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Tokyo cops raid Kabukicho porn DVD operation, arrest 18

Hideki Hayashi
Hideki Hayashi

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Wednesday arrested 18 suspects for allegedly selling uncensored pornographic DVDs from various locations centered around the Kabukicho entertainment area, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Feb. 20).

Officers took 42-year-old manager Hideki Hayashi and 17 other suspects into custody and seized 160,000 DVDs, computers, and mobile phones.

The suspects are alleged to have sold the uncensored discs through shops and on the Internet. In one instance, a 40-year-old male company employee purchased 20 discs for 4,000 yen in August, police said.

Hayashi started the business in March of last year. Up until this month, the operation had generated over 480 million yen in revenue.

All of the suspects have reportedly admitted to the allegations. “I did it to make a living,” Hayashi is quoted by TV Asahi (Feb. 20).

By law, films available in Japan are required to have genitalia properly censored. Further, changes in legislation made in July of 2012 regarding the sale of uncensored DVDs copied electromagnetically were enacted to prohibit sales.