Commentary / World Nov 23, 2016

Should the world's oldest profession be legal?

by Peter Singer

As Amnesty Interational has pointed out, criminalizing the sex industry does far more harm than good.

National / Social Issues Aug 17, 2016

Sex trade a shaky safety net for Japan's working-poor women

by Tomohiro Osaki

For the past six years, 47-year-old single mother Kasumi Endo has lived a double life. On weekdays, she works all day as a temp-staff office worker to raise her teenage daughter. But with wages hardly sufficient to keep the household afloat, Endo (not her real ...

National / Social Issues Aug 17, 2016

Tokyo exhibition focuses on plight of sexually exploited girls

by Tomohiro Osaki

In Japan, teenage girls who turn to prostitution do so because they want to make easy money or fulfill their own pleasures. Or not really. Contrary to popular stereotypes, "few girls I've seen began prostituting themselves light-heartedly or to earn easy money," said Yumeno Nito, a ...

World Feb 23, 2013

Keep it clean: World watches Iceland lead the way toward ban on Web porn

by Tracy Mcveigh

Small, volcanic, with a proud Viking heritage and run by an openly gay prime minister, Iceland is now considering becoming the first democracy in the Western world to try to ban online pornography. A nationwide consultation has found wide support for the move from police ...

Reference | FYI May 27, 2008

Law bends over backward to allow 'fuzoku'

by Jun Hongo

Some desires money can't gratify, but for appetites of the flesh, there are ways in Japan to legally sate one's carnal cravings. Like many countries, prostitution is illegal in Japan, at least on paper. Brothel-like "soapland" and sexual massage parlors get around these barriers. And the ...