TOKYO - Japanese police have launched a probe over a controversial
magazine picture of a child in a provocative pose with a naked pop
singer, its publisher and reports said Friday.
About 670,000 copies of the popular weekly Young Magazine were pulled
from stores ahead of its planned sale last weekend because of a storm
over the photograph, which showed singer Tomomi Kasai with a young,
apparently Caucasian or Eurasian child cupping her breasts.
The magazine's publisher Kodansha said two of its employees who
handle compliance matters went voluntarily to the police "after
receiving a request for a hearing over the issue".
"The child welfare section (of the police department) asked that the
picture in question no longer be circulated," a company spokesman said,
adding that police wanted all copies of the magazine taken out of
circulation.
In the photograph, the blond-haired boy is shown reaching from behind
to cup the breasts of 21-year-old Kasai, who until last year was a
member of highly successful all-girl group AKB48, as she stares into the
camera.
The photograph, on an inside page of the weekly, was released as part
of a publicity drive for a book of pictures of Kasai produced by the
same firm.
A spokesman for the publisher earlier this week told AFP the company accepted there was a problem with the shot, but declined to offer an opinion on whether the image fell foul of Japan's child pornography laws.
"Whether or not it is child porn, it infringes on socially accepted standards," he said.
Japan's huge publishing sector includes magazines and graphic comics containing images that may be considered obscene in other developed countries. It is not uncommon to see people reading such material on commuter trains.
Young Magazine, which has a sizable readership of mostly young men, publishes comic strips on a variety of themes including definitive works such as the science fiction "Akira", which became a cult movie series.
AKB48 is one of the world's highest-grossing acts. It comprises a 90-strong pool of girls in their teens and early 20s who are rotated in and out of the public eye, based on their popularity.
Idols who have left the collective have had varying degrees of success, with at least one turning to pornography.
Kasai's debut single was released in late December.
