Involuntary Consent by Akiko Takeyama;

Author:Akiko Takeyama;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 2023-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Once I got to know Sakai better, I revisited his earlier comments and asked him rhetorically, “Isn’t this victim-blaming?”

He laughed my question off as groundless. Reminding me of how women are recruited on the streets, not kidnapped, he alluded to women’s carelessness to be blamed, if anything. “Would you, Ms. Takeyama, stop when a stranger speaks to you on a busy street and tries to sell you something?” He looked into my eyes confidently.

I thought about it and shook my head. “Well, maybe not.”

“See!” He gave me a victorious smile. “That’s the way reasonable people behave. I have a teenage daughter, but I don’t think she would. Those who stop have an issue with their risk management.”

Sakai saw my skeptical face and continued:

When a stranger says to you, “You have the potential to become a celebrity,” 5 percent [of you] may feel flattered and pleased. But 95 percent [of you] would be aware that something is not quite right. Look, there are so many points at which you can notice signs of risk before you sign a contract and perform in AV. What business would you think allows contract workers, who gave consent, to freely walk away by them simply saying, “Whoops, I didn’t mean to participate in the project”? Can you think of any?

I couldn’t think of any off the top of my head. It was also difficult for me to cut in throughout his animated, self-assured speech. Sakai always spoke in such an engaging, smooth manner—asking rhetorical questions, noticing my reactions, and throwing another ball into the conversation, one after another, rhythmically. Much later, Nakano, a talent agent and former actress who appeared in the previous chapter, asked essentially the same question regarding AV exceptionalism that I couldn’t answer either. I now know, however, that sex work is exceptional, not because of its indecency but because of its illegitimacy in Japan; AV performers technically can say no to sexual acts anytime and make AV performance contracts null and void.

Sakai’s speech continued and concluded with him pathologizing street scouts, talent agencies, and AV actresses alike in a gendered way. In his opinion, the AV industry consists of “psychopathic men” and “women with developmental disabilities.”13 He elaborated on what he meant by this:

Scouts and agencies do anything for money without a sense of guilt. . . . Profit making is their sole purpose in life. They wouldn’t notice it unless a girl says to their faces that she was hurt. On the other hand, girls lack the ability to see ahead and manage risks. They can foresee only one or two steps ahead. They understand the very basic thing, such as doing this makes this much money. That’s pretty much it. They cannot think further than that. As a result, when they face trouble that could have been predicted, they blame someone else for deception. Those girls never think things through carefully. They just go with the flow.

His description of male recruiters and agencies echoes what Matsuda described as his own “weakness,” that is, reconciling his moral dilemma with monetary gain.

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