Japan is eyeing revising the anti-prostitution law to potentially include buyers who solicit sex for money as violators, closing a widely criticized loophole wherein only sellers are deemed to be in violation.
During a regular news conference on Tuesday, Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said the ministry would establish an expert panel to discuss possible revisions within the current fiscal year, which ends in March.
“In recent years, acts such as soliciting sex on the streets have been declared a social issue, with growing demand to take appropriate measures,” said Hiraguchi.
“I trust that this panel will use its expertise to debate how prostitution should be regulated amid recent social issues.”
Asked if the revisions under consideration include categorizing buyers as violators of the anti-prostitution law, Hiraguchi declined to elaborate.
The move comes after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi instructed the justice minister during a parliamentary session in November to consider what can be done to penalize people who buy sex after Lower House lawmaker Rintaro Ogata urged her to adopt tougher measures.
Critics of the current law have argued the system is distorted as only people who sell sex, often against their will, are subject to arrest or a fine.
Enacted in 1956, the law regulates prostitution between adults. Although the law stipulates the act of prostitution is illegal, the only aspect of it penalized is soliciting in public.
Cases involving those under the age of 18 are prosecuted under other laws, such as the Child Prostitution and Child Pornography Prohibition Law and the Child Welfare Act.
In September, a 12-year-old Thai girl sought help from immigration authorities after she was forced to perform sexual services at a massage parlor in Tokyo. She was later taken into protective custody as a victim of human trafficking and sent back to Thailand. Under the current anti-prostitution law, the buyer in this case will not be prosecuted.
In recent years, Japan has seen a rise in sex tourism, with foreign tourists and residents — fueled by a weak yen, strong inbound tourism and social media posts — flocking to Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment district in search of paid sex.
Teenagers who run away from home and engage in street prostitution have also been a rising social issue.
Police have also been cracking down on young women working the streets in recent years, many of whom have accumulated debt from going to unethical host clubs, where the men working there essentially force women to pay off their debts through prostitution. But the crackdowns have also prompted criticism regarding why buyers aren’t being arrested.
According to the National Police Agency, 381 people were arrested for violating the anti-prostitution law in 2024.
Overseas, many countries — including most U.S. states — criminalize both those who sell and buy sex, while countries such as Sweden and France penalize only buyers. Meanwhile, the Netherlands and Germany have legalized prostitution, and New Zealand and others have decriminalized it, removing criminal penalties entirely.
