:Little-known porn "white post" boxes fading into Japan's lurid past

by Kai Nishino
February 3, 2025

In Japan, there is a little-known network of "white post" pornography drop boxes that were installed on streets decades ago to protect young people from exposure to explicit material not intended for their unsuspecting eyes.

Primarily located outside train stations across the country, users deposited "obscene books," DVDs, and other items considered harmful to youth. But as people turn to the internet rather than physical media for their carnal needs, the white boxes are quickly becoming obsolete.

Although some municipalities still have them in use, one expert points out that "even if society is ostensibly 'clean' on the surface, people are still being exposed to obscene content via their smartphones."

Last October, a city-commissioned worker unlocked a white box in Nakagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, in southwestern Japan, and removed one book and a DVD. In all on the day, he collected 16 books and 81 DVDs from eight white post boxes in the area.


Photo taken on Oct. 31, 2024, shows workers collecting items from a "white post" pornography drop box in Nakagawa, Fukuoka, southwestern Japan. (Kyodo)
The man, Kazuhide Inoue, 73, who has performed this task for the past 12 years, still feels the need to keep the boxes in his community.

"Before the white boxes were installed, this stuff was littered on the streets," Inoue said. "Although the number of boxes has fallen, they still play a significant role."

A 71-year-old cab driver, who often picks up customers in and around the city, said, "At night, when the streets are less crowded, men of all ages, from young to old, come to get rid of their stuff."

In the city of Fukui, central Japan, two more of the collection boxes were installed in 2018, indicating they are still considered necessary in some places.

Yuko Obi, an associate professor of sociology at Tokyo Keizai University who is familiar with the history of the white boxes, said the first units were installed in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, in 1963 to collect "obscene books" that were harmful to the sound development of young people. Since then, they have spread nationwide.

As physical media progressed to video in the 1980s and then onto DVDs, those items began being deposited. Tokyo, however, began removing the boxes around this period. With the spread of the internet, the number of magazines sold has declined.


Photo taken on July 12, 2024, shows a "white post" pornography drop box closed on a trial basis in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan. (Kyodo)
"Nationwide there has been a rapid removal of the units over the past decade or so," Obi said, pointing to the drop in the number of items collected and maintenance costs for upkeep of the aging boxes as major factors.

Last year, Nagasaki closed a series of white post boxes on a trial basis. The city says the annual number of collected items has dropped from about 5,000 to 6,000 in the 2010s to around 2,000 today.

Kuniharu Kawaguchi, director of the city's children's consultation center, said that at this point he does not see any impact from the closures but feels the need to pursue measures that fit in with the times.

"We will continue to search for better methods for the healthy upbringing of young people in the midst of digitalization," he said.

Obi speculates that local authorities gauge the value of the white boxes differently given the priority being put on online pornography.

"Although some areas have decided to remove the white post boxes after determining that they have fulfilled a certain purpose, they may be left in areas that emphasize the philosophy of 'banishing obscene books' and feel that they are effective."

The main battleground for the "toxic environment" cleanup has shifted to the internet.

According to the National Police Agency's statistics for 2023, the number of victims of child pornography was 1,444. Of these, uploads of nude selfies accounted for more than 30 percent.

"It is necessary not only to regulate and eliminate harmful information, but also to support children who have been victimized online and establish an improved system of sex education."

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