17 arrested for selling illegal porn at DVD shops in Tokyo

Wednesday 26th November, 10:10 AM JST

TOKYO —

Police on Tuesday arrested 17 people for selling uncensored porn DVDs at DVD shops in the Kabukicho district of Shinjuku in Tokyo. Police impounded about 40,000 illegal DVDs.

Koki Iwamoto, 47, who is the owner of seven DVD shops, and 16 staff were arrested for allegedly selling uncensored porn DVDs at seven DVD shops as well as possessing them at a warehouse for commercial purposes.

According to police investigations, the suspects were known as the “Vegetable Group” because they named their shops “Tomato,” “Lettuce,” “Pumpkin” and “Cherry.” Police said they earned about about 700 million yen in the past two years through their illegal porn DVD business.

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Latest 15 of 57 Total Comments Show All

kjunluc2 at 03:32 AM JST - 27th November

Once in the aiueo there was a calendar with a Japanese model pictured in a very skimpy bikini. Someone with a ball point pen (donno who) drew a few stringy hairs in an inappropriate place. Five minutes later the calendar disappeared. I guess the hair took it from soft-core to hard-core.
kokuryu at 04:46 AM JST - 27th November

Can someone explain to me why porn has to be censored in Japan in the first place? It makes no sense, and only adds to the frustration level of the viewers, ultimately creating a more violent society as a whole.
SiouxGirl at 04:51 AM JST - 27th November

Ahhh ... I've got the wrong job. Where do I sign up to watch all these videos to see if they're censored or not?
frankthedm at 06:50 AM JST - 27th November

originally posted by Kokuryu

Can someone explain to me why porn has to be censored in Japan in the first place?>

Because the laws of japan prohibit showing sex or sexual organs. However the exact language allows for everything else to be shown.
PaizuriSan at 11:51 AM JST - 27th November

I rather not risk getting modded. So I will say that cenosoring something you pay for is dumb.Q
mcheeky at 03:35 PM JST - 27th November

and only adds to the frustration level of the viewers, ultimately creating a more violent society as a whole.

Yeah, Japan is such a violent society. Can't tell you how much I fear for my safety here. LMAO!
PaizuriSan at 09:20 AM JST - 28th November

Yeah, Japan is such a violent society. Can't tell you how much I fear for my safety here. LMAO!

Is this your first time here on this site? There is a quote I made up for you. -Those who are blind, cannot see.-Paizurisan
mcheeky at 11:28 AM JST - 28th November

Despite the silliness of the mosaic, Japan is pretty liberal on the subject of porn. So liberal and so less violent in fact that removing the mosaic will hardly change anything. I do think there is a relationship between the liberation and the non-violence though, don't think I don't. There is just a lot more too it.
realist at 10:59 PM JST - 28th November

What a funny story! Its ironic, really. The J police and the J government crackdown on this "illegal porn" while ignoring the other porn that is read by myriads of sararimen every day on the trains, and also the vile porn on display in Japanese hotels on the TV. What a crazy place this is.
Betzee at 11:20 AM JST - 29th November

Because the laws of japan prohibit showing sex or sexual organs.However the exact language allows for everything else to be shown.

Every society seems to have its own idosyncracies in that regard. As someone observed with respect to anime:

“[The United States] can show violence in cartoons, but we’re afraid of sex,...You can show beheadings and violence and crazy alien tentacle sex [in Japan], but you can’t show pubic hair. For them, the nape of the neck is very erotic. Japanese culture is sprinkled with crazy dichotomy.”
Betzee at 12:38 PM JST - 29th November

As someone who has spent very little time in Japan, I will point of the pixelization approach seems to be at least gender fair. One doesn't have to see many Hollywood films, and I'm talking about those in general or restricted release, not porn that goes straight to DVD, to know female nudity is common while male is not.

As actresses climb the ladder, they have the clout to avoid taking their clothes off. They either request a body double, or like the Bridget Jones films, Renees Zellweger has sex with her bra on (ditto for Kate Beckinsale in Laurel Canyon).

In the early 1990s there was a movie released called The Lover, the story of a 14-year old French girl's sexual awakening in colonial Vietnam. Her lover is an older Chinese man. It's full frontal nudity for her; she has her clothes off for about half the picture. But we never see him naked.

A lot of people pronounced it "soft-core pornography" simply because there was very little to the story other than their assignations. This has always been my definition of pornography; it has less to do with what's actually shown on screen than whether there's a narrative context for it.
Molenir at 11:15 AM JST - 30th November

Porn is still against the law in the U.S. but the Supreme Court can't define it. However, the pornographers advertise it. Seems like confession to me.

Porn is Not against the law in the US. Obscenity is. Some people try to define that as being porn, but it never stands unless illegal acts are being committed.
Yelnats at 06:36 PM JST - 30th November

1st of all I like porn. Second of all, while commuting on any train in Japan, you can look to your left or right and see endless porn for free in the magazines or newspapers that salary men and women are reading while kids are hanging out too. The human body is very beautiful. Most wonderful from our animal kingdom. Show the bod, and all is well.
Seawhiz at 02:03 AM JST - 2nd December

Just sell the porn without the fuzzy stuff and everyone will be okay. I mean as long as the shops are not featuring any kiddy porn or selling it everything is cool.
helloklitty at 03:48 AM JST - 2nd December

who buys porn anymore? just type in "porn" on google and you'll find all you want for free - don't forget to clear "history" when you're done