*This book is not translated in English yet.

One day, a scout approaches you and offers you the “chance to become a model or actress” with “high income,” and you decide to have a listen. But after that, you are forced into appearing in a porn shoot, and a hell from which you cannot escape awaits you…. This book is based on the author’s extensive experience in counseling women who were actually coerced into appearing in pornography (usually called “adult video” or “AV” in Japan), and describes the clever tactics and the horrifying reality of the situation.

At first, women think it’s a matter of just listening to what agents have to say, but NO! As things proceed and minutes pass, the women find themselves in an extremely difficult position to refuse. Thinking that if they don’t sign a contract, they won’t be let go, they sign it just to escape. But later, using that contract, the women are threatened with paying a breach of contract penalty if they refuse to perform. Thus the agents persuade the women to do ‘only one film’. They end up performing once against their will, but then suffer unimaginable humiliation. They are then further threatened by the producers saying their parents and acquaintances would be told about the film unless they perform again. These young women, ignorant of the law, social rules and customs, are taken in by these cunning tricks, and forced into situations from which　they cannot escape.

The porn industry’s annual market size is estimated between 400 and 500 billion yen.　Approximately 20,000 titles are produced annually. A simple calculation shows that 54 titles are produced every day. Behind the scenes of this business, horrific sexual violence and human rights violations against women are being committed. Even so, the industry continues to be considered legitimate as “entertainment” providers.　

Women who are victimized by these violations do not even realize that they are the victims and blame themselves, thinking that it is their fault. They do not know how to escape. It is said that many women are even driven to commit suicide. I was impressed by the way these women gradually regain their self-worth. They are strengthened through the work of the rescuers who come alongside them, accepting their pain and suffering, while working together to find a solution.

In January 2018, news of the arrest of the president of a porn production company and two others on suspicion of forcible solicitation for pornography was reported. This is probably the result of the blood-soaked efforts of the rescuers. Although the content of the book is quite heavy, it seems to me that it also points to a certain amount of hope.　(Takuya Hoshide)

(Written by Setsuko Miyamoto, published in 2016 by Chikuma Shinsho. 240 pages, 800yen+tax, https://www.chikumashobo.co.jp/product/9784480069344/)