In 2019, a young Chinese woman nicknamed All, who creates erotic content on social media, was studying in Japan and decided to attend Comiket 96, one of the most important manga and anime conventions, which that year drew around 730,000 people.
The young woman went there to show off her cosplay and pose for the cameras. But what began as a photo session ended up making her cry.
The men began to surround her, until one photographer crouched in front of her to take a photo from a specific angle. Then another, another, and another. Within minutes, a line of men began moving increasingly closer: they wanted to take photographs from under her skirt.
All tried to set a boundary. She said several times: “You’re too close, please move away”. Nobody moved.
The situation reached the point where staff members had to push their way through the photographers to get her out of the area. Even while the staff intervened, one of the men continued crouching and attempting to photograph from below.
All ended up crying. She later wrote on Twitter that she would start taking boxing lessons and, if something similar ever happened again, would kick anyone who tried to photograph her that way.
これは私です，何度も言った「近すぎる，離れてください」，でも誰も聞いてくれなかった..スタッフに感謝する，もし今度またこのような事が発生するならば、私はカメラマンのカメラを蹴って…(ボクシングを習っている) https://t.co/L6uFwAG4ZE
— ALL✨コスホリ27日F05 (@All1108allAll) August 12, 2019
But All’s case once again brought to the forefront a problem Japan has known for decades.
There is even a word associated with the type of photographs taken clandestinely: tōsatsu (盗撮). The term is used for images obtained without consent, including those taken under a person’s clothing.
These photos became more common in the 2000s with the creation of portable cameras. The problem became so well known that most phones sold in Japan today do not allow the camera shutter sound to be muted, so that people know when someone is taking a photograph and covert shots are more difficult.
Cosplay conventions also present a particularly complex situation: photographing a cosplayer who is posing voluntarily does not mean you have permission to photograph any part of her body without her consent, let alone from any angle.
Japan has toughened its response over the years to non-consensual sexual photography and other forms of voyeurism, while events and public spaces have implemented measures to protect potential victims, but much work remains to be done to ensure that situations like this do not happen again.