Kyoto cracks down on upskirting peeping Tom photographers

Kyoto is an elegant city of history, culture and temples. But there are also plenty of inventive folk with cameras looking to snap a shot between the legs of an unsuspecting schoolgirl or two.

As The Japan Times reports:

Surreptitious filming or taking of pictures up the skirts of high school females has long made headlines throughout Japan. A whole subgenre of magazines exists for peeping Toms who earn their living by taking photos on the sly, while the Internet has created unprecedented opportunities for getting photos and video out to the peeping public.

In an attempt to crack down on sleazy photographers, Kyoto Prefecture has revised an ordinance that expands the scope of protection. Ordinances forbidding covert filming do exist for public places such as shopping centers, railway stations, trains and buses, which fall under the definition of public buildings and transport systems.

Now Kyoto is getting serious about the activities of these photographers, after a series of scandals such as when a male teacher at a Kyoto city junior high school was caught taking pictures under girls’ skirts in October 2012. In 2008 prosecutors dealt with 32 incidents of illegal filming but this jumped to 84 in 2013, and this is just the number where there was enough evidence for the police to pass it on to the prosecution.

Apparently, until now, because of the ambiguous definition of “public place”, it wasn’t always possible to charge cheeky photographers for their crimes, which are a fetish called panchira.

Famously, though, the city is a hot place in the summer and there are lots of “tourists” with cameras. All of this makes it a sleazy shutterbug’s paradise.

It has now revised city laws to make it clearer about the definition of “public place” and make it easier to punish suspects.

This means public schools, workplaces, and hospitals are now included in places forbidding such filming or photography. In addition, the revision strengthens the penalty for hidden cameras used at public hot spring bathing areas, changing rooms, and public toilets.

Moreover, in an effort to discourage illicit photographers everywhere, it creates stricter penalties for those who are caught doing all surreptitious filming.

Previously, punishment was up to six months in jail or a ¥500,000 fine. The new penalty is up to one year in prison or a fine of up to ¥1 million.

A year in jail?! Wow. Think twice before you take a snap of that schoolgirl on the Kamogawa river this summer…

Kyoto’s example has also set a precedent. “Twenty-seven prefectures [in Japan] are now considering similar revisions,” says a lawyer.