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Human trafficking in Japan

Red-light districts are popular hangouts for sex workers. (Nakasu, Fukuoka)
Sources	Japan, China, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Post-Soviet states, Latin America
Perpetrators	Snakehead, Yakuza, Russian mafia, Triads, Iranian gangs, Nigerian gangs, American gangs

According to the United States' State Department, Japan is a major destination, source, and transit country for men and women subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Victims of human trafficking include male and female migrant workers, women and children lured to Japan by fraudulent marriages and forced into prostitution, as well as Japanese nationals, "particularly runaway teenage girls and foreign-born children of Japanese citizens who acquired nationality." 'According to the 2024 U.S. State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report, The Government of Japan does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so.'

U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2024. Japan ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol on July 11, 2017.

In 2005 Irene Khan, then the Secretary General of Amnesty International, stated that the country received the largest number of trafficked persons globally, with the most common points of origin of victims being Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America.

History

Karayuki-san was the name given to Japanese girls and women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who were trafficked from poverty stricken agricultural prefectures in Japan to destinations in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Siberia (Russian Far East), Manchuria, and British India to serve as prostitutes and sexually serviced men from a variety of races, including Chinese, Europeans, native Southeast Asians, and others.

Sex trafficking

Japanese and foreign women and girls have been victims of sex trafficking in Japan. They are raped in brothels and other locations and experience physical and psychological trauma.

Labor trafficking

Japan has a declining population, and is therefore experiencing an extreme labor shortage. As a result, it is an attractive destination for foreign migrant workers, especially from South East Asian countries. Many workers enter the country on a student visa as part of the Technical Intern Training Program, a government sanctioned program where workers can learn a trade while earning a living. The original intent of the program was positive, but due to many loopholes there is widespread exploitation of the vulnerability of workers. The government has now decided to abandon the program, but it will take several years to implement the changes and critics are not convinced that it will solve the problem.

Child trafficking in Japan

The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in Japan take the form of exploiting children under 18 for prostitution or child sexual abuse material. Increasingly, children are also the victims of online sextortion, coerced into producing nude images or videos of themselves and then extorted for money or more images. These images may be sold online or on the dark web.

The sexual objectification of children through manga, anime and other art forms is normalized in society, and the general public does not consider it to contribute to the physical exploitation of children. This kind of content is not illegal in Japan.

In performing arts, sexual objectification of children is also normalized in the country's J-POP Idol industry. The decades long sex trafficking of Japanese boys by Johnny Kitagawa was exposed in a BBC documentary in 2023, and came as a huge shock to the nation.

See also

• Sex trafficking in Japan
• Human rights in Japan § Trafficking of persons
• Crime in Japan
• Polaris Project
• Jake Adelstein

References

1. "Eliminating criminal organizations from red-light districts all over the country, formulating a reforming plan", December 13, 2004, Yahoo! News (in Japanese)
2. "Snakeheads in the Garden of Eden: Immigrants, Smuggling, and Threats to Social Order in Japan", H. Richard Friman
3. "May 2001 Newspaper Headlines", Hokuriku Economic Federation (in Japanese)
4. "Japan". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
5. "Japan". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
6. "Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime". United Nations Treaty Collection Archived 2014-10-01 at the Wayback Machine. United Nations Treaty Collection (2014).
7. "Amnesty Secretary General expects Japan's human rights awareness improving", June 6, 2005, Livedoor News (in Japanese)
8. "Seven Cambodians Rescued in Sex Trafficking Bust in Japan". VOA. January 24, 2017.
9. "Why are foreign women continuing to be forced into prostitution in Japan?". Mainichi Daily News. June 10, 2017.
10. "The Sexual Exploitation of Young Girls in Japan Is 'On the Increase,' an Expert Says". Time. October 29, 2019.
11. "For vulnerable high school girls in Japan, a culture of 'dates' with older men". The Washington Post. May 16, 2017.
12. "Schoolgirls for sale: why Tokyo struggles to stop the 'JK business'". The Guardian. June 15, 2019.
13. "What is the Technical Intern Training Program? | Supporting the efficient operation of the Technical Intern Training Program | Japan International Trainee & Skilled Worker Cooperation Organization (JITCO)". www.jitco.or.jp. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
14. Benoza, Kathleen (2024-02-09). "Japan to end technical intern program and allow transfers to new jobs". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
15. "Japan". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
16. "Podcast | ZOE Japan-Let's Stop Child Trafficking!". ZOE Japan English. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
17. "Japan". ECPAT. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
18. "Japan's J-pop predator - exposed for abuse but still revered". 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
19. "Johnny Kitagawa's sexual abuse: Japan's worst kept secret". 2023-09-08. Retrieved 2024-12-18.

• Human trafficking in Japan
• Human rights abuses in Japan