Hiroshima, Kumamoto cops bust uncensored porn rings, arrest 16

TOKYO (TR) – Officers from the Kumamoto and Hiroshima prefectural police announced on Friday the bust of two uncensored porn DVD operations, local media reported.

In Kumamoto, officers entered a cabin in a mountain area of the prefecture and raided a factory that produced uncensored pornographic DVDs, seizing 600 discs and 104 storage drives, each capable of storing 600 titles, according to TV Asahi (July 19).

By law, films available in Japan are required to have genitalia properly censored.

Eight suspects were taken into custody, including Nobuhiko Nakashima (38) and his father Yutaka (62).

The operation sold the discs through five Internet sites, which also solicited contributions from customers. Over the last two years, the suspects generated 380 million yen in sales.

According to police, the DVDs ordered by customers were first delivered to Haneda Airport. Three suspects then used the postal system to distribute the discs nationwide to give an appearance that the place of manufacture was Tokyo. In April, a Tokyo man purchased 30 DVDs for 9,000 yen.

In Hiroshima, eight more suspects were arrested for running a similar operation in Fukuyama City, reports the Sankei Shimbun (July 19).

Officers seized 400,000 DVDs, the largest bust of its kind ever recorded in Japan.