Japan has been criticized by the international community as a "child pornography powerhouse," but a campaign to legally ban individuals from possessing pornographic images of children is gaining momentum in this country.

The Japan Committee for UNICEF held a press conference in Tokyo on March 11 to promote a signature campaign to strengthen the law against child prostitution and child pornography, during which a committee spokesman read out a letter written by a female university student who was photographed while being sexually abused as a child.

In the letter, she said: "My picture continues to appear on the Internet. Even as I grow older, I can't fall in love with anyone or get married, or have a child...as long as that picture exists."

The current law does not prohibit the possession by individuals of pornographic images featuring children, as long as they do not intend to distribute such material.

Japan has became notorious for the spread of child porn. Experts point out that under the present law, it is difficult to prevent the production of such imagery. They also point out that the damaging effect of these images is spreading overseas via the Internet.

Protecting children from sexual abuse is a common goal shared by countries across the world. The dispute over a proposal to revise the law likely will focus on how deeply this nation is committed to fighting child porn.

UNICEF's Japan branch stressed the status quo in which cases of sexual abuse that occurred in the past continue to affect victims while adding fuel to the fire of child pornography.

In the Diet, the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito is considering the submission of an amendment bill during the current session that would prohibit the possession of child pornography and punish violators, even if they do not intend to sell such images.

Yahoo Japan Corp. featured on its Web site an article about the problems and reality of child pornography online. The company is supporting the Japan Committee for UNICEF's campaign in conjunction with Microsoft Corp.'s Japan branch. A Yahoo Japan spokesman said: "There are no borders as regards online information. We need measures to prevent child pornography on the Internet."

The law against child prostitution and child pornography was enacted in 1999. It prohibits the purchase of sex from those aged 17 or younger; activities related to procuring child prostitution; sales of child pornography; and the posting of related images on the Internet. The law was revised in 2004 to regulate the production and possession of child pornography, but applies only to people who intend to distribute such material.

Experts point out that the supply of and demand for child pornography cannot adequately be dealt with under the present law.

"The existing law has reinforced regulations on child pornography in term of supply," Junko Miyamoto, coleader of the international NGO ECPAT/Stop Japan said. "However, as the possession of child pornography by individuals is allowed, people continue to seek out such material. If we don't regulate the consumption side, the supply side won't stop."

Individuals retain explicit pictures of children by saving images onto recordable mediums such as computers, cell phones and DVDs. Once such images leak onto the Internet, they are easily transferred around the world. It is impossible to delete all these leaked images, thus causing victims further suffering.

Experts criticize Japan and Russia for being the only two countries among the Group of Eight major industrialized nations that do not explicitly ban the individual possession of explicit images of children.

There have been movements to ban the possession of pornography in all forms in Japan. However, such movements yielded after it was claimed that this would lead to police abusing their investigative powers, or that it would violate freedom of expression and privacy rights.

In November 2004, a first-grade female primary school student was killed after being abducted in Nara, and it was later discovered that the perpetrator had numerous explicit pictures of children on his cell phones. Public opinion leaned more heavily in favor of amending the law after this incident.

In an opinion poll conducted by the Cabinet Office in 2007, more than 90 percent of respondents favored the regulation of the possession of child pornography.

Lawyer Keiji Goto has long engaged in activities to regulate the possession of child porn. "There is no such thing as a right to enjoy images of children being sexually abused. If the current status quo continues to exist, it means that Japanese society is tolerating child pornography," he said.