April 16, 2025
TOKYO – Victims of childhood sexual violence and lawyers supporting them are calling for the abolition of a time limit on civil lawsuits seeking compensation for harm done in the past.
If victims suffered the harm when they were very young, they often need a long time to recognize that they were sexually assaulted. Also, victims often find it difficult to claim damages due to psychological trauma.
Given these circumstances, the statute of limitations makes it almost impossible for victims to have offenders held legally responsible.
The victims and lawyers began collecting signatures in January to show the support of public opinion, and so far about 60,000 signatures have been collected.
Hard to speak up
“Even if we bravely file lawsuits, we face the barrier of time. If this situation continues, it will be more and more difficult for victims to speak up about their suffering,” said Ikuko Ishida, 47, a photographer in Tokyo.
She claims that she was sexually assaulted by a male teacher when she was a junior high school student.
At that time, she could not comprehend that a schoolteacher would commit an indecent act against a student, and she was only able to become aware of having been sexually abused when she was 37.
In 2016, Ishida developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as an aftereffect. In 2019, she filed a civil lawsuit against the teacher and other involved school officials in the Tokyo District Court, demanding payment of compensation for the incident. At the time she filed the lawsuit, more than 20 years had passed since she suffered the incident.
The trial court turned down her demand on the grounds that the 20-year statute of limitations had expired.
On appeal, the Tokyo High Court recognized the fact that she had suffered the sexual assault, but it also turned down her demand for compensation on the same grounds as the district court.
Ishida said: “In many cases, a long time is needed until the victim in a sex crime becomes able to claim the damage. Under the statute of limitations, it is irrational that the passage of time makes it difficult for victims to even stand in a court trial.”
She added that the time limit “should be abolished or at least extended.”
Civil, criminal rules differ
In 2020, the Cabinet Office conducted a survey of 5,000 men and women in which 142 respondents replied that they had experienced forcible sexual intercourse or similar acts. About 60% of them said they had not told anyone or reported the incidents to the authorities.
Even among those who sought help, about 10% needed more than 10 years to do so.
Based on this reality, a Criminal Code revision in 2023 altered the requirements for recognizing sex crimes, and the periods of the statute of limitations on sex crimes were extended by five years.
The new periods became 15 years for forcible sexual intercourse without consent and 12 years for forcible indecent acts. If the victim was under 18, the statute of limitations does not begin until the victim reaches that age.
In contrast, no such progress has been made in debates on the Civil Code, which sets the period for lawsuits over illegal acts at three years from when the victim knows of the damage.
The Legislative Council, an advisory body to the justice minister, once discussed a plan to extend the Civil Code’s period to 10 years in cases involving death or injury, including sex crimes, but it was decided for the extension to be five years due to concerns about the loss of evidence.
There are no special measures for underage victims. Though many concerned people have continued demanding the Civil Code should be revised again, the moves have yet to lead to practical changes.
Therefore, about 10 victims, lawyers and other volunteers began in spring last year activities to demand review of the statute of limitations on civil lawsuits over sex crimes or sexual assaults involving underage victims.
They include a person who was subjected to sexual assaults by Johnny Kitagawa, founder of the now-defunct entertainment production business Johnny and Associates Inc., who died in 2019. In January this year, they also began collecting signatures for support.
Kazuya Nakamura, 37, a former entertainer who belonged to Johnny and Associates, joined the group. He claims that he was sexually assaulted by Kitagawa when he was 15.
“At that time, I did not have capability to judge how serious it was or the courage to speak up about the incident to others around me. The mindsets of victims change after long time,” he said.
Over 60,000 signatures
Lawyer Yoshihito Kawakami, a coleader of the activities, said that Germany’s civil code stipulates that time limits are suspended until victims turn 21. Measures for dealing with sex crime damage to underage victims have progressed overseas.
“We want to energize discussions on the issue in Japan through our activities,” he said.
The group has already collected more than 60,000 signatures declaring support. The group aims to submit books of the signatures to the House of Representative speaker and the House of Councillors president as early as the end of May so that a special law for the purpose will be made as a lawmaker-sponsored bill.
Prof. Katsumi Matsumoto of Ritsumeikan University, an expert on the Civil Code, said: “It is hard for victims to speak up about sexual assaults in childhood. Making them think, ‘It’s useless to file a lawsuit because of the statute of limitations,’ is no different from causing secondary damage. It is necessary to seriously consider new frameworks such as suspension of time limits.”