Did an ex-AKB48 member go to far?

A week ago Shukan Young Magazine was forced to delay publication of the newest issue because of a little uh-oh picture in it - ex-AKB48 member Tomomi Kasai (河西 智美) shown topless with a young blonde kid cupping her boobs from behind.

As the Japan Daily Press reports, several sports mags that ran the photo of the kid holding her boobs got complaints from readers, and in response Kodansha posted an apology on their site (here in Japanese), for the issue's "inappropriate expression" and stopped the issue from going to presses. It looks like the issue and Tomomi's photo album it was advertising will eventually be released once they get them edited a bit.

IMO Kodansha did the right thing in pulling the photo, but did this photo step over the line? Possibly.

According to Japan Today, former prosecutor and "internet crime expert" (whatever the hell that means) Yochi Ochiai claimed on his blog that the photo could be considered child pornography if investigators decide to prosecute...

Does the picture feel inappropriate and a bit icky? Yes. But then so do all the pictures you see of naked babies with angel wings and shit like that. Does it feel like kiddie porn, tho? I don't think it goes quite that far. I do think the people who decided the photo shoot was a good idea should have their heads examined, tho.

You see a lot of mild exploitation of young white models in Japan. There's a pachinko parlor near my apartment that has wall-sized pictures of blonde-haired blue-eyed girls smiling at the would be pachinko players that has always creeped the hell out of me.

You also see a lot of exploitation of Japanese girls, be they wearing skimpy outfits on stage doing an idol dance number, or (way worse IMO) they're wearing bikinis and posing in front of a camera.

Of course, all of this is not nearly as bad as the real nasty shit, but it's a slippery slope, and there are real girls and boys involved and in many cases whether you think they are being abused or hurt in any way or not, you have to agree that they are being exploited.