On August 4, the Working Group on “Business and Human Rights,” one of the subsidiary bodies of the UN Human Rights Council, held a press conference at the Japan National Press Club after completing its two-week study visit to Japan. The working group (WG) delegation visited Tokyo, Aichi, Osaka, Hokkaido, and Fukushima, and met with businesses, local governments, municipal officials, and many other stakeholders to examine the general situations of human rights in Japan focusing on three aspects: State duty to protect human rights; Corporate responsibility to respect human rights; and Access to remedy. The WG will continue to collect further information and submit a final report to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2024. The press conference was supposed to be a presentation of a mid-term review.

The press conference contained a number of concrete recommendations written clearly and accurately covering a wide range of issues, including the persistent gender wage gap; women's late advancement in society; the low employment rate for persons with disabilities; discrimination against people from Buraku (the word is derived from Japanese old caste system) communities, Indigenous Peoples and ethnic minorities; habitual overworking as symbolized by worked to death; problems with Technical Intern Training Program that implicitly facilitated unfair employment practices; inadequate rights protection of LGBTQ persons; retaliation for internal whistleblowing disclosures; sexual exploitation by a well-known entertainment agency and the lack of responsibility of media companies that have overlooked the scandals for decades; and the health hazards and the multiple subcontracting structure problems in relation to the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. In fact, the conference revealed the current reality of the human rights challenges seen in the Japanese society as well as industry from multifaceted assessment points.

In October 2020, the Japanese Government formulated the "National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights," and in September 2022, the government released “Guidelines on Respecting Human Rights in Responsible Supply Chains.” However, at present, these government policies remain only "guidelines" and as always, there is a need to impose legally binding obligations. Besides, concerns were expressed that discrepancies in awareness exist between large businesses and smaller businesses, and metropolitan areas and local areas. Similarly, a low level of awareness about broader human rights issues was found among judges, lawyers, and other "relievers" of human rights problems. The government needs to make continuous efforts to ensure the protection and respect of human rights, while establishing independent institutions dedicated to human rights issues, promoting mandatory human rights due diligence; and developing enlightenment activities for all sectors of society.

Despite the short period and limited scope of the WG investigations, the interviews with diverse stakeholders mirror the negative nature of the Japanese society that lies hidden behind habitual "discrimination and inequality": The outdated logic that frames old-fashioned organizations, uncritical acceptance of unreasonable practices, the disguise of inconvenient facts, elimination of dissent and minorities, and absence of a responsible entity... Indeed, the interviews have exposed an aspect of the structural problems that have cultivated the governance failures such as the recently disclosed insurance fraud by Bigmotor Co., Ltd. and the series of scandals in Nihon University. It is widely agreed that ESG (Environmental, social, and governance) initiatives are now essential factors for corporate evaluation.

Awareness of the E (Environment) factor is increasing, and efforts to cope with environmental issues are rather easy to put into tangible forms. The key is the management of the S (Social) and G (Governance) factors. The awareness raising and action are being questioned at a national level as well as a corporate level, and above all, it is each one of us as an individual who should take the initiative in human rights enlightenment.

This Week’s Focus, August 25

Takashi Mizukoshi, the President