Act on the Punishment of Acts of Photographing Sexual Poses, etc. and the Erasure, etc. of Electronic or Magnetic Records of Images of Sexual Poses Recorded on Seized Articles

性的な姿態を撮影する行為等の処罰及び押収物に記録された性的な姿態の影像に係る電磁的記録の消去等に関する法律（せいてきなしたいをさつえいするこういとうのしょばつおよびおうしゅうぶつにきろくされたせいてきなしたいのえいぞうにかかるでんじてききろくのしょうきょとうにかんするほうりつ）

It punishes filming people's sexual body parts or sexual acts secretly or by other wrongful means, and sharing those images, lets copies of them be confiscated, and lets prosecutors erase such images held on seized items, to stop the harm from happening and spreading.

Text in force since
Promulgated
Articles: 50
Amendments on the way: 1

Read the text Open on e-Gov

What this law does

Secretly filming, without a legitimate reason, a person's genitals or anus or the area around them, buttocks or breasts, the part of underwear normally hidden by clothes that is covering those parts, or a person during an indecent act (わいせつな行為) or sexual intercourse (性交等, as Article 177(1) of the Penal Code defines it) is a crime. It is punishable by imprisonment () of up to 3 years or a fine of up to 3 million yen, and an attempt is also punished.(Art. 2(1)(i), Art. 2(1)(i)(a), Art. 2(1)(i)(b), Art. 2(1), Art. 2(2), Penal Code Art. 177(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

Read the full overview

Filming those parts or acts of a person is punished the same way where the filmer, by violence or threats, alcohol or drugs, sleep, worry over someone's economic or social influence, or the other causes Article 176(1) of the Penal Code lists or similar ones, makes it hard for the person to form, express or act on an unwillingness to consent, or takes advantage of their being in that state. It is also punished where the filmer makes the person believe that the act is not sexual or that no one beyond particular people will see the images, or takes advantage of such a mistaken belief.(Art. 2(1)(ii), Art. 2(1)(iii), Penal Code Art. 176(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Filming, without a legitimate reason, the sexual body parts, underwear or sexual acts of a child under 13 is punished the same way. So is filming, without a legitimate reason, those of a child aged 13 to 15 by a person born at least five years before that child.(Art. 2(1)(iv)) (the provisions it rests on)
Sending images of those parts or acts of a person over a network (電気通信回線) to many or unspecified people, other than images of a sexual image record (性的影像記録), is punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 5 million yen, or both, in four cases: without a legitimate reason, where the person does not know the images are being sent; where the same causes as for filming make it hard for the person to form, express or act on an unwillingness to consent, or that state is taken advantage of; where the person is made to believe that the act is not sexual or that the images will not be sent to many or unspecified people, or such a belief is taken advantage of; and, without a legitimate reason, where the person is a child under 13, or is 13 to 15 and the sender was born at least five years before them. Passing images sent this way on to many or unspecified people, knowing what they are, is punished the same way. Recording images sent this way, knowing what they are, is punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to 3 million yen, and an attempt is also punished.(Art. 5(1), Art. 5(2), Art. 6(1), Art. 6(2), Penal Code Art. 176(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Providing a sexual image record (性的影像記録) — a record made by one of those filming offences or by recording images sent that way, or a copy of the part of it that shows the images — is punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to 3 million yen. Providing it to many or unspecified people, or displaying it publicly, is punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 5 million yen, or both. Keeping such a record in order to provide or display it is punishable by imprisonment of up to 2 years or a fine of up to 2 million yen.(Art. 3(1), Art. 3(2), Art. 4(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
A prosecutor holding a seized item (押収物) that came from these filming or image-recording acts or is a copy of one, that holds or is a private sexual image record or item (私事性的画像記録, 私事性的画像記録物) forming or used for the acts Article 3(1) to (3) of the Act on the Prevention of Damage Caused by the Provision, etc. of Private Sexual Image Records (Act No. 126 of 2014) describes, or that is child pornography (児童ポルノ) as Article 2(3) of the Act on child prostitution and child pornography (Act No. 52 of 1999) defines it — both separate Acts — may erase all such images (対象電磁的記録) on it, but only through the procedure this Act sets: a written decision after a hearing, which can be challenged, except where no right holder has come forward within six months of a public notice. Where there is too much data to check it all, the prosecutor may instead erase everything on the item, and where erasing is technically or otherwise difficult, destroy the item; an item of these kinds that holds no such images may be destroyed.(Art. 10(1), Art. 10(1)(i), Art. 10(1)(ii), Art. 10(2), Art. 9(1), Art. 16(1), Art. 17(2), Art. 23(1), Art. 26(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

Article 1 states the law's own purpose

Filming sexual imagesSharing sexual imagesSending sexual images over a networkCrimes abroadConfiscationErasing images on seized itemsReview request

50 118 78 3 36

Amendments

A Japanese law is changed by another law or order that rewrites it — an . This law has 1 amendment on the way — , but . Its latest amendments are below. This law's amendments page lists every amendment e-Gov records and, for those whose changes this site has read, shows them provision by provision, in Japanese and English.

By 31 March 2027

at the latest, in 5 months

Act Partially Amending the Code of Criminal Procedure, etc. to Respond to Advances in Information and Communications Technology, etc.

情報通信技術の進展等に対応するための刑事訴訟法等の一部を改正する法律

The whole text as it will read, on e-Gov

On a day set by , no later than 31 March 2027. The exact day is not fixed yet.

See what it changes (12 provisions)

5 amendments already in force

21 May 2026
The text on this site
Act Partially Amending the Code of Criminal Procedure, etc. to Respond to Advances in Information and Communications Technology, etc.
情報通信技術の進展等に対応するための刑事訴訟法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
22 July 2025
Act on the Implementation of Agreements Between Japan and Other Contracting States Concerning the Facilitation of Reciprocal Access and Cooperation Between the Self-Defense Forces of Japan and the Armed Forces of Other Contracting States
日本国の自衛隊と我が国以外の締約国の軍隊との間における相互のアクセス及び協力の円滑化に関する日本国と我が国以外の締約国との間の協定の実施に関する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
23 May 2025
Act Partially Amending the Code of Criminal Procedure, etc. to Respond to Advances in Information and Communications Technology, etc.
情報通信技術の進展等に対応するための刑事訴訟法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
20 June 2024
e-Gov gives no title for this amendment
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
13 July 2023
e-Gov gives no title for this amendment
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

Who it applies to

It applies to

Anyone, of any nationality, who commits one of the Act's offences in Japan, or on board a Japanese ship or aircraft outside Japan: the Penal Code's rules that it applies to everyone who commits a crime in those places reach crimes under other Acts as well.(Art. 2(1), Art. 3(1), Art. 4(1), Art. 5(1), Art. 6(1), Penal Code Art. 1(1), Penal Code Art. 1(2), Penal Code Art. 8(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Japanese nationals who commit the offences of Articles 2 to 6 outside Japan, as the Penal Code's Article 3 provides for the crimes it lists.(Art. 7(1), Penal Code Art. 3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

2 more

The people a prosecutor's erasure decisions, erasure orders and copy refusals are addressed to: the person the data belongs to, the owner or other right holder of a seized item, the person able to erase the originals on networked storage, and the person ordered to hand over data.(Art. 17(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
The erasure procedure also reaches seized items a prosecutor was already holding when that part of the Act came into force.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 4(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

Special rules and exceptions (2)

Poses a person exposes or takes of their own accord, in a place where people usually wear clothes, knowing that many or unspecified people will see them, are left out of the filming and image-sending offences. The offences concerning children under 13, and children aged 13 to 15 with a person at least five years older, are not limited this way.(Art. 2(1)(i), Art. 2(1)(iv), Art. 5(1)(i), Art. 5(1)(iv)) (the provisions it rests on)
For an act done before the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc. (Act No. 67 of 2022) came into force, the Act's prison terms are imprisonment with work () instead of imprisonment ().(Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it is enforced (11)

The filming and image-sending offences do not stop the Penal Code's crimes of non-consensual indecency (不同意わいせつ, Article 176) and indecency by a person with custody of someone under 18 (監護者わいせつ, Article 179(1)) from also applying.(Art. 2(3), Art. 5(3), Penal Code Art. 176(1), Penal Code Art. 179(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Copies of anything produced by the filming offence or the offence of recording images sent over a network may be confiscated (), and so may media holding private sexual image records (私事性的画像記録) used in an offence under the Act on the Prevention of Damage Caused by the Provision, etc. of Private Sexual Image Records (Act No. 126 of 2014), a separate Act, and copies of them. Only things that belong to no one but the offender may be confiscated, unless another person came to hold them after the crime knowing the facts.(Art. 8(1), Art. 8(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
To erase or destroy, a prosecutor lifts the seizure of the item under the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法), a separate Act, and keeps it in custody instead (領置), without returning it. A criminal court or family court (家庭裁判所) holding an item that the prosecutor kept until the court seized or received it, or that the prosecutor submitted or sent to it, tells the prosecutor instead of returning it when the item is no longer needed and the court believes it is of the kinds open to erasure, and at the end of the case, where it does not confiscate the item, orders it handed to the prosecutor. The prosecutor may then take it into custody, and where the prosecutor does not, the item is returned.(Art. 12(1), Art. 13(1), Art. 13(2), Art. 13(3), Art. 13(4), Art. 13(5), Art. 13(7)) (the provisions it rests on)
Before erasing data or destroying an item, the prosecutor must decide in writing what will be done (消去等決定), except where no right holder has come forward within six months of a public notice. Before that decision, an erasure order or a refusal to allow copying, the prosecutor must hold a hearing (聴聞). The decision is addressed to the person the data belongs to, or to the item's owner or other right holder, and a copy is served on them.(Art. 16(1), Art. 17(1), Art. 17(2), Art. 20(1), Art. 20(2), Art. 23(1)(v)) (the provisions it rests on)
Where the images were copied from storage connected over a network, under Article 218(2) or 509(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法), a separate Act, and the originals are still there, the prosecutor may order the person able to erase data on that computer to erase the originals and that person's own copies on that storage (消去命令), as a Ministry of Justice Order provides. Breaking the order is punishable by imprisonment of up to 1 year or a fine of up to 1 million yen.(Art. 11(1), Art. 43(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Where data a prosecutor holds was handed over under an electronic data provision order (電磁的記録提供命令) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a separate Act, and it is such images, the prosecutor may decide not to allow it to be copied as that Code would otherwise allow (複写不許可決定). The decision may also cover other data handed over under the same order that is such images, or all of it where there is too much to check, and while deciding, the prosecutor refuses copying provisionally. The prosecutor must allow copying of the data the refusal does not cover, and of all of it once the prosecutor finds after the hearing that no refusal is needed, a review ruling cancelling the whole refusal can no longer be challenged or a judgment for the person against the refusal or the ruling becomes final, or the data no longer needs to be kept; a copy not made within six months of being allowed need no longer be allowed.(Art. 11-2(1), Art. 11-2(1)(ii), Art. 12-2(1), Art. 25-2(1), Art. 25-3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Where everything on an item is to be erased or the item destroyed, the person the data belongs to or the owner or other right holder may ask, as a Ministry of Justice Order provides, for specified data to be copied onto another medium and given to them; where the prosecutor finds it is not such images, the prosecutor does so before carrying out the measure, but may refuse where they do not follow instructions such as supplying the medium, copying is technically or otherwise difficult, or the request is an abuse of right. Where a copy refusal covers other data because there was too much to check, the person ordered to hand it over may likewise ask to copy specified data, and copying is allowed where the prosecutor finds it is not such images, though it may be refused on the same grounds. The prosecutor may ask for material showing reasonable grounds that the data is not such images, and for these requests data for which none is provided within the time set is treated as such images.(Art. 18(1), Art. 18(2), Art. 18-2(1), Art. 18-2(2), Art. 19(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
The prosecutor carries out an erasure or destruction only once no review request was made in time, no lawsuit was brought in time after the review, a lawsuit has been finally dismissed, the person the data belongs to or the owner or other right holder consents, or six months have passed since a public notice (公告) given because no right holder could be identified. The item must be returned once the erasure is done, once the prosecutor finds after the hearing that no decision is needed, once a review ruling cancelling the whole decision can no longer be challenged or a judgment for the person against the decision or the ruling becomes final, or once the prosecutor no longer needs to keep it. An item not collected within six months of the person being asked to collect it, or not claimed within six months of a public notice where it cannot be returned because the person's address is unknown or for another reason, may be destroyed, as may an uncollected copy made for the person and an item dangerous to keep.(Art. 21(1), Art. 22(1), Art. 23(1), Art. 24(1), Art. 24(2), Art. 24(3), Art. 25(1), Art. 15(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
A person dissatisfied with an erasure decision, an erasure order, a copy refusal or a provisional refusal, the taking of an item into custody, or another act of the prosecutor in this procedure that a Ministry of Justice Order names may file a written request for review (審査の申立て) with the head of the prosecutor's office (検察庁の長) within 30 days, counted for a decision from the day after a copy of it is served, or, where a disaster or other unavoidable reason prevented that, within one week from the day after the reason ends; an ordinary administrative appeal (審査請求) is not available. The review ruling (裁決) cannot change the act to the disadvantage of the person who asked for the review. A lawsuit to cancel such an act may be brought only after the review ruling, only in the district court for the place of that office, and not once 30 days have passed since the ruling was served.(Art. 26(1), Art. 26(2), Art. 27(1), Art. 29(1), Art. 29(2), Art. 32(1), Art. 33(1), Art. 34(1), Art. 34(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
The parts of the records that show the filmed sexual poses and the like (対象姿態等) are shielded. At the hearing the parties cannot have them copied, and in a review the parties cannot obtain copies of them, though a filmed person (撮影対象者等, or their legal representative) taking part may obtain those of their own images. In a lawsuit where those items or records are offered in evidence, the court may, at the defendant's request, limit viewing those parts to the parties and the filmed person and copying them to the defendant and the filmed person; and in any such lawsuit, also at the defendant's request, it may keep the filmed person's address and name secret where it is shown that disclosing them would seriously disrupt that person's life.(Art. 17(4), Art. 31(2), Art. 35(1), Art. 36(1), Art. 9(2), Art. 9(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
To make these decisions the prosecutor may order the people concerned to report, to produce documents and other items or to appear, and may open items and examine the data, and to check that an erasure order was obeyed may order reports, production or appearance; these powers are not to be read as given for criminal investigation. Failing to report or produce, reporting falsely, or making a false statement or hiding facts in a request for a copy is punishable by a fine of up to 500,000 yen. A company or employer whose representative or employee does so, or breaks an erasure order, in its business is fined as well.(Art. 40(1), Art. 40(2), Art. 40(4), Art. 44(1), Art. 45(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it connects to other laws

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It also names 13 laws not yet held here.

Where the translation comes from

The Ministry of Justice's translation is shown only where the Japanese it translates matches the law in force today. Everywhere else the English is a machine translation, marked on the paragraph itself.

Only the Japanese is the law, and no lawyer has reviewed the machine translation.

Sources

Everything this page rests on

e-Gov (Digital Agency)性的な姿態を撮影する行為等の処罰及び押収物に記録された性的な姿態の影像に係る電磁的記録の消去等に関する法律 — the text in force from 2026-05-21Original
e-Gov (Digital Agency)性的な姿態を撮影する行為等の処罰及び押収物に記録された性的な姿態の影像に係る電磁的記録の消去等に関する法律 — revision historyOriginal
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