Icarus wrote:
It's a sick world we live in.
Yes, indeed. Here's info on age of consent in Japan:
http://www.ageofconsent.com/japan.htm
The Japanese Constitution sets the age of consent at 13 but prefectures can set the age over that limit.
This is from the web page:
"Sex with those under 13 years of age is prohibited, but consensual sex with a 13-year-old is not prosecutable under the Criminal Code. According to current laws, in order to prove rape and forcible sexual contact with a minor age 13 or over, the prosecution must prove that the attacker threatened or used violence against the victim.
Currently, laws regarding prostitution with minors over 13 years of age are covered only by prefectural government ordinances.
Under the present Prostitution Prevention Law, selling the sexual services of children is illegal, but purchasing those services is not.
There is no law that directly prohibits the production and sale of child pornography. In 1996, 5,378 teenage girls were taken into police custody for sexual misconduct, of whom 562 were engaging in prostitution. According to a police survey of those girls, 46.8 percent said that they wanted spending money, while 29.6 percent said that they acted out of curiosity. "