On March 28th, 2022, Representative Shiomura Ayaka of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan spoke to the Japanese National Diet on the subject of preventing the recruitment of high school girls into the adult film industry. She was met by laughter. Sadly, this was not the first time Shiomura has had to deal with mockery over discussing “women’s issues” with her peers in the overwhelmingly male Japanese political world.
The specific issue at hand was the lowering of the age of majority from 20 to 18 years of age, which will go into effect April 1st – mere days after the Diet session in question. The new status quo will see 18 and 19-year-olds able to sign contracts without parental approval and will ease parental responsibility for children in their late teens. (It will not, however, reduce the legal ages for drinking, smoking, and gambling.) The worry expressed by Shiomura and others, however, is that 18 and 19 year-olds will now be more easily pressured into appearing in pornography. This concern was enhanced upon the announcement by the national cabinet that 18 and 19-year-olds would, in fact, be considered “adults” within the context of contracts for the adult film industry.
High School Girls as Targets
The worry is especially prevalent for 18-year-old girls still in high school. High school girls (often called “JKs,” short for joshi kosei) are still highly sexualized in popular Japanese media. Some older men seek out JKs for compensated dating (known as “papakatsu“). JK Cafes abound, featuring actual students wearing school uniforms serving a clientele of mostly older men. In Akihabara lies “JK Alley,” infamous as a pick-up spot frequented by those looking for paid interactions with high school girls. The market for underage pornography or porn-adjacent materials remains large, and there is concern that students protected from recruitment into full-blown pornography by age of majority laws will now be easier targets.
As discussion of this issue began in online spaces, many remarked on the irony of continuing to disallow the consumption of alcohol while simultaneously allowing 18-year-olds to appear in adult videos without any increased protections. (Shiomura herself tweeting about the seeming legislative mismatch.) In response to criticism of these changes, the government then provided a statement in written form stating that “coercion” or other illegal means of forming a contract with new young adults can still result in the cancelation of such contracts. Representative Shiomura pushed back against this statement, saying “what a ridiculous response.” [1]
Prime Minister Kishida’s response to the issue was to say that “the current laws already apply to this case.” On the 28th, the House of Councillors met to debate whether or not current generalized laws about coercion were enough. The opposition parties argued that Kishida’s reliance on de jure laws went against the previous PM, Suga’s, statement that the government would look into promulgating new laws to deal with the problem. This is when Representative Shiomura stood to speak.
Heckled in the Halls of Government
“The ruling and opposition parties must come together to find a way to prevent the problem of high schoolers being legally able to appear in adult videos,” spoke Shiomura. “I would like to enact a bill to this effect… I was a bit shocked to see what has happened today. Even though the government recognizes that it ‘must deal with this issue,’ by tabling the bill, they’re moving backward [from Suga’s position]. Prime Minister, I ask that you come strongly to grips with this.”
Kishida responded that he wanted the government to move forward while deeply considering the subject alongside the rest of society. Shiomura again raised her hand, and was called upon to speak. “At least we’re not simply moving on from this subject.” As she said this, laughter erupted from many men within the hall. Shiomura immediately responded.
“Everyone, this is no laughing matter. I believe it is an important issue. From April 1st, there will be those who will no longer be able to exercise the right to void contracts they made as a minor. The law currently affords a great deterrent power, allowing youths to void contracts even after photography has occurred and before the product in question is brought to market. I feel this is very important to minors – meaning 18 and 19-year-olds. So it’s not something to laugh about, but something I’d like us to work on together.”
No Stranger to Misogyny
Shiomura’s name became well known following a similar (and arguably worse) incident in 2014, when she was a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. She’d been speaking on the need for Tokyo to better support pregnant women and young mothers when she was rudely interrupted by heckling from male members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Dispargements sent her way included “you’re the one who should get married as soon as possible!” Another male voice was heard to ask if she was even capable of conceiving a child; laughter followed.
Shimomura still managed to finish her speech, holding back tears. The hecklers may have intended to shut Shiomura up, making her feel small; instead, the incident sparked a major backlash in Japan that launched Shiomura to prominence. The embarrassment of the ruling LDP only grew as the story broke out of the domestic sphere and began appearing in major international media. [2] The event had taken place during the long rule of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, who’d promised to promote policies to bring more women into the Japanese workforce and into positions of economic and political prominence. He’d dubbed his pro-woman policies “Womenomics” and insisted that “women would shine” during his tenure; that members of his own party would hurl sexist insults at one of the few female councilors in the metro assembly showed that his party still had a long way to go towards reaching gender-based parity.
Shiomura has since been elected to national office, and now serves in the House of Councilors. She belongs to the center-left Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, currently the second-largest political party in the country with 44 sitting counselors and 95 representatives in the National Diet. Japan as a whole continues to have very few sitting women politicians; the recent 2021 elections resulted in even fewer women being elected than the previous time the country went to the polls. Only 9.7% of those voted into power were women. Based on a February 2022 ranking, Japan comes in at a dismal 166th out of 189 countries when it comes to gender parity of national-level legislators.
Shiomura’s own CDP has promised to strive for equal representation among its political nominees, but many women in Japan still see politics as a highly unattractive vocation. One reason for this remains the perceived hostile nature of the “old boy’s club” world of Japanese politics. Shiomura has experienced that hostility firsthand, and seemingly continues to do so. There remains the problem that “women’s issues” – which are, of course, issues that affect more than half the population directly as well as society at large – are simply not well understood and or cared about by many older male politicians. When over half the Japanese population is represented by less than 10% of elected politicians, it’s difficult for many of those issues to receive the care and serious attention they deserve. Meanwhile, as Japan ages, the “Old Boys Club” simply refuses to release its grasp.
Sources:
[1] 弁護士ドットコムニュース。(March 7th, 2022). 4月から18歳・19歳のAV出演契約は「成人扱い」…政府答弁で明らかに. Yahoo! Japan News.
[2] McCurry, Justin. (20 Jun 2014.) Tokyo assembly woman subjected to sexist abuse from other members. The Guardian.
