JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Koichi Saito, Wataru Shimizu, Suguru Yokoi, Ai Tanaka and Mai Kurano, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
Anderson Mori & Tomotsune Otemachi Park Building 1-1-1 Otemachi Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-8136 Japan
Tel: +81 3 6775 1226 Fax: +81 3 6775 1353 Email: suguru.yokoi@amt-law.com Web: www.amt-law.com/en/
1. Introduction 1.1 Business and Human Rights: A Summary There is no legal framework relating to business and human rights ( “BHR” ) that legally requires private sectors to conduct human rights due dili - gence ( “DD” ), but there is a soft law framework, such as the government guidelines, for human rights DDs. As described below in 2.2.4 Transparency and Reporting Requirements , the amendment of relevant regulations in January 2023 made it mandatory for listed companies to disclose sustainability-related information in their annual securities report. Other human rights issues, such as child labour, forced labour, and unjustified discrimination, are prohibited and regulated under the existing legal framework, such as labour laws and regulations. However, these existing laws and regulations were not established or amended from the per - spective of BHR. Generally, in Japan, various human rights issues arise in the workplace, such as karoshi (death
from overwork), karojisatsu (suicide by over - work), harassment and discrimination, and poor treatment of non-regular employees, although these issues are to some extent regulated by the existing labour laws. These issues have not been recognised in the context of BHR. Also, discrimination against women, minorities, and socially vulnerable people also persists, espe - cially in the workplace. As a trend relating to BHR in Japan, people pay increasing attention to human rights violations in the form of harassment. In recent years, sexual abuse in the media industry has been attracting attention, and in 2025, concerning a television company that failed to take appropriate action when a celebrity sexually abused an employee, various companies have stepped down from sponsorship. As described below in 2.2.1 National Action Plan , in October 2020, the government launched Japan’s National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights (2020-2025). The government annually reports on the status of the implemen - tation of the NAP, and the NAP is scheduled to be revised in 2025.
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