Man Allegedly Used False Contracts to Recruit Women for Adult Videos—Why the Faked Dates Matter

He repeatedly used false contracts

Shortly after 8 a.m. on May 14, at the Metropolitan Police Department’s Takinogawa Police Station, Koichi Shibata (52), an unemployed resident of Moriya City, Ibaraki Prefecture, appeared for transfer to prosecutors. Wearing red-framed glasses, he walked with his head lowered throughout.

The AV Appearance Damage Prevention and Relief Act (commonly known as the AV New Law) was enacted and came into force in June 2022 and is now approaching its fourth year. Shibata was arrested on suspicion of violating this law.

“In 2024, Shibata entered into AV appearance contracts with a woman in her 30s on two occasions. At the time, he allegedly entered false preparation and contract dates on the agreements. He is also suspected of failing to adequately explain the appearance contracts to her. During questioning, he admitted the allegations, saying, ‘I falsified the dates so that the videos could be released immediately after filming.’

Shibata has also stated that since around 2023, I repeated false contracts about 70 times, and police are reportedly investigating the involvement of a woman in her 20s who accompanied him during filming,” said a reporter from a national newspaper’s social affairs department.

The woman was reportedly recruited through social media to appear in AV productions.

Although she had requested that her identity not be revealed during filming, the videos were allegedly distributed online in a manner that allowed her to be identified.

Another arrest under the same law was made on the 13th by the Sendai Higashi Police Station of the Miyagi Prefectural Police. An unemployed 58-year-old man was arrested for allegedly failing to provide contracts and explanatory documents in advance to three women—who were all teenagers at the time—who appeared in AV productions between 2024 and 2026.

This man had also recruited women through social media. The AV videos he produced were sold online and reportedly generated at least 40 million yen in revenue.

Under the AV New Law, a regulation commonly known as the “1-4 Rule” was introduced.

The reason Shibata allegedly falsified dates so that videos could be released immediately after filming was likely to circumvent this rule.

“The ‘1-4 Rule’ requires a one-month waiting period between signing a contract and filming, and an additional four-month waiting period between filming and the public release of the work.

If a performer signs a contract but later changes their mind and thinks, ‘I don’t want to appear after all,’ or ‘I don’t want this released,’ they can cancel their appearance or stop the work from being sold.

Furthermore, for one year from the date the work is released, performers may terminate the contract unconditionally and have the publication of the work suspended.

Under the AV New Law, producers are required to explain these contract terms to performers and provide them with a written contract at the time of signing,” explained a person involved in the AV industry.

Decided without listening to people in the industry

Since the AV New Law was created to prevent harm to performers, its rules may seem reasonable when viewed from the perspective of someone appearing in an AV production for the first time. However, many within the industry argue that it is out of touch with reality and that it is based on the assumption that AV equals wrongdoing.

“Having to wait five months from signing a contract to releasing a product means there is no revenue during that period. For small production companies and agencies, cash flow has become extremely difficult. There are also losses caused by canceled shoots and halted releases.

In particular, if a performer cancels on the day of filming, the 1-4 Rule makes it impossible to quickly find a replacement, so the entire shoot often has to be canceled. As the risks borne by production companies have increased, the number of works being produced has declined.

Furthermore, the law requires procedures and legal explanations for every single production. Simply explaining the contract terms face-to-face to each performer takes an enormous amount of time and effort. Such explanations may be necessary for newcomers who are unfamiliar with the industry, but even veteran actresses who have appeared dozens of times must receive the same explanation repeatedly.

The effort required for this process has become four to five times greater than before,” the same source said.

Many people argue that the AV New Law does not reflect the realities of the industry, and part of the reason lies in how the law was enacted.

After a project team was established in the Diet in April 2022, the law was passed and came into force on June 23 of the same year—an unusually rapid process that took less than three months.

Another point of criticism is that no hearings were conducted with performers, production companies, or other industry stakeholders during the drafting process.

“Even so, conscientious production companies are making efforts to comply with the law by providing contracts and explaining their contents.

However, the current regulations are simply too strict and unrealistic. There are many sincere calls for a review that would ease regulations such as the 1-4 Rule, for the sake of the industry’s survival,” the source continued.

That said, the issue in this particular case is not merely the alleged falsification of dates.

Although the woman reportedly requested anonymity, the videos were allegedly distributed in a manner that allowed her to be identified, raising concerns about a lack of awareness regarding performer protection.

Many people in the industry describe the law as an attempt to destroy the industry, but even under these strict regulations, there are numerous producers who are making genuine efforts to comply with the law.

Punishing producers who violate the law while taking advantage of loopholes is certainly necessary.

However, given that the law explicitly states it should be reviewed within two years of implementation, yet there are still no signs of such a review taking place, perhaps it is time to once again reexamine the AV New Law itself.

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