Wacky applications of the law part 1: “Sex without love” illegal in Tokyo

From the always entertaining ZAKZAK:

24-year-old company man caught with 14-year-old girl

Police arrested a company worker (24) on June 11 for having sexual contact with a girl he knew was under 18 in violation of the Tokyo Municipal Youth Health and Development Law. Up to now there was no law banning sex with minors, but a new clause banning the practice, amended to the existing law, was put in force June 1. Under the new law, even consensual sex is a no-no if there is no love involved. This was the first such ludicrous application of this law.

“It looks as though the perpetrator had no idea. Nevertheless, that is not our problem,” said a person involved in the investigation. The man in custody first met the girl, a 14-year-old junior high school student who had run away from home, on May 30 when he approached her at JR Kita-Senju station. He was arrested on June 2 for performing lewd acts after letting her stay at his home for 2 days.

Until now the law only applied when sex was peddled. Only Tokyo and Nagano prefectures lacked laws banning this type of case where the sex with a minor was consensual.

Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro (pictured) has declared his intention to work on youth problems, proclaiming, “I will do all that is politically possible to raise our youth in a healthy manner.” Last fall, he started the “Committee to Consider Youth Sexual Activity” (Waseda Univ. Professor Teizo Kato, Chairman), which discovered that people are engaging in sexual activity younger and younger and that prostitution among teens is rampant.

Seeing this, Japan’s capital added to its Youth Health and Development Law, “No one shall engage in improper sexual intercourse or sex-like activity with youths.” Violating the law can bring imprisonment of no more than two years and a fine of no more than 1 million yen.

About the official ban, Ishihara said, “This is a private problem, and we shouldn’t ban it by law. I know that we don’t want junior high school students having sex, but a law banning it?” referencing his classic novel, “Season in the Sun” the Governor opposed the law, but it was approved in the municipal assembly at the end of March.

Wakato Ono, Chief of the Capital Lifestyle and Culture Department, Youth Policy Center, said, “Adults who take advantage of children’s weaknesses must be held accountable. The law should help stop that,” expressing hope that the law would act as a deterrent to sexual assault.

In Tokyo, “no one” is allowed to have “sex without love” with a minor, but in anticipation of cases where couples are seriously in love, the law adds the stipulation “improper sexual intercourse.” A person involved in capital-area affairs, said, “Cases in which there is a serious relationship or engagement to be married will not be interpreted as ‘improper,'” and thus will not result in immediate arrest.

But the person admits, “The couple would have to show proof of their relationship,” a requirement that clearly makes it better for minors to give up on having sex.