If you've always wanted a magazine to read that fills that particularly obscure niche, why not check out a Japanese convenience store? In Japan, you are sure to find any kind of magazine for any kind of market. Though guns are illegal, you can get a gun enthusiast magazine (through which you can buy a very realistic mock weapon to pull that jewelry heist). No place to take your 4x4 for some offroading? Read about it instead. (Or, take your monster truck to a "carwash" that specializes in spraying mud on your vehicle to make it look like you destroyed a little habitat.)

What may be somewhat surprising is the pornography scene. While the English versions of Playboy and Penthouse are imported (I don't think they are "just reading the stories"), any kind of genitalia is very carefully scratched out. But if you are a pedophile, you need go no further than your local convenience store to fulfill your desires. An informal check at over a hundred "ordinary stores" in 32 cities recently revealed that only 4 did not sell child porn. Some magazines even publish the ages of the victims, so as to appeal to a market that wishes to know these things.

But those free wheeling days of open pedophilia are soon coming to an end. Even though Japan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1994, only recently has there been a bill to ban child pornography and child prostitution. (Illustrations are not covered by the bill, as this would interfere with the right of free speech.) The bill should be passed by the end of May, 1999.

Barring the new law prohibiting child pornography, you can buy a magazine on just about any topic in Japan. But why buy it when you can do as these young men are doing in the convenience store? Bring a softdrink, make yourself comfortable, and browse your favorite publications in style (and cheaply).

Copyright © 1999 by Ed Kaspar
All rights reserved