Upskirting crimes have long plagued Japan. Now children are becoming offenders

In this Wednesday, May 14, 2014, photo, buildings along the Sumida River are seen through a Japanese national flag fluttering on a sightseeing boat in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Warning: This story contains disturbing details

Ayaka was six years old when she was first upskirted.

Her swimming teacher, a man who targeted children for over a decade, took illicit photos and videos of her genitals. He’d then share the images on a Telegram group with other pedophiles, who were so grateful for the content that they called him “god.”

Ayaka’s father Suzuki – both names have been changed for privacy – only learned his daughter had been targeted when the police called two years ago. Her face and name appeared in some of the images, making her easily identifiable.

“My wife and I encouraged her to join that swimming school. We thought it would be a fun experience for her,” he told CNN.

“I feel ashamed that I put my daughter in that situation. I feel angry toward the man who committed the crime. I can never forgive him.”

Ayaka is far from alone. She’s one of countless victims of upskirting and voyeuristic photography in Japan, a crime that’s long plagued the country.

Warning posters frequently line train stations and public buildings in Japan. All smartphones sold in the country are required to emit a shutter sound when taking photos and videos, an industry measure designed to deter covert photography. In 2023, Japan also introduced a nationwide law against “photo voyeurism” as part of a broader overhaul of its sex crime legislation. Before then, such cases were prosecuted under a patchwork of local ordinances that varied across the country.

Despite years of efforts to curb the crime, it remains one of Japan’s most common sex offences. Police made 9,237 arrests for voyeurism offences nationwide in 2025, the highest number on record. Authorities attribute part of the increase to the new law, which expanded the scope of offences. The ubiquity of smartphones has also made the crime easier than ever to carry out and repeat.

But what’s changing is who’s committing it.

Junior voyeurs

While perpetrators have traditionally been adults, a growing number are children themselves. Police data shows reported voyeurism cases involving minors surged nearly sixfold in 2024 compared to the previous year – and rose again in 2025.

“I was shocked to learn this was happening in schools,” cybersecurity expert and child rights activist Sumire Nagamori told CNN. “The perpetrator can be a classmate, and the images can end up online.”

In chatrooms seen by CNN on social media platforms Telegram and Discord, users post “teasers” of child sexual abuse materials. One video advertises access to a longer clip of a boy toddler being abused for less than three dollars. Some of the users say they are willing to take photos of their classmates or siblings, purporting that they are in middle or junior high school.

CNN reached out to Discord and Telegram for a statement on our findings.

Telegram said its moderation systems remove millions of pieces of harmful content each month, including non-consensual pornography. It also highlighted its “significant efforts” against child sexual abuse material, removing more than 260,000 related groups and channels in 2026 alone.

Discord did not respond.

Nagamori says several factors are driving this troubling trend. Smartphones have given young people constant access to cameras and online content, making it easier for copycat behavior to spread.

“Young children are gaining access to digital devices before they are taught ethics or digital literacy,” she said. “Before they can distinguish right from wrong, they already have tools that can be used to harm others.”

At Daisuke Nakamura’s clinic, where the court-appointed psychotherapist treats people convicted of voyeurism offences, a growing number of patients are minors.

“When I opened this clinic 15 years ago, most of my clients were middle-aged men,” he told CNN. “Now, I see more junior high school, high school and university students.”

Some are even younger.

“My youngest clients are 13 or 14 years old, and occasionally elementary school students come in,” he said.

This trend comes as experts warn that Japan’s legal framework has struggled to keep pace with the realities of digital sexual abuse.

‘I was unable to stop myself’

Under current law, child sexual abuse material is generally prosecuted under Japan’s Child Pornography Law. But critics say gaps remain—the law only applies when a child’s genitalia is visible, meaning some forms of sexual abuse content can fall outside its scope. Experts told CNN these loopholes can result in significantly lighter penalties for offenders.

Japan is also rolling out a new sex offender registry that allows employers in child-facing professions, such as schools, to check whether prospective employees have been convicted of child sexual abuse offenses. But unlike the United States, the public can’t access this database.

To better understand what drives a young person to commit these crimes, CNN spent months searching for prior offenders willing to speak about their experience. Kimura, now 19, is one who agreed to speak. He’s also asked to use a pseudonym.

Kimura says his fascination with upskirting began at the age of 15, with pornography depicting staged scenarios. After months of watching it, he wanted to try it himself.

At 17, he says he targeted his first victim: a girl riding an escalator at a train platform.

“After doing it without getting caught, and feeling that rush of excitement afterwards, I wanted to feel that again,” he told CNN.

Over the following year, he targeted around 30 more victims. He said he only stopped when the police found him trespassing onto private property while trying to steal someone’s underwear from a clothesline.

“If I hadn’t got caught at the time, I might’ve raped someone within a year or two,” he admitted.

Kimura has since undergone mandatory crime prevention programs and re-education, saying he deeply regrets what he’s done.

“I feel really sorry… I’m able to live a normal life now, but I feel like I have to make sure I never forget what I did,” he said.

Ayaka’s swimming instructor was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of secretly photographing multiple child victims. With half of that sentence already served, Suzuki fears the day he’s released.

“People say Japan is very safe, but now I wonder how many of these crimes are happening in places we don’t see,” he said.

For perpetrators, upskirting is a crime committed in seconds, often unnoticed. But for the countless victims it violates, it leaves a permanent digital scar—one Suzuki fears will haunt Ayaka for years.

“While perpetrators can atone for their crimes, my daughter will have to live with these videos for the rest of her life,” he said.

“I believe that children are a treasure not only for this country but for everyone. So I see it as our job to figure out how to protect them,” he said.

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If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:

• Call 911 if you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety.
• The Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres' website has a comprehensive list of sexual assault centres in Canada that offer information, advocacy and counselling.
• The Ending Violence Association of Canada‘s website has links to helplines, support services and locations across Canada that offer sexual assault kits.
• Indian Residential School Survivors Society crisis lines: [phone] or [phone] (24/7)
• Toronto Rape Crisis Centre crisis line: [phone] (24/7)
• Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline: [phone] (24/7)
• Trans Lifeline: [phone]
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 988 (24/7)
• Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre for current and former Canadian Armed Forces members: [phone]
• Read about your rights as a victim on the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime website.