Category : Life in Japan | Sub Category : Journeying through Japanese Living: Posted on 2023-12-13 15:58:32
Japan
is a liberal democracy with an active civil society
Japan is a liberal
democracy with an active civil society. In July, two days before an upper house
election, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed during a
campaign rally in Nara Prefecture. The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, was
reportedly motivated by his family’s financial difficulties caused by the
Unification Church, as well as problematic ties between Abe and the religious
group. On July 10, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won a majority of
seats in Japan’s upper house election.
Japan has no laws
prohibiting racial, ethnic, or religious discrimination, or discrimination
based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Japan does not have a national
human rights institution.
Refugees
Japan’s asylum and
refugee determination system remains strongly oriented against granting refugee
status. In 2021, the Justice Ministry received 2,413 applications for refugee
status, but recognized only 74 people as refugees, and categorized 580 people,
498 from Myanmar, as needing humanitarian assistance, allowing them to stay in
Japan. Applications for refugee status in 2021 decreased by 88 percent from
2017, when nearly 20,000 applications were filed.
Unusually, since
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Japan had accepted 2,035 people from Ukraine
as “evacuees” as of October 19. In August 2022, the Justice Ministry announced
it also granted refugee status to 133 people fleeing Afghanistan after the
Taliban took power in August 2021.
Death Penalty
In December 2021, Japan
executed three prisoners on death row. In July, Japan executed another
prisoner, with 106 prisoners remaining on death row as of July 26. Concerns
have long been raised about death-row inmates being notified of their execution
only on the day it takes place and having inadequate access to legal counsel,
among others.
Women’s Rights
The revised article 731
of the Civil Code went into effect in April, raising the minimum age that girls
can get married from 16 to 18 with parental permission, effectively ending
child marriage.
In a series of court
rulings from early to late 2022, the Tokyo District Court ordered universities
to compensate people who had sued the school for damages caused by
discriminatory admission policies. The lawsuits began after several medical
schools were found to be discriminating against women and repeat applicants in
2018. Japan has an Equal Employment Opportunity Law between men and women, but
it only applies to the area of employment.
Children’s Rights
In June, Japan passed
the Child Basic Act, the country’s first national law for the rights of the
child, based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In June, Japan
revised the Child Welfare Act. The revisions included a measure to address
financial incentives for institutionalization of children without parental
care, and introduction of mandatory judicial review for determining whether a
child should be removed from their family, for which the United Nations
Committee on the Rights of the Child has urged Japan at the latest country
reports review.
The Education Ministry
failed to act following reports that the online learning products it had
authorized for children’s education during the Covid-19 pandemic infringed on
children’s rights. Nine out of the 10 products reviewed by Human Rights Watch surveilled
or had the capacity to surveil children online. Seven of these products
transmitted children’s personal data to advertising technology companies,
enabling these companies to track and target children across the internet.
Sexual Orientation and
Gender Identity
Despite a significant
public campaign, the Diet did not pass non-discrimination legislation that
would protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Japan’s
national government does not recognize same-sex relationships, but municipal
and prefecture-level authorities representing more than 60% of the country’s
population including Tokyo have begun to issue “marriage” certificates, which
have no legal effect, to same-sex couples. The government still requires
sterilization surgeries before transgender people can be legally recognized
according to their gender identity. In November 2021, the Supreme Court ruled
for the first time that a prohibition to have any underage children, (a
discriminatory requirement in the “Gender Identity Disorder Special Cases Act”
for a transgender person to be legally recognized), is constitutional.
Criminal Justice
Japan’s “hostage”
justice system holds criminal suspects for long periods in harsh conditions to
coerce confessions. In May 2022, the Justice Ministry started to review the
implementation of the 2016 Criminal Procedure Code revisions, which introduced
mandatory video and audio recording of interrogations in some criminal cases.
In June, Japan amended
its penal code, replacing “imprisonment with labor” and “imprisonment” with
“imprisonment … which allows the enforcement of necessary work and guidance.”
Additionally, Japan lacks alternative measures to imprisonment even for people
who committed non-violent crimes and use drugs, have mental health conditions,
are pregnant, or have children.
Climate Change and
Policy Impacts
Japan is among the top
10 emitters of greenhouse gases responsible for the climate crisis. In October
2021, Japan updated its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris
Agreement, aiming to cut emissions to net zero by 2050 and reducing its greenhouse
gas emissions by 46 percent by 2030, earning it an “almost sufficient” rating
for its “Domestic Target” from the Climate Action Tracker.
In October 2021, Japan
adopted a new Basic Energy Plan that stated Japan would aim to reduce coal to
19 percent of energy use by 2030, just a 13 percent reduction from current
levels, and increase renewable energy to between 36 and 38 percent. In May,
Japan joined fellow members of the G7 in committing to end international
financing in fossil fuels by the end of 2022, although the commitment included
a significant loophole that allows for investments in the gas sector.
On July 28, Japan voted
in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution recognizing a clean,
healthy, and sustainable environment as a human right. Japan abstained in
October 2021 when the resolution was passed at the UN Human Rights Council.
In the summer, Japan
experienced its most severe heat wave on record, and Tokyo broke a record for
the number of days of severe heat in a year by mid-summer.
Business and Human
Rights
In September, Japan’s
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released “Guidelines on Respect for
Human Rights in Responsible Supply Chains,” the first set of guidelines in
Japan outlining human rights due diligence responsibilities for Japanese
companies. While this could be a much-needed tool, these non-binding guidelines
should be significantly strengthened and do not substitute for binding
legislation. Japan should adopt robust legislation to regulate how companies respect
human rights and environmental standards in their own operations and global
value chains.
Foreign Policy
Japan officially states
that “the promotion and protection of all human rights is a legitimate interest
of the international community,” and “grave violations of human rights need to
be addressed in cooperation with the international community.”
In September, Japan
announced it will suspend accepting new officers and cadets from the Myanmar
military for training, citing the Myanmar junta’s execution of four
pro-democracy activists as a major factor in its decision. After the February
1, 2021 military coup, Japan accepted eight military personnel for training.
Prior to Japan’s announcement, research by Human Rights Watch has previously
located Japan-trained officers at Myanmar military bases where units have been
implicated in serious abuses.
In response to the
Chinese government’s abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, Japan refrained from
sending ministers to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Just days before the
opening ceremony, Japanese lawmakers passed a Diet resolution highlighting
human rights issues in Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Hong Kong.
Specifically, the February 1 resolution calls for the “monitoring of serious
human rights situations in cooperation with the international community,” and
“implementation of comprehensive relief measures.”
Japan has not endorsed
the Safe Schools Declaration, an intergovernmental commitment aiming to
strengthen the prevention of, and response to, attacks on students, teachers,
schools, and universities during war.
