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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Justin McCurry in Tokyo

Centrefolded: Japan’s ‘porn disposal’ boxes phased out amid rise of the internet

A triangular-shaped shiroposuto ‘post box’ to drop off pornographic material in Komae, Tokyo, that has since been removed amid the rise of internet porn.
A triangular-shaped shiroposuto ‘post box’ to drop off pornographic material in Komae, Tokyo, that has since been removed amid the rise of internet porn. Photograph: Yuko Obi

For more than a decade Kazuhide Inoue has played an understated part in protecting the morals of adolescents in Fukuoka. Several times a year, the 73-year-old visits eight white “post boxes” installed in the city in western Japan, turns a key and empties their contents. On a recent visit, his haul totalled 16 books and 81 DVDs in a single day.

But the boxes are not drop-off points for rental shop customers: they are for the exclusive use of people – almost always men – who want to discreetly dispose of unwanted pornographic material that, if kept at home, could fall into the hands of unsuspecting children.

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