Rape in Japan is sexual assault involving sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent in the nation. Victims and perpetrators include Japanese citizens, residents, and foreign nationals from a wide range of backgrounds and every social class.
Some are victims of drugging, alcohol-facilitated incapacitated rape, gang rape, kidnapping, threats, torture, murder, sexual slavery, and
sex trafficking in Japan as well
slavery in Japan
Japan had an official slave system from the Yamato period (3rd century A.D.) until Toyotomi Hideyoshi abolished it in 1590. Afterwards, the Japanese government facilitated the use of "comfort women" as sex slaves from 1932 to 1945. Prisoners of ...
.
Cybersex trafficking
Cybersex trafficking, live streaming sexual abuse, webcam sex tourism/abuse or ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies)-facilitated sexual exploitation is a cybercrime involving sex trafficking and the live streaming of coerced sexual a ...
, filmed rape, and coerced
rape pornography
Rape pornography is a subgenre of pornography involving the description or depiction of rape. Such pornography either involves simulated rape, wherein sexually consenting adults feign rape, or it involves actual rape. Victims of actual rape may ...
are issues. Videos of rape, including incest and the molestation of minors, have been shared in chat rooms. Victims have been raped on public transportation and in workplaces.
Rapes during break ins and home invasions have occurred.
Victims suffer from physical and psychological trauma, ostracization, and, at times, suicide.
The contraction of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies from rape have occurred.
Victims have lacked systemic support for counseling, therapy, and public services.
There has been victim blaming and perpetuation of rape myths.
Perpetrators have included, but are not limited to, prosecutors, politicians, military personnel, and taxi drivers.
Japanese courts and judges have been criticized for handing out light sentences
and acquitting perpetrators. Some Japanese law enforcement have been censured for their lack of care concerning rape victim reports and investigations
Japanese police have discouraged victims from reporting rapes.
Rape cases have been dropped by police, but victims pursue civil cases; some result in settlements or low compensation.
Victims who come forward have received backlash on social media and threats.
The extent of rape in the nation is unknown because of the lack of reporting and other factors, but there have been incidents that reached the public's attention.
[''Asahi Shimbun'', 21 April 1989, evening edition, p. 19, "波紋広がる女高生殺人 少年法改正の論議が活発に igh school girl murder causes controversy; active debate over juvenile law reform]
History
Rape in Japan has been recorded from ancient times to the present.
Ishikozume executions were carried out against alleged perpetrators of rape in Ancient Japan. During the Edo period, power holders, such as
Inoue Masamoto, raped women. During the Meiji, Taishō, and early Shōwa eras, rapes committed by
Genzo Kurita,
Ryuun Daimai,
Satarō Fukiage,
Seisaku Nakamura,
and
Yoshio Kodaira
was a Japanese serial killer, serial rapist, and war criminal who murdered at least 8 people in the Tokyo and Tochigi Prefecture areas between 1932 and 1946.
Kodaira killed his father-in-law in 1932 and later raped and murdered at least 7 wome ...
received media attention.
Rape was committed by
Imperial Japanese Armed Forces
The Imperial Japanese Armed Forces (IJAF, full or Nippon-gun () for short, meaning "Japanese Forces") were the unified forces of the Empire of Japan. Formed during the Meiji Restoration in 1868,"One can date the 'restoration' of imperial rul ...
personnel throughout the
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
during the
Asia–Pacific War.
Comfort women
Comfort women were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term ''comfort women'' is a translation of the Japanese , a euphemism ...
from Japan and other nations were sex trafficked and sexually assaulted throughout the
Japanese mainland and
Japanese-occupied territories.
There was
rape during the occupation of Japan
Allied and Japanese troops committed a number of rapes during the Battle of Okinawa during the last months of the Pacific War and the subsequent
Allied occupation of Japan. The Allies occupied Japan until 1952 following the end of World War II ...
and afterwards by
United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...
personnel. The
1945 Katsuyama killing incident,
Yumiko-chan incident,
1995 Okinawa rape incident, and other occurrences were reported. Rapes continue to be committed in Japan by U.S. service members and contractors. Rapes have led to
protests against the US military presence in Okinawa and other prefectures. Sexual assaults have also been committed by personnel in the
Japan Self-Defense Forces
The are the military forces of Japan. Established in 1954, the JSDF comprises the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. They are controlled by the Ministry of Defense ...
and by government workers.
Juvenile and adult rapes in the country's post-war included, but were not limited to, the rape, torture, and murder of
Junko Furuta,
the
Super Free
or its shortened form was an inter-university rave event club, mainly comprising students of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. The leader of the club along with various students from Waseda and other universities in Tokyo were arrested and co ...
incidents,
Johnny Kitagawa sexual abuse scandal
In 2023, it was revealed that Johnny Kitagawa (1931–2019), the founder of the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates, had committed repeated acts of sexual abuse from the early 1970s until the mid-2010s. Considered one of the most powerful ...
, and crimes committed by
Joji Obara
, born Kim Sung-jong () (born on 10 August 1952) is a Korean-Japanese serial rapist who raped between 150 and 400 women between 1992 and 2000. He had a predilection for white women. Obara was charged with drugging, raping and killing an English wo ...
,
Kiyoshi Ōkubo,
Koichi Shoji,
Mamoru Takuma
was a Japanese mass murderer who killed eight children in the Ikeda school massacre in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, on 8 June 2001.
Takuma had a long history of mentally disturbed and anti-social behaviour, and an extensive criminal record includ ...
,
Masato Uchishiba,
Noriyuki Yamaguchi,
Yasunori Suzuki
was a Japanese serial killer who robbed and killed three women in Fukuoka Prefecture between December 2004 and January 2005, raping two of them. He was sentenced to death for his crimes, and executed in 2019.
Early life
Suzuki became obsessed ...
,
and
Yukio Yamaji.
Rape media have been produced in Japan.
Definitions
Types
In Japan, as in many other places, rapes can be divided into two main categories. One is "fushizen rape" (不自然), or relational rape, where the rape is carried out by a person the offended party already knows/has a relationship with and/or there is no particular physical violence involved. There is also "tsūjō rape" (通常), or assault rape, where you are, potentially violently, assaulted by an unknown person and the act of rape. It can be difficult to know where the difference lies between these. The majority of all rapes are relational rapes.
In Japan,
marital rape
Marital rape or spousal rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one's spouse without the spouse's consent. The lack of consent is the essential element and doesn't always involve physical violence. Marital rape is considered a form of dome ...
was considered to be non-existent, because when the woman says yes to marriage it is seen as giving permanent consent to sexual contact and has thus given up sexual autonomy. Due to the permanent consent, it is believed that rape cannot take place in this situation.
Legal
The legislation and definition of rape in Japan are defined in the
Penal Code
A criminal code or penal code is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain Crime, offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that ...
which was created in 1907. Until the legislation was changed in 2017, the legal definition of an act of rape was as follows: (Article 177)
[ Penal Code of Japan]
/ref> is when one uses force or threatening behavior to force oneself for vaginal intercourse. All other types of sexual abuse in Japan fall under the category of "Forcible Indecency", also called "indecent assault" (Article 176).[ Because the terminology used is so broad, this category includes everything from groping ('' chikan'', 痴漢), to more serious sexual assaults such as rape by men etc. Thus, by legal definition, only women could be victims of rape and only men could rape. This changed when the law underwent a reform in 2017. The reform included recognition of male rape victims, a longer minimum statutory penalty and the ability for public prosecutors to indict an offender without requiring a victim to file a complaint. The reform didn't change the requirement for proscecutors to prove that violence or intimidation was involved or that the victim was incapable of resistance. In 2023 there was a second reform that broadened the definition of rape to any non-consensual intercourse.
]
Statistics
The Japanese rape statistics are 20 times lower than the US, and the country has a very strong judicial system where over 99% of all criminal cases in court end in a conviction.[Ramseyer,J. Mark and Rasmusen,Eric B.(2001), 'Why Is the Japanese Conviction Rate So High?']
The Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 30, No. 1 (January 2001), pp. 53-88 (18.april 2013) However, this comparison is misleading as there are significant differences in the legal definition of "rape" in the US and Japan (at least before the Penal Code reform of 2023) and a high under-reporting rate in Japan. A Cabinet of Japan
The is the chief executive body of the government of Japan. It consists of the prime minister, who is appointed by the Emperor after being nominated by the National Diet, in addition to up to nineteen other members, called ministers of stat ...
survey stated that one in fourteen women in the nation reported experiencing forced intercourse.
Rape
[Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication;Statistics Bureau, Director-General for Policy Planning(statistical standards) & Statistical Reaseach and Training Institute: Chapter 25 Justice and Police, 25-1 Crime Cases Known to the Police, Cases Cleared up and Arrestees by Type of Crime]
(21. april 2013) [Crimes in Japan in 2016]
page 21 Cases where the perpetrator is a minor have their own statistical category, which means that no one between the ages of 14-19 is included in these figures.
Indecent assault
(Nearly 70% of the reported cases in this category are supposedly groping (called '' chikan'', 痴漢) on public transport.)
Anti-Rape Efforts
Government Response
There has been an increase in sexual education discussing consent in schools. The government has organized public awareness campaigns. Child pornography laws in Japan have been passed in an attempt to reduce the rape of adolescents for commercial purpose.
Activism and Advocacy
Individuals such as Shiori Itō
, , is a Japanese journalist and filmmaker. Her work focuses on gender equality and human rights issues. Itō's activism led to her inclusion in the ''Time'' 100 Most Influential People of 2020.
Itō gained international attention after speaki ...
and Koyuki Higashi have brought attention to the issues concerning rape in Japan.
References
{{reflist
Society of Japan
Rape in Japan
Social issues in Japan
Slavery in Japan
Crimes against women
Violence against women in Japan