Japan banned possession of child pornography though a bill passed in the Upper House of Japanese Parliament yesterday. The ban prohibits owning a real life image of child pornography depicting a child under the age of eighteen. However, this does not include depictions of children in computer-generated or drawn forms, such as anime and manga.

Japan banned child pornography production and distribution fifteen years ago, however possession had remained legal until now.

Possession of child pornography under these new laws may involve financial penalty of up to one million yen (about US$10,000 or euro7,000) or a year in jail. Individuals who currently possess child pornography are to be given a year to dispose of the material as the penalties are to be unenforced for the first year the law is in effect.

Read more: wikinews.org