What Are the Barriers to Improving the Safeguarding of Children and Young People in Japan’s Entertainment Industries?

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November 6, 2025

What Are the Barriers to Improving the Safeguarding of Children and Young People in Japan’s Entertainment Industries?
What Are the Barriers to Improving the Safeguarding of Children and Young People in Japan’s Entertainment Industries?

Volume 23

Abstract: This Research Note is based on interviews with stakeholders and advocates for child safeguarding in Japan’s entertainment industries conducted by the researchers in Tokyo in July 2024. We argue that, if, as suggested by new legislation, there is an intention to apply UK-style “safeguarding” understandings to prevent reoccurrence of child sexual abuse such as that perpetrated by Johnny Kitagawa in Japan, there are four key barriers to overcome that necessitate increased information-sharing and cooperation between stakeholders in government and industry: precarious work, a reluctance to regulate, a lack of industry accountability, and a lack of societal awareness of child sexual abuse and its impacts.

Keywords: Japan, Entertainment Industries, Cultural Industries, Safeguarding, Children and Young People

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Volume 23

About the author:

Dr. Dorothy Finan is a Lecturer in Cultural Industries at the School of Performance and Cultural Industries, University of Leeds, UK. She researches youth, young people, and the gender and power dynamics of cultural production in Japan. She has published on topics ranging from the “global” construction of K-pop and J-pop idols to the trope of the pop music producer in Japanese video games.

Professor Kaori Suetomi is a sociologist and researcher on education policy based at the Department of Education within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Nihon University in Tokyo, Japan. She has an extensive background as a social science researcher working on comparative projects between the UK and Japan and has published work advocating for child welfare policies in Japan to be mobilized to protect the most vulnerable in society, including children and young people working in the entertainment industries.

The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus is a peer-reviewed publication, providing critical analysis of the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific and the world.

    About the author:

    Dr. Dorothy Finan is a Lecturer in Cultural Industries at the School of Performance and Cultural Industries, University of Leeds, UK. She researches youth, young people, and the gender and power dynamics of cultural production in Japan. She has published on topics ranging from the “global” construction of K-pop and J-pop idols to the trope of the pop music producer in Japanese video games.

    Professor Kaori Suetomi is a sociologist and researcher on education policy based at the Department of Education within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Nihon University in Tokyo, Japan. She has an extensive background as a social science researcher working on comparative projects between the UK and Japan and has published work advocating for child welfare policies in Japan to be mobilized to protect the most vulnerable in society, including children and young people working in the entertainment industries.

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