The Justice Ministry plans to crack down on human trafficking, particularly involving foreign women forced into prostitution, when it submits a number of bills next year to revise the Penal Code, ministry officials said Monday.
The ministry took the decision after a research group of the Legislative Council, which advises Justice Minister Chieko Noono, approved on Monday the minister's proposal for legislative changes, the officials said.
The ministry looks to receive official recommendations from the Legislative Council in February and submit the bills during the 150-day Diet session convening in January, they said.
Under a draft bill recommended by the panel, a person who buys another person would face three months to five years in prison. If the victim is a minor, the sentence could extend to seven years.
If the transaction is for business purposes or for sex, the buyer could face a prison term of one to 10 years.
The seller, meanwhile, would face a sentence of one to 10 years if the aim of the sale is profit, the officials said.
The panel recommended amending clauses in the Penal Code relating to abductions, with a view to punishing people seeking to harvest human organs for sale, the officials said.
It calls for extending the maximum prison term for abduction from five years to seven.
Earlier this month, the government formally decided on an action plan to combat human trafficking of women into Japan, with stricter regulations on the entry of foreigners with entertainment visas, most of whom come from the Philippines.
Japan has been under international pressure to combat human trafficking. A U.S. State Department report in June downgraded its assessment of Japan's efforts to fight human trafficking.