TOKYO — Hundreds of protesters marched alongside Japanese adult industry professionals on Friday to protest a controversial 2022 law that regulates the country’s adult video (AV) sector, and which they contend has destabilized the industry.
The event was organized by a new industry trade organization, the AV Thinking Group (AV Kangaeru Kai), co-led by veteran director and activist Hitoshi Nimura and international performer Marica Hase.
The group is collecting signatures to amend the 2022 law, known as the Shinpou Act, which contains a provision for a possible amendment process two years after implementation.
According to the AV Thinking Group, due to the Shinpou Act, the Japanese porn industry is “currently on the verge of collapse.”
As XBIZ reported, under the law, adult performers can withdraw contractual consent given to companies that distribute adult material in which they appear, effectively rendering adult industry contracts unenforceable.
The law came about when a seemingly unrelated legislative debate about lowering the age of legal majority in Japan quickly devolved into a sensationalist campaign concerning adult performers aged 18-19. A bill lowering the age of majority from 20 to 18 passed unanimously in a plenary session of the nation’s House of Representatives, which was followed by a steep increase in anti-porn rhetoric.
As a result of the new regulations, the AV Thinking Group asserted, “the risk of contracting with new actresses has increased significantly.”
The law also requires a month’s delay between signing a contract and shooting, plus four months between shooting and public release. The group explained that in practice, this means at least six months between shooting and releasing a scene, whereas previously there was typically only a three-month lag.
“Suddenly, it became mandatory to double this lag, causing great confusion in the industry and causing losses not only those working in the industry but also AV performers,” the group explained after Friday’s event. “This has had a major impact on the lives of the performers, including those in attendance at the protest.”
Anti-porn forces in Japan’s government and Parliament, as well as the mainstream press, advocated for the 2022 law.
“They didn’t conduct any consultations with AV professionals,” Hase told XBIZ. “So the resulting law is crazy.”
Besides the aforementioned restrictions, the law includes seemingly arbitrary regulations, such as banning companies from promoting scenes through social media, but at the same time allowing performers to do so from their personal accounts.
100,000 Signatures Needed
“To change the law, we need 100,000 signatures,” Hase added. “That’s why Hitoshi and I started the group last month.”
The group is directing stakeholders to its Japanese-language website and a Change.org petition, where people can learn about the amendment campaign and add their signature.
The group says it will continue organizing events featuring well-known AV performers, in order to raise awareness about the issue and collect more signatures around the country.
“It’s not just that we need to campaign to amend and help optimize the industry and the lives of performers,” Hase noted. “There are politicians who are actually trying to amend it to make it even more destructive to the industry. Some of them are even calling for a complete ban on actual sexual acts on camera.”
Explicit sex in Japan has long been a controversial issue, with the courts peculiarly ruling that such depictions are acceptable so long as performers' genitalia are blurred, presumably making it impossible to know whether or not actual sex was performed.
Before Friday’s massive demonstration in Tokyo’s fancy Ginza district — which also included mainstream TV personalities — the group also held a symposium open to industry stakeholders and members of the national press, where Nimura, Hase (via Zoom) and group members such as lawyer Yusuke Raira and tech consultant and political advisor Noriya Usami explained the situation.
For more information, visit the group’s website or follow them on X.
AV Thinking Group (AV Kangaeru Kai) Symposium, Feb. 2024
Main Image: Feb. 23, 2024 Demonstration (main). Marica Hase (inset). Photos: AV Thinking Group (AV Kangaeru Kai)/Marica Hase