Countries: Japan
Variables: GIC-LAW-1

"Japan's government is set to offer up to one million yen (£6,293) per child to persuade families to move out of Tokyo, with the aim of reducing overcrowding in the capital. An extra 700,000 yen is being added to the 300,000 yen offered at present for relocation due to fears that the nation's population and economy is increasingly concentrated in Tokyo, heightening the potential risk from large earthquakes. The government also aims to encourage families with children to relocate to regional areas" (para 1-3). "So far, the government's efforts to encourage people to have more babies have had limited impact despite payments of subsidies for pregnancy, childbirth and child care"...more

Countries: Japan
Variables: BR-PRACTICE-2

"Many younger Japanese people have balked at marrying or having families, discouraged by bleak job prospects, onerous commutes and corporate cultures incompatible with having both parents work" (para 19). This indicates that while there is government pressure to bear children, there is not really societal pressure for women to have children (MB2-CODER COMMENT).

Countries: Japan
Variables: BR-PRACTICE-1

“The Japanese government has begun to consult young people about their interest in marriage – or lack thereof – as Japan continues to struggle with a demographic crisis that is expected to result in a sharp population decline over the next decades” (para 1).

Countries: Japan
Variables: BR-DATA-1

“Because comparatively few children are born to unmarried people in Japan, the decline of marriage has been cited as a significant reason for its low birthrate and dwindling, ageing population. In 2023, the number of marriages dropped below 500,000 for the first time since the 1930s. Meanwhile, births dropped 5.1% to 758,631, a new record low and almost reaching 755,000, a figure the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research had predicted for 2035” (para 6).

Countries: Japan
Variables: SEGI-PRACTICE-2, GIC-LAW-3

“Local governments have responded with measures ranging from daycare to matchmaking. In June, the Tokyo metropolitan government said it would launch a dating app as early as this summer” (para 8).

Countries: Japan
Variables: SEGI-PRACTICE-1

“The Japanese government has begun to consult young people about their interest in marriage – or lack thereof – as Japan continues to struggle with a demographic crisis that is expected to result in a sharp population decline over the next decades” (para 1). “The government recognised that ideas about marriage among young people are different from what was once considered standard, an agency official said. The government has been seeking experts’ views and now wants those of single people. ‘The main premise is that marriage and child-rearing should be based on the respect for diverse values ​​and ways of thinking of individuals,’ Ayuko Kato, the minister of state for...more

Countries: Japan
Variables: IIP-PRACTICE-2

“An industry that runs on exploitation, coercive behaviour and false promises of runway dreams to young impressionable girls - Japan's disturbing porn industry has long been a legal grey-zone. In a country where walking the streets can result in being targeted by 'modelling agency' actors before victims are lured to discrete offices to sign their freedom away, the multi-billion-pound porn industry continues to be a poisonous trap from which unknowing women find themselves battling to escape” (para 1-2). “A 2020 government survey revealed shocking figures suggesting around a quarter of Japanese women in their teens, 20s and 30s have been solicited for supposed modelling jobs on their local streets and...more

Countries: Japan
Variables: LRW-LAW-2

“Despite these deeply troubling and consuming emotions, the victim bravely approached the police after being tricked into appearing in porn. But in a horror turn of events, and one she had never expected, she alleges authorities turned her away, stating she had signed a contract. She was informed that under the deal she had signed, she had to make at least two more films before she break her contract. Goto said: 'When she went to talk to the police they said 'Why not just do it? Only two more times, right?' which is so unbelievable'” (para 41-44).

Countries: Japan
Variables: LRW-PRACTICE-2

“The women, full of hope that she will be able to release herself from the contract returns to the male-run office where she is then raped. Throughout the harrowing ordeal, a camera is set up and the assault is filmed - to later be used as either blackmail, or a porn movie” (para 18-19). “'Since they had the footage that she was being raped, she couldn't go against them, actually she appeared in several adult videos as they demanded her,' the case worker said. Many women feel they are then trapped in their contracts, under the hand of their new 'employers' and a signature they felt pressured to hand over”...more

Countries: Japan
Variables: PRN-LAW-1

“In June 2022, victims of these porn recruitment traps joined forces with lawyers and pushed through an industry-changing bill to prevent the exploitation of adult video (AV) performers. The law was tailored specifically to victims who had been lured into the industry through deceit and lies - over those who had willingly entered into the world of pornography through safer and more consensual channels. The AV Law gives these workers the right to a one-month period between the signing of a contract and the filming of a video, as well as four months between the filming of the video and its release. Producers are also required to give a copy...more

Countries: Japan
Variables: TRAFF-DATA-1

"With an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 new actresses debuting each year, and the annual number of released videos hitting over a concerning 35,000, these numbers become even more terrifying as many women and girls are subjected to rape, blackmail, and sexual assault as part of their introduction into the industry - by up to 15 men at times” (para 3). "A 2020 government survey revealed shocking figures suggesting around a quarter of Japanese women in their teens, 20s and 30s have been solicited for supposed modelling jobs on their local streets and of those who agreed, 14 per cent were then pressured to perform sex acts” (para 4).more

Countries: Japan
Variables: TRAFF-PRACTICE-1

“Despite these deeply troubling and consuming emotions, the victim bravely approached the police after being tricked into appearing in porn. But in a horror turn of events, and one she had never expected, she alleges authorities turned her away, stating she had signed a contract. She was informed that under the deal she had signed, she had to make at least two more films before she break her contract. Goto said: 'When she went to talk to the police they said "Why not just do it? Only two more times, right?" which is so unbelievable'’ (para 41-44). "But despite the law, Japanese adult film remains a murky, grey area that...more

Countries: Japan
Variables: WAM-PRACTICE-1

"Through social media, influencers have inadvertently popularized the seediest parts of Tokyo’s nightlife, often reinforcing harmful stereotypes of Japanese women as submissive, sexually permissive and exotic. These stereotypes, however, are not merely foreign misrepresentations: Japan’s own postwar legal framework and cultural conditions sustain and reinforce them. Tropes of Japanese women as both innocent and deviant can be traced back to 19th-century Orientalist views that cast Japan as mysterious and exotic — as outlined by Narrelle Morris, an associate professor at Curtin University in Australia, in a paper exploring Western fiction's fetishization of Japanese women. The Western gaze tended to view Japan’s arts and traditions as evidence of its unique sensuality,...more

Countries: Japan
Variables: AFE-PRACTICE-2

"For some women, the sex industry has become an economic safety net in the absence of sufficient social support and quality employment opportunities. Two years ago, a young woman I interviewed recounted how an abusive home environment and financial hardship led her to one such job to fund her college education. Although she obtained a degree, she struggled with mental health issues resulting from her work — a by no means uncommon experience" (par. 17). This suggests that women can go to college, but may not have the support they need to fund it (IME - CODER COMMENT).

Countries: Japan
Variables: ERBG-PRACTICE-1

"For some women, the sex industry has become an economic safety net in the absence of sufficient social support and quality employment opportunities. Two years ago, a young woman I interviewed recounted how an abusive home environment and financial hardship led her to one such job to fund her college education. Although she obtained a degree, she struggled with mental health issues resulting from her work — a by no means uncommon experience" (par. 17). This suggests that there are limited employment opportunities for women (IME - CODER COMMENT).