The producer of the Japanese animated film “Your Name,” which was also very popular in Korea, was sentenced to four years in prison on charges of child prostitution and other charges.
According to Mainichi Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun on the 4th, the Wakayama District Court sentenced producer Koichiro Ito to four years in prison on charges of child prostitution and violation of the pornography ban on the 28th of last month. Ito was indicted on charges of giving 20,000 yen in cash to a 15-year-old girl he knew through social networking services in 2023 and having sex that he did not agree with at his home.
The defendant has provided money to prostitute children or film videos during sexual intercourse, the court said. “The decision-making ability has a significant adverse effect on the mental and physical development of unskilled victims and is an act that deserves great social criticism.”
Earlier in January, the prosecution demanded a six-year prison sentence for Ito. The prosecution claimed, “The defendant had paid a large amount of money to more than 100 women, including girls under the age of 18, to film and collect the images.”
In September 2021, Ito was asked to send a nude image to a girl who was 15 years old at the time on a smartphone, and he is accused of paying 20,000 to 60,000 yen in cash to two girls under the age of 18 at their home in Tokyo from November 2022 to July of the following year.
Ito, who now runs a production company, worked with director Makoto Shinkai on “Your Name” and others. “I am deeply shocked by the news that a person involved in our work has been arrested,” Shinkai said. “I express my deepest condolences to the victims. I am also sorry for causing concern to those who love and support our work.”
EJ SONG
US ASIA JOURNAL
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