Act, respectively.
However, many production companies circumvent the laws by signing service contracts
rather than employment agreements with the women and by pretending that women are notworking under the direction of the production company.
3

Moreover, human rights violations manifesting from pornographic videos do not fall within
the scope of protection of general consumer protections laws, the Consumer Contract Act, theAct on Specified Commercial Transactions, or the Consumer Safety Act. Therefore, as it stands
there is no prospect for implementation of protective and preventative measures such as
regulation on inappropriate solicitation, consultation and settlement through consumer centers,
or issuance of strong administrative measures such as suspension of businesses.
Desirable legislation
To improve this situation, Human Rights Now calls for legislative measures to both resolve
the problem and request the Government and the Diet to take necessary steps as soon as
possible. Though we make detailed recommendations at the end of this report, we especiallyrequest that relevant parties seriously consider the following measures:
Immediate Relief Plan
To propose an amendment to the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions which
expands its application to include damages related to women appearing in adult pornographic
videos by adding the use of a continuous service contract in which the employee is the service
provider to one of the transactions protected under the Act.
To expand the application of the Consumer Safety Act to include the pornographic
video problems previously discussed within the definition of the term “Instances of Harm from
Circumstances That Are Financially Damaging to a Great Number of Consumers ” in order torequest the relevant Minister to take necessary measures when required.
1.

To the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
To issue, disseminate and raise awareness of a notice establishing the standard that
contracts regarding appearances in pornographic videos shall be treated as employment
agreements if the relationship between the production company and the women involved is inreality an employer-employee relationship, regardless of the form of the contract between them.
To take measures in supervising and penalizing production companies if necessary.
2.

To the Cabinet Office
To conduct fact-finding investigations and propose necessary measures and legislation at
the Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office and the Consumer Commission based on the core
problem that pornographic videos constitute serious violence against women.
3.

To the Police and Prosecutor
To actively investigate and prosecute violations of the Employment Security Act and theWorker Dispatching Act if the actresses appearing in these pornographic films are in reality
treated as employees of the production company.
To actively pursue cases in court, investigate and prosecute producers or those responsible
where women have been coerced into appearing in pornographic videos against their will.
4.

To the Consumer Affairs Agency
To examine and prepare a necessary reform bill in order to protect the victims of
unconsented appearances in pornographic videos as consumer damage under relevant laws.
5.

6.

To a Members of the Diet
To enact comprehensive relief legislation.

4

Responsibility of relevant enterprises
All the enterprises which deal with the production, manufacture and distribution of
pornographic videos shall face up to the fact that the pornographic industry is prone to violate
human rights in the production process and take the following measures:
1. To immediately stop coercing women to appear in pornographic videos against their will
and halt all filming of pornographic videos that violate women’s human rights by adversely
affecting their mental and physical safety and health.
2. To establish a policy relating to human rights, exercise due diligence in supervising the
supply chain in order to avoid human rights violations and undertake drastic reform basedon the current situation.

5

I. Preface
Human Rights Now1, an international human rights NGO based in Tokyo, has obtained
information that many women who have been forced to appear in adult pornographic videos
suffered from and continue to experience grave human rights violations.
In Japan, there is an expansion in the size of the pornographic film industry due to anincrease in women appearing as pornographic actresses. There is a vast number of pornographic
videos released into the market every month.
Although there is a controversy about propriety of the pornographic video industry, we
believe that it is essential to take effective measures against the process of producing
pornographic videos in which women are placed in vulnerable positions and often suffer fromhuman rights violations, violence, and sexual exploitation. In particular, forcing women to
appear in adult pornographic videos against their will is a clear violation of human rights.
Recently, many young women have brought complaints about having been “forced toappear in videos against their will”, “required to pay a huge amount of money in penalty forresignation” or “forced to appear in videos because they could not pay the penalty charge forresignation.” Although such cases have long been established, they have never been brought tothe forefront until recent years, as the internet is gradually offering an easily accessible platform
for victims to find organizations that can support them and hear their claims.2
The act of filming itself constitutes a sex crime where women are forced to appear in
pornographic videos against their will. Moreover, these women suffer a tremendous degree ofmental distress due to the large number of pornographic videos produced and sold in the market,
all of which reveal their sexual acts to a great extent and remain almost permanently on theinternet.
Despite the serious situation mentioned above, it is likely that many complaints remain
unreported and many victims have not received their rightful remedies. This is because no
relevant legal provisions or regulatory agencies exist to directly address problems related to
production of pornographic videos and no remedial measures are fully implemented by courts orlaw enforcement authorities.
This investigation is pursued with the aim to reveal the current suffering caused bypornographic videos, and to provide recommendations on how to provide adequate remedies forthe victims.

II. Investigation by Human Rights Now
Since May 2015, we formed a research team and conducted fact-finding investigations andlegal research as follows:(1) Investigation into the reality of harm
We conducted case studies and interviewed victims to assess the level of harms
experienced. With the help of organizations that support such victims, we analyzed cases
brought to the organization by victims in order to assess trends and formulate an overall pictureof the problem.
(2) Analysis of industry structure1
2

An international human rights NGO based in Japan with UN consultative status, http://hrn.or.jp/eng
PAPS (People Against Pornography and Sexual Violence), http://www.paps-jp.org/aboutus/coerce, Lighthouse:
Center for Human Trafficking Victims, http://lhj.jp/english

6We conducted research into the structure of the pornographic video industry.
(3) We conducted research on court precedents, regulations and international standards
for legal remedies related to this topic.
We would like to point out that although we recognize there are cases where women appear
in pornographic videos based on their genuine free will, the aim of this investigation is to focus
on reported cases of human rights violations which occur during the process of filming
pornographic videos and to make recommendations to address such violations.
We would like to express our appreciation for all the people who supported ourinvestigations, including those who suffered human rights violations, as well as support groups.

III. Background1.

Pornographic Video Industry(1) Market Size
There is no accurate data regarding the market size of the pornographic video industry inJapan, but it has been reported that it reaches approximately 400 to 500 billion JPY per annum. 3
It is also estimated that approximately 20,000 videos are released every year. 4
However, it is important to note that a number of pornographic videos that are not reviewed
by the ethical review associations 5 are available under the titles of “indies” or “undergroundvideos” on the market. In addition, there are large amounts of unexpurgated pornographic
videos circulated on offshore servers as well as illegal distribution via file sharing software thatallows users to download videos. For these reasons, the actual size of the market is likely to bemuch larger than stated above.
(2) Distribution
The pornographic video industry is said to have been developed around 1981, when video
recorders became widely available for general households. Although direct sales and renting ofvideos were the main forms of distribution in the beginning, watching pornographic videos bydownloading or streaming them online has become popular with the growing availability of theinternet. Recently, videos are often viewed in the form of DVDs that are sold at online stores,
such as DMM.com and Amazon.co.jp, or by downloading and online streaming.

2.

Related Parties in Pornographic Video Industry

The related parties that produce, distribute, promote and obtain profits from thepornographic videos are as follows:(1) Companies that produce and sell pornographic videos (hereinafter referred to as amaker)
3

Comments made by the director general of Contents Soft Association:
http://internet.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20100401_358238.html
4
Yoji Igawa “Sealed Pornographic Video” Saizusha Corporation, 20125
Ethical review associations such as Nihon Ethics of Video Association (NEVA) and Ethics Organization ofComputer Software (EOCS) review and check whether contents of pornographic videos meet ethical standards.

7

A company producing and selling pornographic videos is often referred to as a “maker” inthe pornographic video industry. A production company, as discussed below, dispatches
actresses to a maker, and a maker produces and sells the pornographic videos. It is said that thethree companies listed below collectively have 70 to 80 percent of the market share:CA Corporation (DMM.com group)6 (so-called “Out-Vision”; the major labels are
MOODYZ, S1 and MUTEKI);
Sales: 12.9 billion JPY (as of July 2013)

Business Description: Overall producer of videos including the planning, filming,
marketing of the videos
Main Customers: So-net (from December 12, 2005 to January 30, 2009), BIGLOBE(from October 1, 2003), Nifty (from September 1, 2003) arelisted as business related to distribution of adult contents
according to the information at DMM.com7
 Soft on Demand Corporation (Soft on Demand Group) 8 (the major labels ares“SOD Create” and “Deeps”);
Sales: 14.3 billion JPY (as of March 2014)
Business Description: Production and wholesale of original video software,
procurement and wholesale of video software and entertainment related products,
distribution of video contents and sales of license, internet mail order business(mobile, broadband and CS) and store operation
Main Customers: TSUTAYA Co., Ltd., GEO Supply, Multi-Package Distribution
Co., Ltd., HAPPINET Corporation, Seikodo Co., Ltd., Roi
Electric Appliance Ltd. (Lammtarra stores), Amazon Japan
K.K., Electric Ishimura, Sofmap Co., Ltd., Yamagiwa Soft,PONY CANYON INC., KDDI Corporation, Footnote inc.,
USEN Corporation, Don Quijote Co., Ltd., about 3,600 video
shops, 4,000 rental video shops and electronics retail stores
across Japan
 PRESTIGE Co.Ltd.9
Sales: Not disclosed at the company’s website
Business Description: Production and sale of video software, other media business
Main Customers: Not disclosed on the company’s website
Other than these three companies, it is reported that TOPMARSHAL Co., Ltd is one of theprominent makers in the retail of pornographic videos and K.M. Produce is one of theprominent makers in the planning, producing and selling of these videos. Main customers of
TOPMARSHAL Co., Ltd are Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd., Amazon Japan K.K.,
HAPPINET PM and Yodobashi Camera Co., Ltd.10

6

https://www.ca-ca.jp/info/
http://www.dmm.co.jp/provider/provider.html
8
http://corporate.sod.co.jp/company/data.html
9
http://prestige-av.com/prestige/company.php
10
http://www.t-marshal.jp/company.html
78

(2) Management Companies (hereinafter referred to as a production company)
A management company, often called “production”, recruits an actress who will appear in a
pornographic video and dispatches her to a maker. Unlike makers, with regard to productions,
there is no oligopolization by a few major companies.
(3) Provider
Internet service of major internet providers such as OCN, Yahoo BB, Plala, So-net,
BIGLOBE, nifty, Asahi Net, and KDDI is used in the internet distribution of pornographic
contents. Depending on the content of pornographic videos, the service provider can takemeasures in blocking a user’s access to the pornographic contents.
(4) Shops (online/store)
The major retailers selling pornographic videos online and in stores are Amazon Japan K.K(Amazon.com), Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd., which makes deals with TSUTAYA Co.,
Ltd., DMM.com, Yodobashi Camera Co., Ltd (Yodobashi.com), HAPPINET PM (HMV), GEO
Supply, Sofmap Co. which belong to BICCAMERA INC. group, Don Quijote Co., Ltd. etc.
Other than the direct sales to retail stores by a maker, distributors which distribute pornographic
videos to DVD rental shops, such as Multi-Package Distribution Co., Ltd. and Seikodo Co., Ltd..
sometimes act as intermediary dealers between makers and retail stores.
(5) Servers and Platforms
The servers that deal with adult contents such as pornographic videos, are FC2 rental server,
FUTOKA rental server, KAGOYA shared server, Drive Network, POPWONDER, Anaheim
Electronics and others.
The websites that deal with unexpurgated videos are Xvideos11 and others.
The websites that deal with illegal content in Japan, such as unexpurgated videos, usually
use offshore servers.

3.

Relationship among the Parties related to Pornographic Videos

The following chart describes the relationship among the parties related to pornographic
videos. A production company which hires a woman as an actress (introduced by a scout) would
advertise and eventually dispatch her to a maker in the pornographic film industry, based uponan agreement between the production company and the maker.
A woman would first sign a contract with a production company and would be later
dispatched to a maker to comply with the agreement entered into between the production
company and the maker. At the site of the maker, the filming is conducted according to the
instructions of its director(s) or staff(s).

11

http://www.xvideos.com

9This employment pattern is the same as that of worker dispatch. However, as will be
explained below, since there are many cases in which appearing in a pornographic video isregarded as “work which is harmful to public health or morals” under the Worker Dispatching
Act, it is reported that in many cases the production companies enter into model management
contracts or service agreements instead of employment agreements with the actresses. This is
despite the fact that there is a hierarchical relationship of a superior-subordinate natureestablished between the production companies and the actresses who engage in filming for the
makers.
At the time of filming of the pornographic videos, women usually submit a written consent
of appearance to the maker or sign an agreement with the maker in which they agree to transfer
their portrait rights and neighboring rights in such videos.

4.

Laws and Regulations in Japan

In Japan, pornographic videos are basically deemed to be lawful and there is no relevant
regulatory agency that directly regulates the pornographic video industry. Therefore, there areno sufficient arrangements for protecting actresses who appear in pornographic videos from
exploitation, violence, or intimidation. This section describes laws and regulations in Japan that
regulate pornographic videos.
(1) Anti-Prostitution Act
The Anti-Prostitution Act defines “prostitution” as “having sexual intercourse withunspecified persons for compensation or promise to compensate” (Article 2)12, and prohibits
prostitution stating, “No person may either engage in prostitution or become a customer of it ”

12Translation by Human Rights Now

10

(Article 3)13.
To crack down on pornographic videos based on this act, it is necessary to assume that
pornographic videos are included in the definition of “prostitution”. However, such a
presumption has to overcome problems arising from different interpretations of the act, such as
the question of whether a fee for pornographic videos is considered as compensation for sexualintercourse—it might be compensation for the “acting performance” and “filming”, rather than“sexual intercourse”—and whether the other party is “unspecified persons”—it might bespecific persons assigned by the maker. Therefore, we could not find any cases of arrests madeon the basis of violation of the Anti-Prostitution Act.
(2)Criminal Codea. Distribution of Obscene Objects
Pornographic videos that are distributed through proper channels usually have images ofgenitals pixelated or mosaicked, and are sold after a screening conducted by ethical review
associations14. Therefore, there are few cases in which such pornographic videos have been
detected and labeled by the governing bodies as “obscene objects”.
However, pornographic videos which have passed the screening of the ethical review
association could still be considered as “obscene objects” if they fail to eliminate all obscene
scenes. In fact, there is a case in which a former jury of an ethical review association was
charged as an “accessory to selling obscene objects” for not properly pixelating or
mosaicking pornographic videos. 15
b. Rape; Forcible Indecency; Rape and Forcible Indecency Causing Injury;
Compulsion; and Battery Causing Injury
In the event that the actress is forced to appear in a pornographic video against her will
and forced to have sexual intercourse by breaking down her resistance through assault or
intimidation, the person(s) responsible for the act should be charged with “rape” or “forcible
indecency causing injury.” In the event that the actress gets injured during the filming of thevideo, the person(s) responsible for the injury should be charged with “battery causing injury”.
One case has been reported regarding a pornographic video filmed by a maker called
Bakky Visual Planning which shows the violent rape of a young woman. Despite thewoman’s appeal to stop filming, a number of male actors assaulted her violently and raped
her a few dozen times over a long period. They also submerged her in water and made her
drink large amounts of water, which prevented her from breathing. The woman was injured
and spent one month in recovery from these violent acts. The owner of the maker of the video
was sentenced to 18 years in prison as a co-principal by reason of conspiracy of rape causing
injury and battery causing injury. 16
However, such cases of prosecution are rare and makers are not often held liable for theiractions. In many cases, since filming is conducted behind closed doors with the presumptionthat the actress has given her consent, it is difficult to prove that such filming was in fact
conducted against her will.
13

Translation by Human Rights Now
Ethical review associations such as Nihon Ethics of Video Association (NEVA) and Ethics Organization ofComputer Software (EOCS) review and check whether contents of pornographic videos meet ethical standards.
15
October 6, 2014, Supreme Court http://www.asahi.com/articles/DA3S11390963.html
16
December 19, 2007, Tokyo Dist. Ct.
14

11

(3) Employment Security Act and Worker Dispatching Act
a. License from the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare
If the relationship between a production company and an actress is an employeremployee relationship based on an employment agreement, the act of dispatching an actressto a maker by the production company is considered a worker dispatch, for which a licensefrom the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare is required.
b. Work that is Harmful to Public Health or Morals
Appearing in a pornographic video is regarded as “work which is harmful to publichealth or morals” under the Employment Security Act and Worker Dispatching Act.
“Recruiting” (Item 2, Article 63 of the Employment Security Act) and “dispatching”(Article 58 of the Worker Dispatching Act) are subject to punishment. There have been
many cases in which employers were convicted for such acts.1718
17

Cases of convictions for violations of the Employment Security Act (judgments are translated by Human Rights
Now)
October 7, 1993, Tokyo Dist. Ct. (this judgment is not listed in a casebook)“For production of obscene videos, having an actress engage in sexual activities, such as masturbation andsexual intercourse” is regarded as “work which is harmful to public health or morals” under Item 2, Article 63of the Employment Security Act.

July 8, 1994, Tokyo Dist. Ct.
The owner of the company participating in the entertainment management business in Tokyo and the manager
working for that company introduced women at the ages of 18 and 21 to the director of a company producing
pornographic videos, and had the director employ women as actresses. These acts of the owner and the manager
were considered as engaging in job placement with an intention of having workers do harmful work, and they
were found guilty (imprisonment of 2 years/1 year suspended sentences for 4 years/3 years).

October 5, 1995, Tokyo Dist. Ct.
A person producing and selling pornographic videos had an interview with a 17-year-old woman who
responded to a job advertisement posted via SMS by the interviewer. The interviewer told the woman that thevideo would not be openly sold and that therefore her parents would not know about it. He promised to pay hera remuneration of 25,000 JPY and persuaded/recruited her to work as a pornographic actress. He was foundguilty of such acts (imprisonment of 1 year, suspended for 3 years).

November 26, 1996, Tokyo Dist. Ct. (Hanrei Times vol. 942 at 261, Keisatsu Koron vol. 52-4 at 107)
A person producing and selling pornographic videos had an interview with a 15-year-old woman and told herthat she did not have to worry, as he would make sure that her parents and friends would not know about her
appearances in such videos. This act of persuading and recruiting a woman to work as an actress in an obscene
video led to a judgment of guilt (imprisonment of 2 and half years without suspension).
18

Cases of convictions for violation of the Worker Dispatching Act
November 17, 1988 Tokyo Dist. Ct. (Keisatsu-jitsumu Jyuyo Hanrei, 1990 ver. at 228)
A female talent signed a contract with a production company, under which she agreed to follow the instructionsof that production and not to work for other production companies without their approval. The production
company dispatched and/or introduced her as an actress to the filming company of pornographic videos withthe knowledge that she would be required to do sexual activities such as sexual intercourse and oral sex. The actof the owner of this production was found to be job placement of harmful work and dispatch of workers forharmful work.
This judgment also found the following: even though the same exclusivity contracts were signed in both cases,
the case in which the production company received compensation from the filming company for each occasionof the dispatching and paid such compensation to the actress after the deduction of the production company’s
fees was considered as a job placement with an intention of having workers do harmful work, and the case inwhich the production company paid fixed compensation to the actress regardless of whether the job was
assigned to her or not was considered as a dispatch of workers for harmful work. However, there is an opinion
that both cases should be considered as dispatch of workers.

September 27, 1990 Tokyo Dist. Ct.
The defendant, in conspiracy with the owner of a model management company, dispatched a 17-year-old girlemployed by the management company to work as an actress in a pornographic video. The defendant was
found guilty of the act (imprisonment of 1 and half year, suspended for 3 years).
12

c. Current Situation
However, following these precedents, production companies tend to enter into model
management agreements or service agreements instead of employment agreements with theactresses. It is suspected that production companies take these measures to avoid being
subject to the Employment Security Act and Worker Dispatching Act, despite the fact thatthe actresses engage in filming for the makers under the instruction of the production
companies. As a result, the production companies are avoiding supervision by regulatory
agencies under the labor laws and women are placed in an increasingly vulnerable position.

(4) Nuisance Prevention OrdinanceIn many local governments, the scouting of pornographic video actresses is prohibited
under the Nuisance Prevention Ordinances. 19

IV. Overview of Damage
Firstly, we conducted interviews with organizations 20 which support the victims of
pornographic video exploitation regarding the reality of the damage.

1.

Characteristic of Damage reported by supporting organizations

We conducted an interview with Ms. Setsuko Miyamoto, a representative of People
Against Pornography and Sexual Violence (“PAPS”), about the overview and characteristic ofdamage as follows:(1) With the dissemination of cyber pornography (pornography on the Internet), thepornographic video industry always need to have new young women appear in pornographic
videos and secure women for such purposes with false explanations, blatant flattery, andintimidation. Several parties take each role and share the responsibility.
First, there is a company called “(model) production” that scouts women with a false
explanation and flattery, and hires them as exclusive models of the production. The othercompany involved is referred to as the “maker”, which actually produces and sells pornographic
videos by having women dispatched by the production company appeared in such video.

March 7, 1994 Tokyo Dist. Ct. (Hanrei-jiho vol. 1530 at 144)
An entertainment management company dispatched its female employee to a company producing pornographic
videos. In this case, having sexual intercourse and other sexual acts in a pornographic video was regarded as“work injurious to public health or public morals” under Article 58 of the Workers Dispatching Act.
In this judgment, the court held that the purpose of Article 59 of this Act is “to make the business of dispatching
workers for harmful work impracticable and to protect dispatched workers in general by prohibiting such
worker dispatch.” The court further stated that whether it is considered as “work injurious to public health or
public morals” should be determined based on the contents of the work to be conducted by the dispatchedworker, not based on the outcome of work (video/movie). The court finally held that the “work of a dispatchedactress is to appear in pornographic videos as a pornographic actress, to perform scenes of sexual activities suchas sexual intercourse and oral sex with male actor(s) assigned, and to allow the company to film pornographic
videos. This work substantially impairs sexual morality, which should be maintained in social life andcommunity, and further impairs the welfare of dispatched workers in general. Therefore, there is no doubt that
this work is regarded as ‘work injurious to public health or public morals’”.
19
In Tokyo: http://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.jp/kouhoushi/no53/column_koho53.htm
In Chiba: http://www.police.pref.chiba.jp/legal/prevent_trouble/
20
PAPS (People Against Pornography and Sexual Violence) http://www.paps-jp.org/aboutus/coerce, Lighthouse:
Center for Human Trafficking Victims http://lhj.jp/english

13

Some women do not know what a “pornographic video” refers to but regard them as
merely “sexy videos.” They give consent to appear in such videos without knowing the need toengage in sexual intercourse with male actor(s) and that they will be filmed and sold to themarket.
Also, some women provide consent to appear in pornographic videos because they were
almost brainwashed by persistent persuasion with lies that famous talents had also appeared in
pornographic videos in the beginning of their careers.
(2) Women who were persuaded to appear in pornographic videos under false pretenses or
intimidation sign several contracts with a production company and maker.
Such contracts often state that when women refuse to appear in pornographic videos after
signing agreements with a production company, or refuse to release or distribute such videos
after these videos were filmed, they have to pay a “penalty.” The amount of the penalty is notdescribed in the agreements. However, it is not a rare case that the women are asked to pay a
penalty of several million yen even though they just signed the contracts and filming had notstarted yet, and more than 10 million yen if filming of several videos has already been
completed. This penalty system often force the women, who signed contracts prior to fully
understanding the content of the agreements, to appear in the videos or give their consent to sell
the videos against their will.
(3) Beside the penalty system, such contracts often include provisions stating that the women
would permanently waive all their rights, including copyrights, to the pornographic videos inwhich they appear. Therefore, if a maker releases these videos for a second or third time, thewomen who appeared in the films cannot receive any remuneration for such extended uses otherthan the performance fee for the initial filming. Also, these women are at risk of becoming
pregnant or contracting venereal diseases in the filming of such videos in which they have toengage in sexual intercourse with male actors. However, under the contracts, it is the woman’s
responsibility to take preventive measures for such risks and a maker who controls the filming
does not bear any responsibility. Since the content of the filming is often not fully explained to
the women beforehand, they only realize what they have signed up to on the shooting day. Thus
they are forced to have sexual intercourse against their will for a long period of time, and are notallowed to refuse or escape from the scene.
(4) It never happens to “ordinary” actresses or actors that they waive almost all their rights inthe films in which they play the lead but bear all the negative obligations. There is a system of
exploitation in which makers and production companies obtain enormous profits from the saleof these videos in the global market and the women who appeared in such videos are left
without any entitlement to basic human rights in such videos other than getting a performance
fee.

2.

Increasing Request for Consultation

PAPS, established in 2009, has been supporting and providing consultation services tovictims of pornography and sexual violence since 2012, the year PAPS received its firstcomplaint regarding forced appearances in pornographic videos. The tables below show the
fluctuations with regards to the number of requests for consultation.
[The Number of the Requests for Consultation]
Year

Number

Total
14

2012

1

1

2013

1

2

2014

32

35

2015*

59

93

* As of September 28, 2015
[The Number of the Requests in 2015]
Month

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9*

Number

3

6

6

8

4

11

8

9

4

NumberNotes* As of September 28, 2015
[Content of Consultation]
Content of Consultation
Forcedtoappearpornographic videos

in13

Forced to pay the penalty forwork related to pornographic
videos12

Deceived and appeared in
pornographic videos

21-Could not refuse but appeared in the videos-Different from what women heard beforehand

Want to stop appearing in
pornographic videos
Want to delete the priorpornographic videos

Other cases related
pornographic videos

to4

Want to refuse to appear in pornographic videos
after signing agreements or filming

9

Acquaintances recognized them

7

Scared that somebody will find out about theirappearances in pornographic videos in the past

4

Scared to be recognized by somebody in an
appearance in a gay pornographic videos in thepast

2Consultations brought by families or schools(complaint is not clear)

Revenge porn

1

Others20

Including victims of child prostitution, childpornography, and gay pornography

15

V. Situation of Damages Revealed by this Investigation
In the investigation for this report, we conducted direct interviews with victims as well as
supporting organizations 2122. Among the 93 cases listed above, we can disclose only 10 cases inorder to protect personal information of the victims. These are serious cases as described below
but only the tip of the iceberg of the victims of pornographic and sexual violence. For practicalreasons, in all cases, we refer to the victims, the productions, and the makers as “V”, “X”, “Y”,
respectively.
[Overview of the cases]
Coerced toappear in thevideosMalicious
solicitations orsolicitations
using
false
information

Threatsofpenalty/Compell
ed
to
pay
penalty1

Scoutedasphoto modelA
production
filed a lawsuit
claiming for the
penalty2

Told that job
was
photo
model

Filmingwithviolent/
cruel
scenesProblems
in Distribution

V was minor
when scouted-Unexpurgatedpornographic
videos-Secondary
andthird use of videos

3

Convinced
behind closed
doors
while
surrounded (byseveral people)

4

Convinced bybeing
surrounded byseveral people

5

Refusedappearto

Scouted on thestreet and hired
as a talent

Suicide due to thesales of videos she
appeared in
Requestedto
pay penalty andrefundother
fees, such asadministrative
fees,
rent,
plastic surgery
etc.

21

PAPS (People Against Pornography and Sexual Violence), http://www.paps-jp.org/aboutus/coerce, Lighthouse:
Center for Human Trafficking Victims, http://lhj.jp/english
22
The number of cases reported to the supporting organizations from September 2012 to September 2015 is 93, andabout 80% of the cases are related to appearance in pornographic videos.

16

OthersV
suffers
from Serious
PTSD
andother aftereffects

Drivensuicide

to

○

6

7

Decieved into
believing it wasa TV contract
advertised as a“well-paid job”

Paid
extortionate
penalty8

Unexpurgatedpornographic
videos9

False explanation
about distribution

10

1.

Solicitedbyfalse statementthat V could
become an idol

V was minor
when
appeared in
the videos

V continues
to appear in
pornographic
videosRequired to Pay Penalties and Coerced to Appear in the Video(1) Required to pay extortionate penalties and coerced to appear in the video[Scouted when A was a minor]
When A was a high school student, she was hired as a “photo model” by X’s scout on the street.
A was interested in working as a talent in the show business/entertainment industry, so she
agreed to be a photo model. She then signed an agreement as instructed. It should be noted thata copy of the agreement was not provided to A.
•
A was assigned to her job of “Chaku-Ero,” i.e. be filmed wearing an extremely skimpy
outfit. It was different from what A had expected as a photo model, so A asked X to terminate
the Agreement. X responded that such “Chaku-Ero” work was already assigned to her, and that
if A wanted to quit, she had to pay 1,000,000 JPY as penalty. Since A did not have 1,000,000
JPY, she had no other choice but to be filmed in the “Chaku-Ero.”•
X told A that this “Chaku-Ero” was a promotional activity for A to work as a talent in theshow business industry, so there was no remuneration offered to her. A did not doubt this
explanation because other women around her were working under the same conditions.
[Forced to appear in pornographic videos]•After A turned 20, X told A that her next job would be to act in a pornographic video.
Since A did not want to appear in a pornographic video, she pleaded to X that she wanted toquit repeatedly. However, X ignored her requests. A had no other choice but to appear in
pornographic videos as she could not refuse due to the monetary penalty (known through her
previous experiences).
•
A was dispatched by X to Y (a maker) to be filmed. Scripts of the video were provided a
day before the shooting but A had no say regarding the content of the scripts. She was coerced
to have sexual intercourse with several men and suffered from both physical and mental injuries.
•
A once again told X that she would not be able to appear in such videos. However, X told
her that an agreement had been signed between X and Y for A to appear in a total of 10
pornographic videos. Thus the alternative to A appearing in the 9 remaining videos was to pay
17the penalty of 10,000,000 JPY.

•
A was not able to pay 10,000,000 JPY, but she could not bear doing any further
pornographic videos. As she contemplated committing suicide, she decided to contact a support
group and send a notice of termination of the agreement to X prior to the release date of her
video and next shoot.
•X filed a lawsuit against her, claiming an enormous amount in damages.

(2) Filmed with Violent Scenes•
When B was 20 years old, an acquaintance told her that he/she would introduce her to a
management company of “photo models”, and B visited X’s office for an interview. B agreed
with X to enter into an exclusive model-management agreement without receiving any reference
to or information about pornographic videos.
•
B went to Y’s office for an interview on referral by X. B was confounded by Y’s indecent
questions about her sexual experience. After the interview, it was decided that B would be
filmed in a video produced by Y, but B was not informed of the details of the work assigned toher.
•
B was told at the day of shooting that she would shoot a pornographic video. B refused tobe filmed, but she could not refuse as she was told by X that refusing to shoot for the film would
lead to high penalties.
•
After the first pornographic video was filmed, B asked to terminate the Agreement with X.
However, X told B that her next job was already scheduled. X also coerced B to appear in
pornographic videos by telling her that in addition to paying a penalty for resignation, theywould go to her university or her home to pick her up if she would not come to the filming
location, and that if she could not pay the penalty charges, they would ask her parents to do so.

18•With reluctance, she continued to appear in pornographic videos in response to themultiple threats. However, the contents of the pornographic videos became increasingly
outrageous and she was subjected to cruel treatments against her will in the process of filming.
Acts forced during the filming were as follows: forcing her to drink more than 12 liters of water per day for filming, genital penetration by several men without contraceptives and cleansing, vagina and anus penetration without contraceptives and cleansing, inserting a tube, which resembles a male genital, into her vagina and pouring large
quantities of liquid into her vagina for several hours
 injecting semen of several men into her vagina without contraceptives
 violently raped while deprived of her movement with her upper body fastened onto awooden board and her lower body fully exposed Coerced to appear in a number of unexpurgated pornographic videos19•B was never informed about the contents of the videos in advance. She sometimes criedout with pain during filming and ran away from a filming location naked. However, she wasalways yelled at by director(s) and others while the shooting continued.
•
As a result of the series of filming described above, B fell ill with various diseases suchas colitis, genital herpes, candida, gastroenteritis from virus, alopecia areata, depression,
androphobia and claustrophobia.
•
B finally managed to terminate the agreement with X, but she still suffers from emotional
distress because of the pornographic videos which are still on the market. Y continues to
produce new videos by secondary and third uses of her pornographic video.
•
B felt she had no option but to change her face in order to escape from her pastexperiences in the pornographic film industry, and therefore repeatedly underwent plastic
surgery and has continued to do so.
(3) Convinced behind Closed Doors and Coerced to Appear in Pornographic Video•
C applied for a job as a model when she was 19. C was told that the company would offer
her a job when she turned 20. As soon as she turned 20, she was told by X that she got a job andwas ordered to appear in a pornographic video.
•
Although C refused to appear in the pornographic video, C was surrounded by employeesof X who persistently tried to convince her to take the offer for approximately three hours.
•
Eventually, C gave in when she felt she couldn’t leave the room after many hours of
persuasion, and eventually, though reluctantly, signed an agreement to appear in a pornographic
video. Also, her free consent was taken away upon being informed that she would have to pay alarge amount of money as penalty if she resigns.

20

2.

Cases in which production companies forced or tried to force women to appear
in pornographic videos using malicious solicitation and persuasion.

(4) A case in which a woman was driven to suicide•
D was approached and scouted by an agent who worked for X. As the scout noticed that
D was a timid person who had difficulties saying no, he called in several colleagues to persuade
D to appear in a pornographic video. D eventually agreed to do so.
•
Although D appeared in pornographic videos having failed to refuse, she stronglyregretted her decision after the shoot. However, she had to continue as she was told by X thatthe second video was already scheduled to be filmed.
•
After X became aware of D’s intention to quit her job as a pornographic actress, X madeher appear in many videos in a short term in order to produce as many videos as possible before
she quit.
•
Within six months, D appeared in numerous pornographic videos which were widelydistributed in public.
•
D could terminate the Agreement with X. However, she suffered from the negative
mental health impact from the continued sales of her pornographic videos.
•
D consulted a victim support organization and decided to hire a lawyer to stop the
distribution of her videos. However, she hung herself before actually contacting a lawyer.

(5) Entered into an Exclusive Management Agreement as a Talent but Instructed to Have
Interview for Pornographic Video•
E was scouted by X’s scout on the street who asked if she was interested in working in
the entertainment industry, and she entered into an exclusive management agreement with X as21

a talent. The agreement did not make any reference to the filming of a pornographic video.
•
E lived in a luxury apartment provided by X, went to the gym and got plastic surgery at
X’s expense. She believed that she would be able to debut as an ordinary talent and lived a life
as instructed by X.

•
One month later, she was instructed by X to go for an interview at Y’s office, which
turned out to be an interview for a pornographic video. E was confounded by Y’s indecent
questions, such as if she was ready for sexual intercourse or anal sex. Although she refused Y’s
offer by stating that she had no intention in engaging in sexual acts, Y’s employees ignored E’s
protest and in the end made her strip and took topless pictures of E. E was frightened by theunexpected request by Y and asked X to terminate the Agreement soon after the interview.
•
X threatened E that she would have to refund all the rent, expenses of the gym and plastic
surgery X paid for her as a penalty upon terminating the Agreement. X also threatened her that
if she could not pay the penalty, X would explain the situation to her parents or her school andask them to pay on her behalf.

22•E left the apartment supplied by X in fear of being coerced to appear in the pornographic
videos under confinement. E managed to terminate the Agreement with X with the help of anorganization supporting pornographic video victims and a lawyer.
(6) Case in which a woman was scouted for a TV show which turned out to be apornographic video•
F was scouted on a street by a guy in his thirties who told her that they were shooting anight show in which they dress up amateur models as a cosplayers and asked if she wasinterested in being filmed. The guy told her that they would pay her honorarium if she agreed toappear in the show. Since she was curious about the offer, F accepted the offer right away.
•
F was taken into a bus prepared by the TV crew and was asked to sign a document andpresent her ID. Since F thought that it was a reliable company, F signed the document eventhough F could not read it in the dark and handed over her ID. There were three to four staff inthe bus, including women, which made F feel safe.
•
After F dressed up in a costume and people started filming, F was confounded by achange in the tone of a male staff whose questions became more and more indecent. F wasconfused but was not sure what to do as the camera was already on. Several men started totouch her body while she remained in great confusion. F could not move due to her immense
fear, and meanwhile several male penetrated her while the crew filmed the scene.

23

3.

Other cases(7) Compelled to Pay Extortionate Penalty•
G was lured by an acquaintance into appearing in a pornographic video. However, G
regretted the decision immediately after filming, and asked Y not to release the video. Y
requested G to pay an amount of almost 10,000,000 JPY as a penalty for stopping the release of
the film.
•
G consulted with a lawyer who advised G that the amount of penalty claimed by X wasextortionate. However, Y insisted that they would sell the pornographic video unless G paid thepenalty. Thus G had no choice but to agree to pay the penalty of several million yen.
•G obtained a loan from a financial company against a real estate owned by her relative.
However, this loan was not sufficient for covering the whole penalty, so G made an agreementwith Y to pay the penalty in installments.
(8) Distributed on the Internet as Unexpurgated Videos•
J applied for a “well-paid job” when she was 19. J was told at the interview that the job
would be to appear in a pornographic video. J hesitated but agreed to it because of theinterviewer’s reassurance that “nobody will know (about your appearance in pornographic
videos).”•J regretted the decision after shooting for the film. Since J was a minor at the time when
she signed the Agreement, J had the right to contact Y to cancel the Agreement by sending aformal notice in order to stop the release of the video. However, as J was not given a copy of theAgreement at the time she signed it, J could not identify the formal name and address of Y inorder to send the notice.
•

Later, J found out that Y had already distributed the unexpurgated pornographic video in24which J had appeared.
•
J reported to X that her video was sold as an unexpurgated pornographic video and asked
X to stop the sales, but X did not respond to her request.
•
Furthermore, X hampered J’s effort to report to the police by threatening J that J had
given her consent to the distribution of the unexpurgated video and therefore J would bearrested if she went to the police.
(9) Case in which a woman was given false explanation about method of advertisementand distribution of her video•
K was solicited by X to appear in a pornographic video under the condition that her
videos would be available only on TV in “love hotels,” and K agreed to do so. However, K’s
pornographic video was broadly distributed on the internet.
•
K filed a petition to the court for a provisional injunction to stop the sale of the video
based on Y’s violation of his promise.
•
However, the court found that there is no evidence showing that Y made such promises
regarding the advertisement method, and therefore did not grant a provisional injunction. In theend, K’s pornographic video was widely distributed to the public.

4.

Cases in which women continue to appear in pornographic videos(10) Unable to Cut Ties with Pornographic Film Industry for Many Years•
L has always wanted to become an idol, and was scouted by X in a city. X gave false
accounts of several well-known actresses and explained to Y that many famous actresses had
previously been involved in the pornographic film industry.
•
L initially refused X’s offer multiple times. However, X kept on seducing L by bringing L
to parties where L had the opportunity to meet celebrities, explaining that L would be able tosocialize with people in the entertainment business, which would foster her career as an idol,and stating that L could live in a company dormitory and be given acting lessons.
•Due to her desire to become a star, L eventually gave in and agreed to act in a
pornographic video. As pornographic filming was a harsh and oppressive experience for L, L
wanted to quit. However, X seduced L to continue her work by taking her to lunch/dinner every
day and giving L presents. L kept appearing in new pornographic videos and became a wellknown pornographic actress.
•
X began to tell L that she had no choice but to continue her career as a pornographic
actress, because L’s fame would render it difficult for her to find work outside the pornographic
film industry. X also asked L to make positive comments regarding pornographic videos onsocial media as an advertising spokesperson for X.
•
L thought that L would not be able to work in any industry other than pornographic
videos and felt hopeless. L thought the only option would be to earn enough (by appearing in
pornographic videos) in order to afford living abroad.

25

However, in the meantime, in order to maintain popularity in the industry which tends to value
fresh actresses compared to ones with longer acting careers, her pornographic videos graduallybecame more brutal with scenes of rape and extremely violent acts (often referred to as“castro”), which caused much damage to both her mental and physical health.
•
L is currently consulting with an organization that supports victims of the pornographic
film industry. However, L has to continue appearing in new videos as well as making positive
remarks about the industry on social media.

VI. Identifying Root Causes of Problems
Based on our analysis of the cases mentioned above and other cases that we have investigated,
we identified the following to be the root causes of the human rights violations.

1.

From Being Scouted to Signing Contract with a Production Company(1) Young women as their target group
All the victims we were able to interview were young women aged between 19 to midtwenties at the time of their appearance in pornographic videos. In particular, we discovered thatmost victims were women who had just turned 20 of age. They are often students and there islittle difference between them and minors in respect of social experiences, but their legal age
renders the signing of such contracts valid in law, thus making them easy targets for scouts andproduction companies.
Scouts and production companies exploit young women’s lack of knowledge by presenting
contracts that are difficult and almost impossible for young women to understand. Additionally,
they pursue various tactics such as persuading the women for long periods of time, forcing them26

to sign the contracts without consulting their family and relatives etc. In other words, thesecompanies and their scouts exploit vulnerable, young women’s ignorance by indirectly forcing
them to sign such contracts.
Also, as seen in the case described in V.1 (1), minors were forced to appear in image
videos such as “Chaku-Ero,” and were coerced to appear in the pornographic videos after theyturn 20 of age.
(2) Problems in solicitation methods
As described in V.1.(1), V.1.(2), V.1.(3), V.2.(5) and V.2.(6) above, scouts often take
women to a production company’s office by soliciting them based on false explanations that the
women could become “talents” and “models” without any reference to pornographic videos. In
many cases, a young woman would sign an agreement to join a production company as a “talent”
or “model”. Meanwhile, the production company would, with intention, withhold information in
the agreement regarding consent to appear in pornographic videos at the time of signing, butlater instructs and coerces women to appear in the pornographic videos based on the signed
agreement.
Also, as the cases described in V.1. (3) and V.2.(4) above, there are some cases in which
the women were convinced by several adult men surrounding them for a long time to sign thecontracts with agreements including appearances in pornographic videos.
Further as the case described in V.2. (6) above, there are some cases in which the women
were filmed as a result of fraudulent measures.
(3) Content of Contracts
Our investigation confirmed that there are many cases in which production companies
exploit women by failing to give a signed contract to them. As a result, such women blindly
accept the production company’s demands as they do not know of their rights and obligations
under the said contract.
Contracts between the women and their production companies do not follow a standard
form, but appear in various structures such as model and/or talent management agreements,
service agreements in which the production company renders management services to thewomen, or other service agreements in which the women render some services to the production
company.
In some cases, a contract includes appearances in pornographic videos in its job description,
but in other cases, it does not. However, what is common in the content of the contracts is that a
production company manages the talent and the talent is obliged to implement assigned work inaccordance with instructions given by the production company, and if the talent does not
implement her work as set forth in the contracts, she is required to pay the penalty for noncompliance. The characteristic of these types of contracts is that the women do not have theright to choose to accept or refuse to appear in the videos.
As a result of such contracts, there are many cases in which a production company
advertises a job that requires appearances in pornographic videos (with a maker) without
informing the women, and later forcing her to appear in such videos against her will bythreatening her with a potential monetary penalty.
There are also the cases in which a production company includes pornographic videos in anagreement or convinces a woman to appear in such videos. Production companies play tricks
with the women’s minds and seduce them with false explanations that appearing in the27pornographic video would foster their careers as idols. In other cases, production companies
pressure women to agree to appear in pornographic videos by ordering their employees to gangup on them for long periods of time.
The amount of remuneration for appearing in such pornographic videos is not specified in
the agreement and is decided on the production company’s sole discretion.
In general, female talents and actresses are under the direction and supervision of the
production company, and the relationship between them and the production company isassumed to be an employment agreement. However, as appearing in a pornographic video isregarded as “work which is harmful to public health or morals” under the Employment Security
Act and Worker Dispatching Act, contracts executed between the production company and thewomen are deliberately worded to distinguish them from a standard employment agreement. As
a result, the women may not obtain any protection or rights under Labor Laws.
(4) No evidence exists for false explanations or duress
Although contracts are often signed under the influence of false explanations and/or
coercion, in many cases it is difficult to find material evidence for such acts since they are often
done behind closed doors. Therefore, victims are put at a disadvantage when they file lawsuits
later on.
(5) Women are not informed about appearing in pornographic videos
Our investigation revealed that many women, especially those who are young, accepted
offers from scouts without any understanding of the agreements in the contracts. There are somecases in which young women signed an agreement without knowing that actual sexualintercourse would be filmed in pornographic videos, as they believed that such videos weremerely videos with sexy contents.
However, we found that in none of the cases did the production company explain thecontents of the videos to women in detail at the time of the execution of the contracts.
There are a number of victims who had only been aware of the agreement’s content after
they had signed their contracts. Such information includes: the content of the video they will beappearing in will not be disclosed to them until the day of shooting, and they are not given theoption to refuse or accept the job, the videos will be widely distributed on the internet and willremain available online almost permanently, and these footages will be edited for second andthird-party uses and will continue to be circulated in the market as new videos.

2.

Coercion to Appear in Pornographic Videos

Once a woman has signed the contract with a production company, the production
company would enter into a contract with a maker (without consulting with the woman
involved) and order the woman to go to the filming location.
The production company then coerces the woman to appear in a film that contains indecent
scenes by telling her that she has an obligation to comply with the agreement since she hadalready signed it. This habit of production companies to make deals with makers of
pornographic videos without consulting the woman before coercing her to complete the job isvery common. It is very rare for a production company to accept a woman’s refusal to shoot for
the film afterwards. This is because, as discussed above, if the filming is canceled, theproduction company is then obligated to pay damages to the maker.
28

Our investigation revealed that in some cases, methods employed by production companies
exceeded the scope of persuasion, thus constitute coercion. Such methods include threatening
young women to pay extortionate penalties, threatening them that the production companies
would ask their parents to pay the penalty (cases V.1.(1), V.1.(2) and V.2.(5) above ), andtelling them that the production companies would come to pick them up at their universities andhome if they do not come to the location of the filming.
In these cases, women are usually left with little time to consult with a third party, thus
they usually do not see any other choice but to participate in the filming of videos as theycannot afford to pay the penalty and/or they fear their parents or friends might be informed of
the situation.
The situation in which women are coerced into appearing in pornographic videos and are
required to have sexual acts due to their inability to pay penalties is nothing but slavery “debtbondage” thus constitutes grave human rights violations.

3.

Filming of the Pornographic Videos

As discussed, in our investigation, we could not find a single case in which the woman wasgiven a choice not to appear in the pornographic videos.
We also could not find any cases in which a woman was provided with scripts or scenariosof a video in advance and chose the film in which she would participate based on her free will,
went to audition by herself, or had any discussions with a director before filming to reflect her
opinion in the videos.
In many cases, the scenarios in the pornographic video were not given to women by thenight before filming or even the day of filming. The scripts were often vague, and women were
not informed of what kind of acts they would be engaged in and with whom. There was one
case in which the woman involved, a minor, who did not have any sexual experience,
participated in the filming of the pornographic video without understanding what such videos
were.
The circumstances of filming are often extremely harsh. However, it is almost impossible
for these young women to make the filming stop and refuse to be filmed. The women cannot
run away from the film set because they are kept naked and surrounded by adult men who are
guarding their clothes.
As described in the case V.1.(2), the woman was not allowed to run away and was forced
to be filmed in humiliating scenes. Also, as shown in V.1.(2) and V.4.(8) above, actresses withlonger careers in the industry tend to participate in more cruel and humiliating pornographic
videos in order to maintain their fresh image and popularity. It is not necessarily the case thatthe actress is treated as an equal with the production company as she becomes more experienced
with a long career as a pornographic actress.
On the contrary, there are some cases in which the production company controls thewoman to a greater degree by exploiting the vulnerability of the woman who fears that she will
not be able to work anywhere outside of pornographic video industry or that she has lost her
popularity.
Women who have appeared in pornographic videos for a long time often suffer fromemotional trauma and mental illnesses caused by the cruel filming environment and tend to lose
the power to make their way out of their current situation. Also, production companies tend toplay tricks with women’s minds and force them to continue their career in pornographic videos
by making them feel unworthy outside the industry.
29

As discussed, the interviews we conducted in this investigation revealed that women who
managed to terminate their agreements continued to suffer from mental and physical pain fromtheir brutal and harsh experiences while shooting pornographic videos.
Our investigation reveals the brutal situation of the filming of the pornographic videos that
put the woman’s health and personality at risk. In a similar incident named “Bakky case” from
2004, a maker of pornographic video filmed a female victim while his staff inserted an
instrument into her anus and broke the instrument inside her causing a rectal perforation and
rapture of her anus. The woman ended up hospitalized for four months due to the injuriescaused by the filming. This case shows practices that forsake these women’s human rights,
while putting their lives at risk and repeatedly causing physical injuries to them (in the
pornographic video industry).
We assume that there are many other cases in which even though the women gave consent
to appear in the pornographic videos, they are deprived of their right to choose the films inwhich they appear in. Furthermore, they are unable to negotiate on equal terms with theirproduction companies or makers, thus are forced to participate in films that are so humiliating
they constitute a blatant violation of basic human rights.

4.

At the Stage of the Contract Execution with a Maker

Although the women are usually not involved in the signing of a contract executed between
a production company and maker, they are required to sign an agreement with a maker in which
they consent to appear in pornographic videos and waive their rights in such videos later on.
In general, an employee of the production company (usually referred to as “manager”)
accompanies a woman when she signs an agreement with a maker. The woman is often notinformed about the basic terms of the agreement, including the contents of videos, the numberof videos she is required to appear in and the amount of compensation to be paid from the
maker to the production company. The woman signs such agreement with a maker as instructedby the manager.
In some cases, the maker preserves the evidence to show that the woman voluntarily agrees
to appear in the pornographic videos by recording the interview with the woman. However, inthese cases, the woman is not in a position to be able to reveal her real intentions because thewoman is forced to have the interview with a maker under the production company’s instruction
and in the presence of an employee of the production company. Therefore, such interviews by
the maker do not effectively function as a safeguard for the victims.
Usually, the production company and the maker would sign an agreement at the same time
an actress signs an agreement with the maker. We found in some cases that an agreement
between the production company and the maker contains a provision that requires the
production company to pay the maker penalty fees (in case of non-compliance).

5.

Problems Related to the Contract(1) Contracts with production companies
In general, a woman is dispatched to a maker under the production’ companys order andappears in pornographic video under the instructions of the maker. The amount of remunerationand the contents of the video are decided by the maker and production without involving thewoman. In light of these circumstances, the relationship between the woman and the production
company is assumed to be an employment agreement, and assignment of the woman to the
maker is considered a worker dispatch. Based on this analysis, the production company is30

legally obligated to maintain a safe environment and take other measures to protect its employee
in order to perform its obligations as an employer. Furthermore, a license must be obtained from
the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to conduct worker dispatch business.
However, in reality, the agreements executed between the production company and women
are titled “Business Outsourcing Contract (Service Contract)” or “Exclusive Artist Contract”
since production companies seek to avoid using the title of an employment agreement. From
what we discovered in this investigation, although agreements between the women and theirproduction companies should be employment agreements, we found no agreement that specifies
the amount of remuneration while a number of agreements included provisions that require
penalties for defaults.
To sum up, the relationship between a production company and a woman is actually an
employer-employee relationship. However, the relationship is often made to look otherwise to
avoid any legal obligation that a production company must assume as an employer. Thus, awoman is not protected as an employee in many cases.
(2) Contracts with makers
In an agreement with a maker, it is typical that a woman transfers all rights, such as
publicity rights and neighboring rights, to the maker inclusively and permanently.
If the woman consents to appear in the pornographic videos and waive her copyrights insuch videos, it allows the maker’s second and third use of such videos. In many cases, any
restriction, reservation or provision regarding amount of remuneration to the women for second
and third-party uses are set forth in the agreement. 23
In reality, young women who do not have enough legal knowledge, especially with regards
to copyrights, waive their rights and authorize a maker to use their videos without understandingthat their videos will be used indefinitely.
As a result, a pornographic video may continue to be sold for a long period of time bysecond and third uses of the video and the woman is never able to request discontinuation ofsales of the videos.
6.

At the Stage that the Pornographic Video is Sold

(1) A maker demands payment of penalty from the woman
It is often the case that a production company or a maker demands a woman to pay a
penalty when the women requests to stop the release of her video after it has been filmed (asseen in case V.1.(1) and V.3. (7)). Even if the maker has already collected all the expenses forthe filming of the first video, the maker can still claim such penalty as he has the right toproduce new videos by secondary and third-party uses of the video which has been transferredby the women to the maker upon the execution of the agreement.
Our investigation reveals a case in which a woman paid the maker an extortionate penalty
to buy back all her rights in her videos by obtaining a loan from a financial company against areal estate owned by a relative.
Although the maker’s claim for such an extortionate penalty constitutes gouging and thus
23

According to Article 91 (2) of the Copyright Act, it is interpreted that a performer does not have rights to the soundor visuals of his/her performance in case the work has been reproduced in a cinematographic work (such as making
the cinema into DVDs) once the performer has given consent to record the sound or visuals of the performance in acinematographic work.

31

should be held invalid, the women, in desperate need to stop the distribution of such videos assoon as possible, have no choice but to accept such penalty.
(2) The videos remain on the internet
There are some cases in which makers agree to stop distribution of the pornographic videos
if the victims are minors or the agreement between the victims and the makers is held invalid on
the basis of mistake or duress.
However, even though the maker stops distribution of the pornographic videos,pornographic videos broadly distributed on the Internet cannot be completely eliminated andremain permanently on websites where they have been posted by private individuals.
Cases have also been reported where the release of a pornographic video was canceled after
pre-ordering became available on a website. Subsequently, the fact of the cancellation itself
attracted a lot of attention on the internet and the digital images released during pre-ordering
were reproduced on many websites.

7.

Problems related to the Distribution of Unexpurgated Videos using Overseas
Servers

In Japan, the exposure of genitals is considered “obscene” under the Criminal Code.
Pornographic videos are distributed in Japan after the genitals have been pixelated.
However, recently, due to the distribution of unexpurgated videos to overseas servers, such
videos have become readily available to anyone who has access to the internet.24. It is obviousthat such videos are produced for Japanese citizens, because the pornographic actresses who
appear in them are Japanese, and their entire website is only in Japanese. This business isconducted based on the assumption that if the server is located overseas, the Criminal Code ofJapan does not apply.
However, there is a Supreme Court Judgment whereby the court made a conviction for the
distribution of obscene videos on overseas servers by applying the Criminal Code of Japan.25
There was also a recent case in which persons involved in FC2, a major distributor ofvideos, were indicted for similar crimes. 26 With that being said, many websites distributing
unexpurgated pornographic videos remain uncontrolled.
If women want to suspend distribution of unexpurgated videos, the women need tonegotiate with the makers or the companies that operate the website on which such
unexpurgated videos are uploaded. These companies that deal with the unexpurgated videos are
relatively small, and it becomes more and more difficult to find out the name of the makers or
operating companies involved. For example, such websites usually only disclose the name ofoperating companies abroad. Also, it is reported that when a woman requested the production
company to stop the distribution of unexpurgated videos, she was threatened that she was also
criminally liable because she consented to appear in the unexpurgated videos.

8.

At the Stage of Legal Action(1)Difficult to find out the name of the maker24

http://www.caribbeancom.com/index2.htm
November 25, 2014 the Supreme Ct.
26
August 6, 2015 Jiji Press Ltd. http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20150806-00000095-jij-soci2532

In this investigation, we could not find any case in which the women received the signed
agreement (or its copy). Therefore, it acts as a hurdle for them to file legal actions since they are
only informed of names of the company instead of those of makers. It is often the case thatcompany’s websites do not contain information that reveals the makers’ whereabouts.27
Such difficulty is especially problematic in cases where the women want to stop the releaseof videos. Since the time period between the filming and its release is short, such videos are
sometimes released while the women (or their legal representatives) are still trying to identify
the name of the makers. It has become a serious problem that largely impedes the exercise ofrights.
(2) Difficult to stop the sale of the videos
Even in cases in which women were forced to appear in pornographic videos against theirwill, it is difficult to show the court enough evidence to grant an injunction order to stop the saleof the videos. In this investigation, we couldn’t find any case in which the court granted suchorders.
As discussed above, there is often not a lot of evidence that shows the false explanation orduress exerted by the production company. On the other hand, the production company iscareful to produce evidence that shows good relationship with the women by exchanging
frequent messages through messaging services like LINE, especially when there is a risk that alegal dispute may arise later on. Therefore, in the legal dispute, the women may not be able toproduce any evidence that supports their argument but the production company may offer a
substantial amount of evidence that supports its counter arguments.
Our investigation found cases in which the women who appeared in pornographic videos
after being lied to about methods of distribution by the production company filed a preliminary
injunction to stop the sale of the video. However, the court found that there is no evidence
showing that the production company made such promises regarding the distribution method,
and therefore did not grant an injunctive order.
We recommend the court grant legal remedies in light of actual damages based on evidence
such as written statements in due consideration of various situations, such as the difference inthe power between the production company/maker and the women; the seriousness in mental
injuries and the outcome of the distribution of the pornographic videos – especially in cases
where the victim was driven to commit suicide as described in V.2. (4) above.
(3) Rarely charged and indicted for criminal offense
The makers and production companies are often not held liable for offences such as
coercing young women to appear in pornographic videos against their will, or even in cases
where these women were raped, assaulted, injured, confined, or abused during the filming ofsuch videos. This is partially because the women executed a contract as pornographic actress,
and there was not enough evidence that showed the extent of the duress by the maker and the
production company.
Also, because the relationship between the production company and the women is an
For instance, there are pornographic videos produced and sold under the label “MOODYZ” which is one of the
major labels of CA Corporation. On the official website for “MOODYZ”, an email address is given for contact, butthere is no address or phone number or any items relating to CA Corporation（http://www.moodyz.com/top.html）.
Currently, CA Corporation deals with the negotiation regarding the pornographic videos produced and sold under thelabel “MOODYZ”. However, the legal relationship between MOODYZ and CA Corporation is not clarified.
27

33

employer-employee relationship in substance, the production should be subject to criminal
penalties for the breach of Employment Security Act and Worker Dispatching Act for the illegal
dispatch of women to the maker. However, in reality, police do not actively intervene in thesecases for breach of these Acts as the contracts executed between the production companies andthe women are not employment agreements.
(4) Lack of relief mechanisms
Although there are many disputes relating to pornographic videos, many victims cannot
even find any person or organization to turn to for support. Therefore, the public is not aware of
the situation of the victims, mechanisms to support the victims have not been established yet,and there are not enough legal precedents on this matter.
Production companies and makers of pornographic videos are not subject to the Act onControl and Improvement of Amusement Business and there are no regulatory agencies that
apply to them. Since production companies assume that the agreements executed with thewomen are not employment agreements and do not obtain the license for the worker dispatch
undertaking, they can avoid supervision by the Labor Standards Office and the regulations
under Worker Dispatching Act. Further, as the pornographic actress is not the consumer whopurchases the products by herself, the framework for consumer protection is not applicable.
Therefore, there is no relief mechanism to solve this sexual exploitation.

VII. Legal Remedies
1.

Regulation by Application of Labor Law

Most of the pornographic actresses do not execute employment contracts with production
companies. However, as the actresses are under instruction by the production companies and therelationship between the production and the actresses is an employer-employee relationship in
substance, the conducts of the production companies should be regulated by the application ofLabor Law.
(1) Tokyo District Court Judgment dated September 9, 2015
In September 9, 2015, the Tokyo District Court dismissed the claim for a penalty of
24,000,000 JPY by a production company against a woman who refused to appear in the
pornographic video. We cite this judgment below for reference to establish the measures tosupport the pornographic victims.
(a) Overview of the case
When the woman in question was a high school student, she was scouted at a local train
station and hired by a production company. At that time, she believed she was hired as an
ordinary talent, and would never be required to do any obscene conduct.
•Later on, the woman signed a “Business Outsourcing Agreement” which stated that the
women would surrender management of her work to the production company, and if she did
not cooperate with the production’s management, she would be required to pay the penalty.
Although the content of the agreement was too difficult for a minor like her to understand,and the production company did not provide sufficient explanation to her, she signed it
without consulting with her parents. A copy of the signed Agreement was never provided to
the woman.
34•All the work assigned to her as a talent following the execution of the agreement were
obscene, but she could not choose to accept or reject the job offers as the production
company has already made deals with makers without consulting with her. When she told
the company about her intent to quit her work as a talent, members of the company coerced
her into continuing her work by threatening with remarks such as “you are obliged to follow(their instructions) as it’s decided in the agreement”, “you have to pay one million yen if you
resign”, or “we will inform your parents if you do not show up to for the filming” etc..
While she was a minor, the company sexually exploited her by confiscating her earnings.
•After the woman turned 20; the production company requested her to act in a pornographic
video without receiving her consent. She had repeatedly asked the company to terminate theAgreement. Nonetheless, she was coerced into appearing in the pornographic video because
the company told her that if she did not take the job, she would be required to pay a penalty.
She was not informed about the details or scenarios of the film prior to the shoot, and she
was subsequently forced to have sexual intercourse surrounded by adult men (film crew
members). She could not run away because she was naked and was surrounded by staff.
Immediately after the first day of filming, she was forced to sign an agreement to appear in asecond pornographic video. At the film set, she cried from the acute pain inflicted on her
genitals but the cameras were kept rolling.
•After the initial shoot, she pleaded to the company for her to be able to stop appearing in the
pornographic videos. However, the company told her that an agreement has already beensigned between the them and the maker to have her appear in 9 other pornographic videos,
and that if she refused to be filmed, the penalty would be 10,000,000 JPY. Thus she could
not terminate the Agreement until she has completed the 9 remaining videos. The woman
became depressed and experienced suicidal thoughts. She found a supporting organization
which advised her to send a notice of termination of the Agreement to the production
company. Upon receiving the notification, the company tried to coerce her into appearing in
the remaining videos by posing numerous threats of a potential monetary penalty. Since she
did not give in, the company filed a lawsuit against her claiming a fine exceeding 24,000,000
JPY for alleged damages.

(b) Framework of the Judgment•

Although the Agreement executed between the production (plaintiff) and the woman(defendant) was titled as “Business Outsourcing Agreement”, the court found that theagreement executed between the woman and the production was an “Employment
Agreement in substance” under which the production hired the woman as its talent or
pornographic actress and had her appear in pornographic videos assigned by the
production company under its direct instructions. The court took into account several
factors, such as the fact that the production company had determined her assignments
without consulting with her; she did not have the discretion to choose her
assignments based on the film contents; the agreement between the two parties
explicitly requires the woman to appear in such videos; and the fact that the
production company had experiences of managing a number of other pornographic
actresses while the defendant was still at a young age (with little experience).

•

The court found that the provisions of “Employment” of the Civil Code shall beapplied to this case and that even in the case where the parties have specified theterm of employment, if there are unavoidable reasons set forth in Article 628 of Civil
Code, the woman (defendant) may immediately cancel the contract.

•

The court found that as the work assigned to the woman was to have sexual35intercourse with the male specified by the production company, the nature of thework is that it shall not be forced to perform against her will.
•

However, the production company determined the woman’s appearance in the
pornographic videos against her will and tried to force her to appear in the video by
threatening that if she did not appear in the video, she would be required to pay
10,000,000 JPY as a penalty. The court found that therefore the woman had“unavoidable reason” to cancel the agreement with the production company.

•

The court found that the woman would not be liable for nonperformance of theagreement, even though she would not appear in the pornographic videos after
repudiating the agreement.

(c) Significance of the Judgment
This case is an important precedent because the court found, as followed:•

Regardless of the type of the contract executed between the production company andthe woman, the agreement between them was an “Employment Agreement in
substance” based on the fact that the woman was young and had no discretion tochoose the assignments in which she was instructed by the production company. It is
not allowed for the woman to be forced to appear in pornographic videos against her
will.

•

If the production company tried to coerce the woman to appear in pornographic
videos, such act shall be considered an “unavoidable reason” (Article 628 of Civil
Code) to disregard the agreement for the woman.

(2) Criteria of judgment for determining whether a person is an “employee” or not
According to the “Criteria of judgment whether to be a worker or not in Labor Standards
Law ”28 published by the Study Group of Labor Standards Act, which is a private consultative
body to the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, in December 19, 1985, whether the person isan “employee” or not is determined by (i) whether labor services are provided under the
direction and supervision of the employer, and (ii) whether the wage would satisfy as sufficientconsideration for labor services provided by the person.
To determine (i) whether labor services are provided under the direction and supervision of
the employer, the following facts are considered:• Whether the person has freedom to accept/reject a request to work or a direction to
perform a duty
• Whether the person performs a duty under such direction and supervision as to contentsof the duty or how the duty should be performed• Whether there is any restrictive fact in engaging in work such as restrictions on the place
and the time of that work
In addition to the three criteria mentioned above, substitutability is considered as acorroborating factor to determine as to whether labor services are provided under the28

It is widely accepted as the concrete set of criteria of judgment and is mentioned as a norm in many precedents.

36

direction and supervision of the employer.29
To determine (ii) whether the wage would satisfy as sufficient consideration for labor
services provided by the person, if it is paid by the employer to employee and in consideration
for the work, it is “wage” no matter what it is named.
According to the criteria above and other precedents, the pornographic actress should beassumed to be the employee of the production if their relationship meets any of the following
situations:• The actress has virtually no freedom to accept/reject a request to work or a direction to
perform a duty.30• The production company instructs and determines her work and the content, place andtime of that work.31• The compensation for the work is determined by the production copmany.
Relevant parties should actively take measures based on Labor Laws if any of theabove-mentioned situations arise.
(3) Legal Remedies available when “Employment Agreement in Substance” is applied(a) Legal protections
Regardless of the type of contract, if the relationship between the pornographic actressand the production company shall be assumed as the employer agreement in substance basedon the actual facts as discussed above, investigation, punishment or supervision shall be
enforced as follows:(i) The breach of Labor Standards Act
To coerce the woman to appear in the pornographic videos by threatening a penalty
constitutes a breach of Article 5 of the Labor Standards Act, which states that “theemployers shall not force Workers to work against their will”.
Also, the penalty clause in the agreement executed between the woman and production
company breaches Article 16 of the Labor Standards Act, which states that “theemployers shall not make a labor contract which predetermines either a sum payable tothe employer for breach of contract or an amount of compensation payable for damages”.
(ii) The breach of Employment Security Act
The solicitation to become a pornographic actress, which is assumed to be “work that isharmful to public health or morals”, breaches Item 2, Article 63 of the Employment
29

It is stated that substitutability for labor service is considered as one of factors that denies existence of structure inwhich an employee works under supervision and directions of an employer.
30
It should be interpreted that the woman does not have freedom to accept/reject a request of work if the producer
coerces the woman to appear in the pornographic videos by threatening her that if she refuses to appear in the videos,she is required to pay the penalty. In the first place it should be prohibited to set forth the penalty clause in theagreement.
31
See Tokyo District Court Judgment dated March 8, 2011 and Tokyo District Court Judgment September 8, 1994.
Although there are the cases in which the place and time of the work are not fixed or determined by the maker, it
shall not be immediately concluded that the production does not instruct and supervise the woman as the place andtime of the work are determined before the woman starts work and it is usual in the show business that the time andplace of the work is not fixed. Also although the production does not instruct the woman on the specific move at thesite of filming of the pornographic videos, it shall not be denied that the production does not instruct and supervise
the woman as it happens because of the characteristic of the filming of the pornographic videos. (March 8, 2011,
Tokyo Dist. Ct.)

37

Security Act.
(iii) The breach of Worker Dispatching Act
Worker Dispatching to the maker by the production company breaches Article 58 of theWorker Dispatching Act and is subject to punishment.
(iv) The obligation of the Employer
If the woman is not dispatched to the maker, it does not breach the Worker Dispatching
Act. However, the employer has the obligations under Industrial Safety and Health Act,and is obligated to prevent occupational accidents and pay compensation for accidents if
such accidents occur.
(v) For the responsibility of the Government
The Government has the responsibility to supervise the employer's’ compliance with theLabor Standards Act and Industrial Safety and Health Act.

2.

Protection under Consumer Contract

As discussed, the women should be protected by the application of the Labor Laws in cases
in which there is an employment agreement in substance between the production company andthe women to appear in the pornographic videos. On the other hand, it is not acceptable that the
women are left without any legal protection in rare cases where they have discretion to choose
the assignment instructed by the production. Also, there are many cases in which the damage
from pornographic videos arises at the stage of inducement of the contracts. These are similar
situations as when consumers suffer damage from agreements induced and executed by taking
advantage of young women. Therefore, in the cases in which the employer agreement in
substance cannot be found, the victims should be protected as consumers who suffer damage(by the inappropriate inducement to the contracts), and such protections should be codified in
relevant laws.
Although the continuous service contract in which the consumer receives the service by theservice provider, such as the esthetic service, is defined as one of the transactions protectedunder the Act on Specified Commercial Transaction, the continuous service contract in which
the consumer is obligated to continuously provide the service to the producer is not specified
under the Act, and is therefore not included in the legal framework for consumer protection.
For the first step, the Act on Specified Commercial Transaction shall be amended byadding the continuous service contract in which the consumer is the service provider to one of
the transactions protected under such Act, and local consumer centers should take appropriate
measures to actively accept applications for counseling from the victims of these transactions.

3.

The Criminal CodeThe investigative authorities should actively investigate and prosecute cases of injuries andincidences of rape as a result of coercing women to appear in pornographic videos against theirwill and/or filming pornographic scenes that are socially unacceptable.
Also, investigative authorities should investigate and prosecute those responsible in casesof human trafficking in accordance with the Criminal Code.

38

VIII. Responsibility of the Government and Enterprises underInternational Human Rights Laws
1.

Responsibility of the Government under International Human Rights Laws

(1) The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
The General Recommendation No. 19 adopted by the Committee on the Elimination ofDiscrimination against Women in accordance with the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), states that gender-based violence is a formof discrimination prohibited under the CEDAW, and defines gender-based violence as “acts that
inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and otherdeprivations of liberty.” (Article 6 of the General Recommendation No 19)
Coercing women to appear in pornographic videos clearly falls under the definition ofgender-based violence, and thus the Government bears responsibility to take appropriate
measures to eliminate such violence based on the CEDAW.
The Committee adopted the General Recommendation No.19 to call on States to takeappropriate and effective measures to eliminate gender-based violence and provided acomprehensive set of recommendations. Amongst which, the measures set forth in Article 24
are of particular importance:(b) State parties should ensure that laws against … gender-based violence give adequate
protection to all women, and respect their integrity and dignity. Appropriate protective
and support services should be provided for victims. […];(g) Specific preventive and punitive measures are necessary to overcome trafficking andsexual exploitation;(i) Effective complaints procedures and remedies, including compensation, should be
provided; and(k) State parties should establish or support services for victims of … gender-based
violence, including refuges, specially trained health workers, rehabilitation andcounseling.32
Also, Article 6 of the CEDAW states that “States Parties shall take all appropriate
measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of
prostitution of women.”33
The Government should take effective preventive and punitive measures and provide
remedies, protection and support service to victims of coercion of appearance in the
pornographic videos.

32

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/recommendations/recomm.htm#recom19“Traffic in women” should be interpreted in accordance with the international consensus of the human trafficking.
Article 3 (a) of “Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children,
supplementing the united nations convention against transnational organized crime” defines “trafficking in persons”
as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force orother forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability orof the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over anotherperson, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitutionof others or other forms of sexual exploitation, force labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery servitude
or the removal of organs”. It falls into “trafficking in persons” that the production hires the women as the
pornographic actresses against their will and dispatches them to the makers by means of the threat or use of fraud orof a position of vulnerability.
33

39

(2) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 34
The Paragraph 3 (a), Article 8 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR) states that “[n]o one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labor”.
Although the definition of the “forced or compulsory labor” is not set forth in this Covenant, theInternational Labour Organization (ILO) Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labor(No. 29) as discussed below defines the forced or compulsory labor.
As the “forced or compulsory labor” under the ICCPR shall be interpreted to have the same
meaning as the definition under the Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labor35, thecoercion to appear in the pornographic videos by payment of penalty shall falls under the“forced or compulsory labor”. Thus, the Government has the responsibility to take appropriate
measures to eliminate the coercion of appearance in the pornographic videos as a State Party
which has ratified the ICCPR.
(3) International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention concerning Forced orCompulsory Labor (No. 29) (Entry into force in 1932, Ratified by Japan in 1932) 36
In this Convention, it is stated that “[e]ach Member of the International Labor Organization
which ratifies this Convention undertakes to suppress the use of forced or compulsory labor in
all its forms within the shortest possible period” (Paragraph 1 of Article 1) and “[t]he illegal
exaction of forced or compulsory labor shall be punishable as a penal offence, and it shall be an
obligation of any Member ratifying this Convention to ensure that the penalties imposed by law
are really adequate and are strictly enforced” (Article 25). Paragraph 1 of Article 2 of thisConvention defines the “forced or compulsory labor” as “all work or service, which is exacted
from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offeredhimself voluntarily”. The “penalty” may include not only criminal penalties and disciplinary
punishments but also payment of a penalty in this context.
Generally, the women are coerced to appear in pornographic videos against their will withthe threat that if they refused, they would be required to pay an extortionate penalty. Also, in
these cases, it is obvious that the women do not participate voluntarily. Therefore, it falls under
the use of “forced or compulsory labor” by the production company that the company had
coerced these women to appear in pornographic videos under the threat of exorbitant penalties.
As a ratifying State Party to this Convention, the Government should undertake toeliminate the use of force or compulsory labor within the shortest possible time, and is obligatedto establish appropriate legal measures and ensure that such implementations are properly
enforced. 37(4) Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, andInstitutions and Practices Similar to Slavery (Entry into force in 1957, not ratified by
Japan)
34

http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx
P 14 of “Abolishing Slavery and its contemporary Forms” (HR/PUB/02/4), David Weissbrodt and Anti-Slavery
International, United Nations New York and Geneva 200236
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C029
37
The ILO adopted Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in 1998, which emphasized theimportance of the elimination of forced or compulsory labor. This declaration states that member states of the ILO
should respect and promote principles and rights in four categories, whether or not they have ratified the relevant
Conventions. The elimination of forced or compulsory labor is specified as one of the four categories in thisDeclaration. It shows that the ILO places the elimination of forced or compulsory labor as its top priority.
http://www.ilo.org/declaration/lang--en/index.htm
3540This Supplementary Convention was adopted to supplement the Slavery Convention
adopted in 1926 in light of continuing human rights violations taking place not only under thecommon scope of “slavery” in which persons are treated as commodity of others, but also under
institutions and practices similar to slavery. In this Supplementary Convention, debt bondage is
specified as one of the practices similar to slavery and is defined as (i) “the status or condition
arising from a pledge by a debtor of his personal services or of those of a person under his
control as security for a debt”, (ii) “if the value of those services as reasonably assessed is notapplied towards the liquidation of the debt, or the length and nature of those services are notrespectively limited and defined”.
Appearing in pornographic videos is considered a personal service. Yet the women have nodiscretion in the process as they are under the control of the production company by threats ofpaying an extortionate penalty for disobedience (a situation applicable to the conditions
specified in (i) mentioned above). The value of appearance of the pornographic videos is notapplied towards the liquidation of the penalty, and the terms in which they are required toappear in the videos is not limited. Also, the contents of the videos in which they are required toappear is not explained to the women by the producers (a situation applicable to the conditions
specified in (ii) mentioned above). Considering all of the above-mentioned conditions, weshould conclude that these victims fall under the definition of debt bondage under the
Supplementary Convention.
Although Japan has not ratified this Supplement Convention, as a ratified State Party to the
Slavery Convention of 1926, the Government bears responsibility in respecting the
Supplementary Convention and eliminate the practice of debt bondage.

2.

Responsibility of the Relevant Industry and Enterprises under International
Human Rights Laws

“Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations“Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework” 38(“Ruggie Principle”) adopted by the United
Nations Human Rights Council in 2012 clarifies the responsibility of business enterprises torespect human rights.
The Leaders’ Declaration of the G7 Summit in 2015 declares that the leaders of G7 supportand respect the Principles and are committed to promote respect for human rights in supply
chains.
The Guiding Principles set forth that business enterprises have the responsibility to preventor mitigate human rights violations that are not only directly linked to their operations but also
to their business relationships (Principle 13). This responsibility applies to all enterprises(regardless of their size, sector, operational context, ownership and structure) (Principle 14).
Also, the Principles requests business enterprises to comply with not only domestic legislations
but also international human rights standards that are universally recognized (Principle 23).
13. The responsibility to respect human rights requires that business enterprises:(a) Avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts throughtheir own activities, and address such impacts when they occur;(b) Seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly
linked to their operations, products or services by their business relationships,
even if they have not contributed to those impacts.
38

http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Business/A-HRC-1731_AEV.pdf#search='%EF%BC%88A%2FHRC%2F17%2F31%EF%BC%89

41

The Guiding Principles place the responsibility of “due diligence” on business enterprises
by requiring them to carry out human rights due diligence if there are potential adverse humanrights impacts by their business activities.
17. In order to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address theiradverse human rights impacts, business enterprises should carry out humanrights due diligence. The process should include assessing actual and potential
human rights impacts, integrating and acting upon the findings, tracking
responses, and communicating on how impacts are being addressed. Humanrights due diligence:(a) Should cover adverse human rights impacts that the business enterprise may
cause or contribute to through its own activities, or which may be directly
linked to its operations, products or services by its business relationships;(b) Will vary in complexity with the size of the business enterprise, the risk ofsevere human rights impacts, and the nature and context of its operations;(c) Should be ongoing, recognizing that the human rights risks may changeover time as the business enterprise’s operations and operating context evolve.

Furthermore, the Guiding Principles set forth the remediation by business enterprises foradverse human rights impact, which is caused by or contributed to by them.
22. Where business enterprises identify that they have caused or contributed toadverse impacts, they should provide for or cooperate in their remediation
through legitimate processes.
It can be said that there is a high risk in the pornographic video industry of human rights
violations occurring in the process of producing the videos.
Production companies and makers should of course not directly participate in any acts ofhuman rights violation. Furthermore, as there is a high risk for companies to coerce women in
the process of producing pornographic videos thus violating human rights, business enterprisesthat produce, sell, rent and distribute the pornographic videos have the responsibility to ensurethat human rights violations have not taken place throughout the supply chain and must attempt
to eliminate any human rights violation throughout the supply chain. Currently, relevantbusiness enterprises do not have any policy in place relating to human rights. Also, there are
currently no mechanisms in place to provide remedies for human rights violations and to checktheir compliance in the pornographic video industry.

IX. Recommendations
As discussed above, coercing women to appear in pornographic videos is a serious
violation against women as well as general human rights in the form of debt bondage. Therefore,
effective measures should be promptly taken in order to avoid these human rights violations andto protect and provide remedies for the victims.
As is evident in the pornographic video cases above, the women were persuaded to enter
into an agreement with their production companies. Such companies take advantage of thewomen’s lack of knowledge of the law and the hardship they faced. Once they signed the42agreements, they were coerced to appear in pornographic videos against their will throughthreats of penalties resulting from defaulting on their obligations based on such agreements. The
structure of this business is nothing but sexual exploitation by the production companies andmakers of the pornographic videos. Although the young women are hired by the production
companies and are obligated to appear in the videos determined by the companies and required
to follow their instructions, the victims may not receive legal protection as an “employee”
because the agreements executed between the victims and the production companies are not
employment agreements but business outsourcing agreements.
Taking into consideration the reality of the relationship between the victims and the
production companies, the regulations should be enacted by making reference to the regulations
on consumer protection, employee protection and the Criminal Code in order to relieve thedamage to the victims.
Also, it is essential to thoroughly investigate the current situation due to its serious
violation of women’s rights, and to enact a comprehensive set of law that prohibits sexual
violence and sexual exploitation of women, as well as criminalizing pornographic filming thatcause injuries.
Therefore, we make following recommendations to the relevant parties in order to takeeffective measures to prevent and relieve the damage caused in the production process of
pornographic videos.

1.

To the Cabinet Office (the Gender Equality Bureau)(1) To take active measures for gender equality with respect to sexual exploitation in the
production process of pornographic videos.
(2) Fact-finding Survey
To conduct a fact-finding investigation of the pornographic videos victims, and investigate
the production process of pornographic videos and its chain of distribution as the current
situation regarding pornographic videos has not been fully uncovered.
(3) Dissemination and Awareness Raising
To raise awareness (about the human rights violations) in order to prevent damages causedby the production of pornographic videos.
(4) Legislation
To legislate comprehensive provisions for the prevention of damages incurred in theprocess of producing pornographic videos, and for protection of and remedies for thevictims, as well as punishment for the perpetrators.

2.

To the Cabinet Office Consumer Commission

Although the pornographic videos problem has some similarities to consumer damage,there have been also many cases in which the employment agreements in substance are assumed
to be made between the production company and the women. Also, criminal regulation for
perpetrators is necessary. Under these circumstances, it is necessary to go beyond theboundaries to each Ministry and take measures to enact and enforce necessary legal measures.
Thus, the Commission should conduct a fact-finding investigation of damages incurred by the
production of pornographic videos, and propose each ministry to take necessary measures(based on the investigation).
43

3.

To the Consumer Affairs Agency

The pornographic videos problem as described in this report has some similarities to
consumer damage in the sense that the damage is caused by the agreements executed between
the enterprise and the victim by taking advantage of victims’ lack of knowledge and/or
confusion. Also, compared to other cases of violence against women, the cases of damages
related to the production of pornographic videos are unique in that the perpetrators sexually
exploit the victims for commercial purposes as organized business. Therefore, in cases otherthan that the employment agreement in substance is assumed to be executed between thevictims and the production companies, thus the Consumer Affairs Agency should deal with the
problem as consumer damage and take consumer protection measures to prevent and relieve thedamage.
(1) Amendment to the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions
To propose an amendment of the Act to cover damages caused by the production of
pornographic videos by adding the continuous service contract in which the consumer isthe service provider to relevant enterprises as a new category of transactions protectedunder the Act.
(2) Amendment of Consumer Safety Act
To propose an amendment to the definition of “Actual or Potential Consumer-Related
Incident” set forth in Paragraph 5 (i) and (ii), Article 2 of Consumer Safety Act so that the
Act could provide remedies not only for monetary damages of consumers, which is theprimary purpose of the Act, but also for mental and physical injuries of consumers, byadding consumer damage caused by the continuous service contract in which the consumer
acts as the service provider of relevant enterprises under a new category of consumer
damage protected under the Act.
To issue admonitions and orders to the relevant enterprises to prevent consumers from
suffering mental and physical harm related to pornographic videos in accordance with
Article 40 of the Act.
To make Cabinet Order in accordance with Paragraph 8 (ii), Article 2 of the Act and set
forth “unfair dealings which are prejudicial to the financial interest of the consumer, inwhich the consumer is obligated to provide continuous service not pursuant to employment
agreement” as one of the form of unfair dealings regulated under the Act.
To take measures to address pornographic videos problems as “Circumstances Financially
Damaging to a Great Number of Consumers” under the Act.
(3) Comprehensive legislation
In collaboration with other Ministries, to propose to legislate comprehensive and concretemeasures specified in the Appendix attached to this report, for the prevention of damages
caused by pornographic videos, and the protection of victims by offering them their rightful
remedies and punishing responsible perpetrators.
(4) Consultations and Awareness Raising Measures at consumer centers
To organize a consultation system addressing problems arising from the pornographic film
44

industry at local consumer centers and to promote dissemination of information regarding
such consultation systems, as well as to provide support for such systems and help
capacity-building at the centers so that victims could resolve any dispute and receive
remedies promptly.
(5) To alert consumers in accordance with Article 38 of the Act in the event the Agency finds
an enterprise has engaged in unfair dealings in inducement of contracts or hindering thetermination of the contracts regarding appearance in the pornographic videos.

4.

To National Consumer Affairs Center and Consumer Affairs Centers

National Consumer Affairs Center should inform consumers about the damages caused by
the production of pornographic videos, and also raise awareness about such damages among
consumers.
Consumer Affairs Centers should organize a consultation system for the pornographic
videos problem and disseminate information about such consultation system so that the victims
could promptly and easily resolve any dispute and receive remedies.
National Consumer Affairs Center and Consumer Affairs Centers should effectively
cooperate with NGOs who have expertise in this matter in order to prevent secondary injury andbuild consultation systems suitable to address the damages.

5.

To Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare

Appearance in pornographic videos falls under “work which is harmful to public health or
morals” under the Employment Security Act and Worker Dispatching Act. If the victims who
were forced to appear in the pornographic videos are employees of the production company, it isa violation of the Employment Security and Worker Dispatching Act for the production
company to recruit and dispatch pornographic actresses and dispatch employees without alicense. Also, the production company as an employer of the actresses has an obligation toprevent occupational accidents.
However, in reality, the productions circumvent the laws such as Labor Standards Act,
Employment Security Act and Worker Dispatching Act by signing an agreement with theactresses as model management agreement or service agreement (instead of an employment
agreement). As a result, production companies recruit and dispatch the women for the purposeof forcing them to appear in pornographic videos. In these cases, their mental and physicalsafety is completely ignored, resulting in serious human rights violations.
As discussed in Section Ⅶ above in detail, as the actress shall be assumed to be an
employee of the production under the circumstances listed below, the Ministry of Health, Laborand Welfare should take active measures including the following:(1) To issue notices to clarify that in the event where any of the following circumstances
exists, it is a violation of the law to recruit and dispatch women to the maker for the purposeof assisting their appearances in pornographic videos, and that the production as an
employer of the women is accompanied by an obligation to protect their occupational safety
and health, prevent occupational accidents and consider their safety. 39
39

In September 4, 2006, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare issued the notice to wipe out disguised
subcontracting which was widespread after amendment of Worker Dispatching Act in 2003 because the Ministry saw

45• The actress virtually does not have freedom to accept/reject requests of work.
• The production company instructs and directs the actress’s work and the content, place
and time of her work are determined by the production company.
• The compensation for her work is determined by the production company.
(2) In addition to the issuance of the aforementioned notice, the Ministry should takemeasures to raise awareness of the notice to the public and relevant enterprises
In particular, it must thoroughly notify the related enterprises that the recruitment of
pornographic actress and the dispatch of actresses to the makers violate the Employment
Security Act and the Worker Dispatching Act, respectively.
(3) Through the Labor Bureau and the Labour Standards Inspection Office, the Ministry
should supervise the working conditions, occupational health and safety of workers, andprevent occupational accidents in accordance with Labor Standards Act and other relevantlaws such as Industrial Safety and Health Act .

6.

To Police and Prosecutors(1) The investigative authorities should actively investigate and prosecute cases of injuries
and incidences of rape as a result of coercing women to appear in pornographic videos
against their will and/or filming pornographic scenes that are socially unacceptable.
(2) Investigative authorities should investigate and prosecute those responsible in cases ofhuman trafficking in accordance with the Criminal Code.
(3) As discussed above, if the pornographic actress is assumed to be an employee of the
production company, recruitment and dispatch of actress without a license are subject tocriminal penalty (Item 2, Article 63 of the Employment Security Act, Articles 58 and Item
2, Article 59 of Worker Dispatching Act). Regardless of the form of the contracts, if theactress is assumed to be an employee of the production company based on the actual facts,
police and prosecutors should actively investigate and prosecute those responsible forviolations of the Employment Security Act and Worker Dispatching Act.

7.

To Members of the Diet
(1) Enactment of comprehensive legislation
To enact comprehensive legislations for the prevention of damages caused by appearing
in pornographic videos, protection of victims, provision of remedies and punishment for
perpetrators, and include, in the legislation, the contents laid out in the Appendix andspecify regulatory authority.

that disguised subcontracting violates Employment Security Act and Worker Dispatching Act and that the problemsof safety and health of employee and working condition had emerged. Coercing women to appear in the pornographic
videos is serious circumvention of Labor Laws comparable to disguised subcontracting and thus the Ministry shouldtake remedial measures by issuing a notice (similar to the case of disguised subcontracting).

46

Also to consider regulations on the distribution and dissemination of contents which
include acts that may be harmful to life and/or body.
(2) Immediate Legislative Measures
Before enactment of the comprehensive legislations recommended above, to promptly
amend the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions and Consumer Safety Act to open up
the possibility of providing remedies for damages caused by the production process of
pornographic videos.

8.

To Related Enterprises(1) To immediately stop coercing women to appear in the pornographic videos against theirwill and stop other human rights violations incurred by the filming of pornographic videos
that adversary affects a woman’s mental and physical safety and health.
(2) To establish policies on human rights, to conduct checks on standards of due diligenceand supervise the supply chain in order to avoid human rights violation and to undertake
drastic reform to eradicate human rights violations.
End

47

(Appendix)
Proposed regulations to eradicate pornographic video damage
1. General Principal
Coercing women to appear in pornographic videos is violence against women and a humanrights violation. The Government has the responsibility to eradicate such practice and prevent,protect and relieve the victims.
2. The Government shall impose criminal penalties on a person who induces another person by
inappropriate means of inducement such as coercion, deception and bafflement, and whom has
the person appear in a pornographic video by the use of coercion, deception, bafflement, and/or
threat of a penalty.
The Government shall establish the basic policy including the following points to prevent
pornographic videos damage:(1) To ensure the application of the Employment Security Act including penal provisions to aperson who has carried out or engaged in labor recruitment or labor supply with an intentionof having actresses (employees) appear in pornographic videos in the case that actresses fallunder “employees” in light of actual conditions of contracts regardless of the name of thecontracts40;(2) To ensure the application of Worker Dispatching Act including penal provisions to a
production company that has dispatched the actresses to a maker with the intention of having
the actresses appear in a pornographic video if the actresses fall under the “employees” inlight of actual conditions of contracts regardless of the name of the contracts41;(3) Improvement of a consultation system; and(4) Dissemination and awareness raising
3. Regulations for inducement
Inducement to appear in the pornographic videos by coercion, deception and bafflement,
including the following acts shall be prohibited:(1) To solicit a person to appear in a pornographic video by misrepresentation of the content
of the contract, such as telling the person that the contract entails the signing party to becomea “model” “talent” or “idol”42;(2) To solicit a person to appear in the pornographic videos by misrepresentation as to theamount of remuneration, time and methods of payment, rights of termination and other termsof the contract;43(3) To solicit a person to appear in the pornographic videos by misrepresentation as to theimportant matter of the contracts regarding the appearance of such videos which affect the40

Item 2, Article 63 of Employment Security Act
Article 58 of Work Dispatch Act
42
Paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 of Article 4 of Consumer Contract Act
43
Paragraphs 1 and 4 of Article 4 of Consumer Contract Act, Article 4 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions
41

48

person’s decision to accept such contracts44;(4) To solicit the conclusion of a contract with a person that involves authorizing theirappearance in pornographic videos other than in a place into and out of which the generalpublic has access to such videos, without informing the person that the purpose for doing so is
to solicit the person to appear in pornographic videos 45;(5) To solicit unspecified people to appear in the pornographic videos in a public place;(6) To solicit the conclusion of a contract from a person who has manifested his or her
intention not to conclude such a contract46;(7) To solicit the conclusion of a contract regarding appearance in pornographic videos by
preventing person from leaving a place where the enterprise is soliciting the person to enter
into such contract in defiance of the person's request to leave 47;(8) To solicit the person by intentionally not disclosing the following information:• Appearance in pornographic videos requires the person to have actual sexual intercourse
in filming and the image of naked person and sexual intercourse will be distributed andsold; and• Appearance in pornographic videos falls under “work which is harmful to public health or
morals” under Employment Security Act and Worker Dispatching Act and it is lawful only
if the production does not have the right to instruct and order the person to appear in
pornographic videos.
(9) To advertise solicitation without disclosing the points specified in (8) above.
4. Regulations for Content of Contracts(1) Upon the conclusion of a contract, the following points shall be explained to a person:• Appearance in pornographic videos requires the person to have actual sexual intercourse
in filming and the image of naked person and sexual intercourse would be distributed andsold;• Appearance in pornographic videos falls under “work which is harmful to public healthand morals” under Employment Security Act and Worker Dispatching Act and it is lawful
only if the production does not have the right to instruct and order the person to appear in
pornographic videos;• Consent to appear in pornographic video shall not be comprehensive but be made at each
video on a voluntarily basis and based on a prior informed consent; and• Contract regarding appearance in pornographic videos may be any time terminated andretracted by the person.
(2) Upon the conclusion of a contract regarding appearance in pornographic videos, adocument containing following information shall be delivered to the person involved48:

44

Item 7, Paragraph 1 of Article 6 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions
Paragraph 4 , Article 6 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions
46
Paragraph 2, Articles 3-2 and Article 17 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions
47
Paragraph 3, Article 4 of Consumer Contract Act
48
Article 5 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions, Article 4 of Regulations for Enforcement of the Act on
Specified Commercial Transactions
45

49

• Area, period and media of distribution• Amount of compensation, time and method of payment and an upper limit for the numberof times the person will appear in the videos• Content of sexual intercourse and similar acts which the women may perform or refuse toperform.
• Total hours spent for the work (e.g. filming of the videos)• Consent or refusal to secondary use and remuneration for secondary use• Official name, representative, address and telephone number of production companies
and makers• Name of the person in charge of conclusion of the contract regarding appearance ofpornographic videos(3) Production companies and makers shall be prohibited from the following practices:• To stipulate the penalty in the contracts• To coerce persons to appear in the pornographic videos against their will
(4) A copy of contract or a letter of consent shall be delivered to the signees.
5. Regulations for Safety and Health(1) Employers shall ensure the safety and health of the actresses, prevent injury and accidents
in the filming of the pornographic videos as well as protect the actresses from pregnancy,
sexually transmitted infection, injury and mental distress.
(2) Employer shall prevent any accidents and damages that may be caused by filming.
(3) Actions, which may affect mental, physical safety and health, shall be basically prohibitedin the filming of pornographic videos. If there is any scene that may affect mental andphysical safety and health in filming of the video, necessary measures shall be taken toprevent such effect to actresses and prior written consent that specifies the content of
performance shall be obtained from the actresses.
(4) Production companies and makers shall compensate the actresses for damages caused by
the breach of their obligations of considering safety.
(5) Production companies and makers shall subscribe to insurance that assures compensation.
(6) Sales and distribution of pornographic videos that contain acts that put women’s life andbody at risk, shall be prohibited and its violation shall be subject to punishment. 49
6. Suspension of Sales(1) If women are coerced to appear in the pornographic videos, they may suspend the releaseand sales of such videos.
(2) Where a production has violated any of the provisions set forth in Paragraph 3 of the49

Prohibited acts shall be clarified by references to relevant laws including legislations implemented in the U.K.

50

Appendix, the women may suspend the release and sale of the pornographic videos.
(3) Where a production has violated any of the provisions set forth in Paragraph 4 of the
Appendix, the women may suspend the release and sale of the pornographic videos.
(4) If a minor appeared in the pornographic videos and the parents of the minor retract thecontract regarding such videos, the minor may suspend release and sale of the pornographic
videos.
7. Regulatory Authority
Regulatory Authority to supervise business of pornographic videos shall be established.
8. Instruction
Competent Ministers may instruct production companies to take any necessary measures in thefollowing cases:When a production company has violated any of the provisions set forth in Paragraph 3 or
5 of the Appendix, or;When a production company has failed to disclose facts with the intention of preventing thetermination of the contracts relating to appearing in the pornographic videos by harassing
the women (who signed the contracts), and when the competent minister believes these
conducts are likely to prejudice the interests of the induced women or the women appearing
in the pornographic videos 50.

9. Suspension of Business
Where a production company has violated any of the provisions set forth in Paragraph 3 or 5 of
the Appendix, the competent minister may order the production to suspend all or part of its
business activities related to pornographic videos 51 if the competent minister finds that the
conduct is likely to significantly prejudice the interests of the induced women or the women
who appeared in the pornographic videos, or if the production has failed to follow the
instructions under the provisions set forth in Paragraph 8 of the Appendix.
10. Penal Provisions(1) A person who has violated any of the following shall be subject to criminal
punishment(s):• A person who has violated any provision set forth in Paragraph 3 (1) or (3) shall bepunished by imprisonment or a fine52.
• A person who has violated any provision set forth in Paragraph 3 (4) or (5) shall bepunished with imprisonment or a fine53.
50

Article 7 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions, Article 7 of Regulations for Enforcement of the Act on
Specified Commercial Transactions
51
Article 8 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions
52
Article 70 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions, which stipulates imprisonment with work for not morethan three years, a fine of not more than three million yen, or both.
53
Article 70-3 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions which stipulates imprisonment with work for not morethan one year, a fine of not more than two million yen, or both51• A person who, in violation of the provisions set forth in Paragraph 4 (2), has failed todeliver a document or who has delivered a document that did not contain the informationprescribed in said provisions or that contained false statements, and has violated provisions
set forth in Paragraph 4 (3) shall be punished by imprisonment or a fine 54.
• A person who has violated the instructions under the provisions set forth in Paragraph 8
shall be punished by a fine55.
• A person who has violated the order under the provisions set forth in Paragraph 9 shall bepunished by imprisonment or a fine56.
(2) A person who, in violation of the provision set forth in Paragraph 5(3), has assaulted or
injured the women without prior written consent shall be punished in accordance with
Criminal Code.
11. Consultation
The Consumer Affairs Centers should set up consultation desks for victims of sexual violence
based on the needs of the victims.
12. Responsibility of the Government for protection of, counseling and rehabilitation to the
pornographic videos victims

End

54

Article 71 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions which speculates imprisonment with work for not morethan six months, a fine of not more than one million yen, or both, and Article 72 (1) of Act on Specified Commercial
Transactions which speculates a fine of not more than one million yen
55
Paragraph 1 (2), Article 7 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions which speculates a fine of not more than
one million yen
56
Article 70-2 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions which speculates imprisonment with work for not morethan two years, a fine of not more than three million yen, or both52

Note: Images used in this report are obtained from websites listed below.

Link to the website: http://free-illustrations.gatag.net/
Link to the image: http://free-illustrations.gatag.net/2014/04/30/020000.html
Credit: avaxhome.ws

Link to the website: http://www.flaticon.com/
Link to the image: http://www.flaticon.com/free-icon/woman-silhouette-head-side-view_41480
Link to the website: http://free-illustrations.gatag.net/
Link to the image: http://free-illustrations.gatag.net/2014/04/30/020000.html
Credit: avaxhome.ws
Link to the website: http://www.flaticon.com/
Link to the image: http://www.flaticon.com/free-icon/woman-profile_18086

Link to the website: http://www.flaticon.com/
Link to the image: http://www.flaticon.com/free-icon/woman-head-side-silhouette_40809

Link to the website: http://www.flaticon.com/
Link to the image: http://www.flaticon.com/free-icon/short-female-hair-on-side-view-woman-head-silhouette_40791
Link to the website: http://www.flaticon.com/
Link to the image: http://jp.freepik.com/free-icon/male-user-silhouette_710068.htm

International Human Rights NGO

Human Rights Now
7F Creative One Akihabara Bldg. 5-3-4 Ueno
Taito-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN 110-0005
http://hrn.or.jp/eng/
Phone: +81-3-3835-2110 Fax: +81-3-3834-1025
info@hrn.or.jp

53