Death penalty

On 26 September, in a retrial, the Shizuoka District Court acquitted Iwao Hakamada, who was sentenced to death for murder in 1968. The presiding judge found that the investigating authorities had fabricated evidence in his original trial. Prior to his interim release in 2014, the 88-year-old had spent over 45 years on death row, much of it in solitary confinement. The acquittal of Iwao Hakamada reinforced calls for the abolition of the death penalty.¹

LGBTI people’s rights

In March, in the first-ever high court decision on same-sex marriage, the Sapporo High Court ruled that provisions under the Civil Code and the Family Register Act that do not recognize same-sex marriage were unconstitutional.² In October, the Tokyo High Court ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional because it violated Articles 14(1) and 24(2) of the constitution relating to discrimination and the right to choose one’s spouse.³

In July, the Hiroshima High Court granted permission to a plaintiff to legally change her gender without undergoing surgery. This followed a Supreme Court ruling in 2023 that a law requiring transgender people to undergo sterilization as a requirement for changing their gender in the family registry was unconstitutional.

Rights of people with disabilities

In July, the Supreme Court ruled that the former Eugenics Protection Law, which provided for forced sterilization of persons with disabilities or chronic illness, was unconstitutional. The ruling said that damages should be awarded to victims of forced sterilization. The government subsequently issued an apology and agreed to provide compensation of up to JPY 15 million (USD 101,311) for victims and their spouses. The government also committed to compensate other victims who had yet to come forward, many of whom were older people.

The government acknowledged that 16,500 people were forcibly sterilized under the law before it was abolished in 1996.

Right to a healthy environment

Government-supported overseas liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects were estimated to be responsible for a quarter of the world’s shipments of LNG, resulting in huge profits for Japan but undermining global efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation, which is wholly owned by the Government of Japan, initiated an internal investigation in February into whether it had violated its own environmental guidelines relating to the funding of LNG projects in the Philippines. In April, demonstrations took place in at least seven countries, and 95 international NGOs signed a petition calling for an end to Japan’s financial support for overseas fossil fuel projects and resulting harms to the environment and affected communities.

The Climate Action Tracker rated Japan’s finance contributions to tackling climate change as “highly insufficient” due to the low amount of contributions compared to Japan’s fair share.

Corporate accountability

In March, new allegations emerged of sexual abuse by employees of the talent agency Johnny and Associates Entertainment. In 2023, the company apologized for sexual exploitation and abuse of young talents by its deceased founder and set up a compensation scheme. In May, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights published a final report on its visit to Japan in 2023 which, while welcoming the company’s actions, said that they were inadequate to meet victims’ needs, including to mental healthcare. As of December, of the 1,011 victims that had applied only 538 had reached compensation settlements.

Refugees’ and migrants’ rights

Draconian immigration laws allowing for the indefinite and arbitrary detention of asylum seekers and other migrants remained in place. The family of Wishma Sandamali, a Sri Lankan national who died in a Nagoya immigration detention centre in 2021, continued to seek information about, and remedy for, her death. A civil case brought by her family in 2022, claiming JPY 156 million (USD 1.04 million) in damages from the government on the grounds that she was denied medical care in detention, remained unresolved at year’s end.⁴

1. “Japan: Acquittal of man who spent 45 years on death row pivotal moment for justice”, 26 September ↩︎
2. “Japan: Groundbreaking same-sex marriage rulings a long-awaited victory for LGBTI rights”, 14 March ↩︎
3. “Japan: Momentum for marriage equality grows with Tokyo High Court ruling”, 30 October ↩︎
4. “Japan must reform its refugee and immigration system to avoid further tragedies”, 6 March ↩︎