Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa announces in Tokyo, on Sept. 14, 2021, that she will consult with the Legislative Council on revising the legal penalty for the crime of insult. (Mainichi/Masakatsu Yamamoto)

       TOKYO -- As part of stronger potential measures against online defamation, Japan's Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa announced Sept. 14 she will consult with an advisory body over whether to amend the Penal Code to make punishment for the crime of insult more severe.

       The penalty for insult is stipulated as "detention (for less than 30 days), or a fine (of less than 10,000 yen (about $90))," which is the lightest penalty in the Penal Code, but the amendment will introduce a new penalty of imprisonment with or without labor.

       The crime of insult is applied when a person insults someone in a manner knowable to an unspecified number of people. According to the Ministry of Justice, it will consult on a proposal to add "imprisonment with or without work for up to one year" and "a fine up to 300,000 yen (about $2,726)" to the crime of insult at a general meeting of the Legislative Council on Sept. 16. If the statutory penalties are raised, the statute of limitations will be extended from one year to three years.

       As for the issue of online defamation, Hana Kimura, then 22, a professional wrestler who appeared on the popular Fuji Television Network Inc. reality show "Terrace House," died suddenly in May 2020 after being defamed in posts on social networking services, drawing public attention.

       The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department referred two people who had defamed Kimura to prosecutors on charges of insult, and the Tokyo Summary Court issued summary orders in March and April 2021, but the penalty was only 9,000 yen (approx. $81). There were some opinions that "the penalty was too light and should be raised to match the times."

       In addition to the crime of insult, there is also the crime of defamation under the Penal Code to protect people's honor. The statutory penalty is "imprisonment with or without work up to three years, or a fine of up to 500,000 yen," which is heavier than the penalty for insult.

       However, in contrast to insult, which has a wide range of applications, defamation is a crime of damaging a person's reputation by showing specific facts that lower their social reputation, but when the facts shown are proven to be true, the charge may not be applied.

       The posts against Kimura were abstract abusive remarks such as "She has a bad personality, does she have the right to live?" or "When will you die?" It is believed that it would have been difficult to apply defamation charges to these posts.

       For these reasons, the Ministry of Justice has been considering a review of crimes against honor. While stating that the statutory penalty for defamation is "reasonably heavy," the ministry has decided that there is too much of a difference between the penalties for defamation and those for insult.

       In light of the growing awareness that online libel and slander should be dealt with strictly, as it can sometimes lead to serious damage, including death, the ministry decided that the penalty for insult should be as heavy as that for defamation.

       (Japanese original by Masakatsu Yamamoto, Tokyo City News Department)

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