Photo/Illutration ©Asahi Shimbun

NAGOYA—Aichi prefectural police on Aug. 27 arrested two Japanese men on suspicion of producing child pornography by filming underage girls in Laos and Myanmar.

The arrests came amid a growing scandal over the involvement of Japanese nationals in suspected child prostitution in Laos.

To make the arrests, police applied Japan’s extraterritorial jurisdiction provision, which punishes Japanese nationals for manufacturing child pornography overseas and other acts.

Police arrested Yoshihiro Shirai, 60, a dentist from Osaka, and Kazuhiko Uji, 65, an unemployed man from Nagoya.

Uji has reportedly remained silent, while Shirai is denying the charges, saying, “I did not know the (girl) was under 18.”

According to police, Uji is suspected of filming a girl in a hotel in Laos around March of this year, while Shirai is accused of filming a girl in Myanmar around October of last year.

Police said both men knew their victims were under 18 and produced child pornography by filming the girls in a lewd manner.

Investigators have seized video footage and small cameras from the men. The confiscated videos allegedly contain recordings of obscene acts with the girls.

Police had a medical expert analyze the footage and concluded that the girls were under the age of 18.

During initial voluntary questioning before their arrests, both men reportedly admitted to paying women they met locally for sex.

Uji reportedly said, “We had mutual romantic feelings,” while Shirai allegedly said that the victim “looked like she was in her 30s” and that he had “filmed her with her consent.”

Police are now investigating the background of the case, as the two men were reportedly exchanging information about child prostitution abroad.

CRACKDOWN A DETERRENT 

In June of this year, responding to social media posts that hinted at Japanese nationals engaging in child prostitution in Laos, Japan's Foreign Ministry issued a warning on its website.

The advisory reminds travelers that child prostitution is an extraterritorial offense, meaning it is punishable under Japanese law even if it occurs abroad.

This action was also prompted by a petition submitted by Japanese nationals living in Laos calling for the eradication of child prostitution.

According to Norihiko Yamada, a researcher at the Institute of Developing Economies, a research institution affiliated with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), poverty and rising inflation in Laos have led to cases where children from poor rural areas are sold by their parents into urban prostitution.

Yamada, who specializes in Laotian politics, said that since the 2010s, posts touting child prostitution experiences in Laos have spread on social media, increasing the number of Japanese visitors who travel there for the illicit purpose.

While child prostitution is also a crime in Laos, bribery is rampant, and local authorities have been unable to fully crack down on it.

Yamada described the Aichi prefectural police applying the extraterritorial jurisdiction provision to this case as “a deterrent.”

“It is vital that other countries, international organizations and NGOs also pressure the government,” Yamada said.

Yuriko Saito, a research professor at Daito Bunka University and an expert on human trafficking issues in Southeast Asia, said, “Laos has an insufficient system for protecting children, and it seems many are trafficked there for the purpose of prostitution.”

(This article was written by Shun Noguchi and Toshinari Takahashi.)

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