Authors on Asia: David Leheny: Think Global, Fear Local March 13, 2008

In 1999, in response to international concern over sexual tourism to Southeast Asia, the Japanese Diet outlawed child prostitution and child pornography. These laws then became directed primarily at enjo kosai, or compensated dating between middle aged men and junior high school girls. In the wake of 9/11, the Japanese cabinet radically shifted counterterrorism policy towards more military solutions. 'Think Global, Fear Local: Sex, Violence, and Anxiety in Contemporary Japan,' a new book by David Leheny, considers the relationship between these policies and examines the unintended consequences of attempts to enforce international norms at a national level.