Governors jerking off in glass houses, shouldn't wag fingers at troubled teens

By Ryann Connell
October 4, 2004

For a man whose early adulthood involved writing a book about the pleasures involved in masturbating by using his manhood to poke holes through paper screen shoji panels, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara is sure being mean when it comes to today's young partaking in the delights of the flesh, according to Weekly Playboy.

In June, Ishihara established a nighttime curfew for teens, the following month he banned the public display of "publications likely to cause sexual arousal" and now he's involved in discussions to outlaw sex between anybody under 15.

The alarming proposal to bring legislation into the bedroom was made by a blue-ribbon panel Ishihara set up to discuss ways Tokyo can combat the plethora of problems that have popped up because of teen promiscuity.

"Children having sex at an ever younger age has led to a widespread increase in the number of youths troubled by issues such as being forced into having abortions or being afflicted with an STD. There have also been a number of high profile crimes and incidents involved the young and sex," a spokesman for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government tells Weekly Playboy. "We set up the panel to discuss ways to protect and support the troubled youths affected by these problems."

But almost the first suggestion made by the task force was a blanket ban affecting the bed behavior of teens.

"Some parents want the panel to consider the idea of changing the metropolitan government ordinance aimed at providing a wholesome environment for youths so that it obligates parents to make sure their kids aren't having sex," a reporter covering the metropolitan government says.

Naturally, the men's weekly sees rampant sexuality among children in their mid-teens as hardly ideal. But it says an outright ban affecting people's private lives is far less wholesome. It's an argument those most affected have little trouble agreeing with.

"Tokyo is going to try and make my parents stop me having sex? Good luck! I'm usually too embarrassed to talk to my folks about sex anyway, and they couldn't care," Miho, a 15-year-old street kid, tells Weekly Playboy. "Besides, if they bring that rule in, you just don't have sex in Tokyo. It'd be meaningless. Ishihara's getting to be a real pain."

Actually, Ishihara has come out against the task force's suggestion, but he's had few problems prying into private laws in the past, such as punishing those teachers whose personal beliefs prevented them from obeying a metropolitan government directive to salute the national flag.

Tokyo's efforts to clean up its act have resulted in numerous raids on brothels, sex joints and a crackdown on street touts.

"This drive to outlaw sex between people under 15 is all part of Ishihara's plan to clean up Tokyo. Juvenile crime is certainly on the rise and morals have gone to the dogs," the reporter covering the capital's administration tells Weekly Playboy. "But there's nothing to suggest these problems are all being caused because junior high school kids are having sex."

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