NCJ Number
147894
Journal
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 17 Issue: 1/2 Dated: (Spring/Fall 1993) Pages: 211-218
Date Published
1993
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article examines moral entrepreneurs, availability to the mass media, and political maneuvering as elements in the emergence of the Anti-Prostitution Law in Japan.
Abstract
According to historical documents, Christian groups worked as moral crusaders in the purification movement before World War II. But after the war, secular groups, especially female groups, became the main entrepreneurs for the enactment of the Anti-Prostitution Law. In countries where believers in a monotheistic religion are the majority of the population, moral entrepreneurs may play an important role in creating criminal law. On the other hand, Japan does not have many such believers; most Japanese are tolerant of different religions. Therefore, in the emergence of criminal law, moral crusaders who are interested in forcing their own morals on others are rarely seen. In Japan, most drafts of law are made by bureaucrats in the national government in accord with the opinion of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Then laws are submitted to the Diet by the Cabinet. As a result, research on the role of bureaucrats, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and the Cabinet is important in the sociology of criminal law in Japan. Endnotes, references