FOCUS

Focus
Asia-PacificNewsletter of the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center (HURIGHTS OSAKA)

September 2019 Vol. 97

Editorial

Contents
Kamagasaki: Renewing an Urban Poor
Community
This presents the history of a community
called Kamagasaki and discusses theparticipation of its poor members (workers
and homeless people) in the city plan forcommunity renewal.
- Jefferson R. Plantilla
Page 2
Remembering the Past: Henomatsu
Community
This discusses the experience of acommunity in ensuring that the memory of
the past conditions of poverty anddiscrimination is not forgotten.
- Jefferson R. Plantilla & Kazuhiro Kawamoto
Page 7Single Female Workers in Osaka City: A
SurveyThis presents the summary of the results ofa survey of single female workers in Osaka
city that show their poor economic
condition.
- Creo Osaka Central
Page 10The 8th Asia Pro Bono ConferenceThis reports the highlights of the 8th Asia
Pro Bono Conference held in Kathmandu
on 13-15 September 2019.
- Jefferson R. Plantilla
Page 11
Emerging Issues of Business and Human
Rights in Asia PacificThis reports the proceedings of a workshop
on business and human rights held in
Kathmandu and attended by participantsfrom different countries in Asia and beyond.
- Ravi Prakash Vyas
Page 12City and the Urban Poor Community
Many cities in Asia and the Pacific have urban poor
communities. Their poverty provides a distinct contrast to thebustling city economy.
There are many reasons why cities have people who suffer frompoverty. People from small towns and rural areas flock to thecities to improve their economic condition but fail to do so.
There are also city dwellers who suffer from social
discrimination.
Despite their poor economic and social conditions, the urban
poor have important role in addressing the causes of theirpoverty.
This is seen in the renewal of urban poor communities. The
urban poor have as much stake as the city government and theother city residents in any “development” of their communities.
What is needed is “development” that does not exclude them, orpush them out of their own communities.
The active participation of the urban poor in the development or
redevelopment/renewal of their own communities should be
upheld. Their exclusion from this process will perpetuate themany human rights violations and abuses arising from theirsituation of poverty.

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FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICSEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 97

Kamagasaki: Renewing an Urban Poor Community
Jefferson R. PlantillaK

amagasaki is a well-known
yoseba in Japan. A yoseba is“a place where employers andlaborers directly meet forpossible employment.”1 These
workers are known as “daylaborers” because they seekjobs on a daily basis. Other
yoseba existed in Japan
including “Sanya in Tokyo,
K o t o b u k i i n Yo k o h a m a ,Sasajima in Nagoya, [and]C h i k k o i n F u k u o k a .” B u t
Kamagasaki is considered as thebiggest yoseba.2
Kamagasaki has become known
as an old community of day
laborers and homeless people
in Osaka city.
Kamagasaki: An Old Slum Area
The Kamagasaki Community
Regeneration Forum provides abrief history of Kamagasaki:3
Kamagasaki originates in
Nago Town (Naga Town)
known as a yoseba from theearly Edo Era [17th century]
and a slum area from premodern times; Nago Town
moved to Kamagasaki in theoccasion of the 5th Domestic
Industrial Exhibition in 1903.
Kamagasaki once vanishedafter the air raid on Osaka[during the war]; however, it
restarted as a black market
and the massive yoseba, as it
is today, was formed during
the time of intensive
economic growth. Kamagasaki
functioned as the laborers'

market to support [the]Japanese economy (especiallyfor the construction industry)at least till 1991 when bubble
economy ended, even though
there were many problems.

Sen Arimura in his illustrated
history of Kamagasaki (TheHistory of Kamagasaki: After1945) provides further
information on the history of
Kamagasaki:4
In the 1950s, Kamagasaki wasa typical slum, inhabited bymany victims of World War
II... The main street was linedwith doya (cheap lodgings),
behind which people built
poor, wooden shanties that
often extended onto the street.
It was like a maze. The rows ofshanties below the Nankai
train line overpass were
dubbed the "Nankai Hotel."
People frantically did anything
they could to make a living:
they delivered packages,bought scraps of clothing,picked up garbage, shined
shoes, sold cigarettes, or ran
open-air baths. The cheap
drinking establishments werelikely frequented by local
laborers as well as workers
from the docks.

Day Laborer Recruitment Site
The construction boom in Japanthat started in the 1960s till theearly 1990s had a verys i g n i fi c a n t i m p a c t o n
Kamagasaki.

2

Arimura explains the 1960s
situation:5
During [the 1960s], the daylaborer recruitment site wason the south side of the
Nankai train line... This was aperiod of rapid economic
growth for Japan, and many
farm workers and workers
from mines that closed down
flocked to Kamagasaki. The
population of single male daylaborers suddenly swelled past
10,000, a great many of themin their 20s and 30s. In
addition to construction work,
there were also many jobs intransportation (related to dockwork) and manufacturing.

The Osaka city governmentchanged the name of the place
to Airin District in 1966. The
Osaka city government decided
to develop Kamagasaki as“supply center for day labor ...
to eliminate labor force
shortages for the construction of
the venue for the 1970 Japan
World Exposition, in Osaka,with the effective use of day
w o r k e r s .” 6 Th i s m e a s u r echanged the character ofKamagasaki:7
As a result, the number of day
workers drastically increased,
and family households moved
outside the district. This was
how the Airin District, which
had been called a slum
before, gradually wastransformed into a flophousearea for unmarried men.

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICSEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 97

In the mid-1970s while thepercentage of men in the
district increased to 70%, thepercentage of juveniles
decreased to 10%. In the
bubble economy periodaround 1990, men accounted
for 85%, and the juvenile
population was only 2%(Osaka City University Urban
Research Plaza, 2011).

The Osaka city government
constructed in 1970 the Airin
Center building, where the
Nishinari Labor and Welfare
Center and the Osaka SocioMedical Center Hospital thatserved the day laborers werelocated.
Arimura writes that the Osaka
city government started in the1 9 7 0 s t h e “ a b u r e t e ch o u(unemployment card) system,”
which helped the day laborers
duringperiods
ofunemployment.8
In the 1980s,9Airin District experienced an
economic boom and then u m b e r o f d ay w o r k e r s
drastically increased.
Especially in the bubble
economy period from the late1980s to early 1990s, huge
public projects in the Kansai
region, such as theconstruction of the Kansai
S c i e n c e C i t y, K a n s a i
International Airport, and the
Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge started.
Also the number of private
projects for buildings andcondominiums increased. This
is why Airin District becamevery lively.

Workers from other countries
started to come to Kamagasaki
from “late 1980s”10 to work as
day laborers.

Partially closed Airin Center

The bursting of the bubble
economy in the 1990s led to theunemployment of many daylaborers, and further increased
the number of homeless people
in Kamagasaki. In the 2000s,11
due to the increase in thenumber of people receiving
public assistance, the area
became a town of welfare (apoor area where unmarried
male workers had a place tosettle down).

In 2019, Kamagasaki retains asignificant number of homelesspeople and aged workers. The
Airin Center has been partiallyclosed, with its medical facility
still in operation. Other placesin Kamagasaki have hotels withcheap room rates, causing theincreasing number of tourists inthe area.
Renewal of Kamagasaki
Civil society organizations havebeen working with the residents
in Kamagasaki to find ideas on

3

the renewal of the area. One
idea calls for the “promotion ofcommunity building that makes
fresh starts and challenges
possible by the creation of acooperative community focal
point (service hub) for providing
housing, work, health care,social and other services.” This
“Nishinari Service Hub”
concept is based on theaccumulated experiences of themembers of the civil society thathave been providing services tothe Kamagasaki residents formany years.12
On the other hand, the Osaka
city government launched its
Nishinari Special Zone Projectin 2012. The city government
sought the support of the civils o c i e t y ( s p e c i fi c a l l y t h e
Haginochaya Community
Creation Conference and theKamagasaki Community
Regeneration Forum) in defining
the appropriate measures for the
renewal of Kamagasaki.13

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
Kamagasaki residents andmembers of the civil society
came together to discuss ideason the renewal of Kamagasaki.
They formed the Airin
Machizukuri 14 Kaigi (Airin
District Community
Development Forum), whichstarted to hold meetings in
2014.15 They agreed to adopt avision of creating a “Collective
Town” where people treat theplace where they live in as theirhome and where safety andsocial welfare opportunity are
made available mainly throughtheir own efforts.16
The Airin Machizukuri Kaigi has
thirty-six members consisting ofleaders of neighborhood
associations, support
organizations for different
sectors (workers, children,
women), association of budget
hotels, association of shopping
arcade shop owners, as well as
u n iv e r s i t y p r o f e s s o r s a n d
prefectural, city and districtauthorities. It has five sections
that cover public housing,healthcare facilities, vitalizationof the train station area, labor
facilities, and parks & area
management. Each section
holds meetings to discuss its
own proposals.17

SEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 97
The unemployment and labor
center moved in April 2019 toa temporary site, and wasscheduled to move back to thesite of the former center in
2025. The medical center was
supposed to move in to thenew building in 2020. The
City housing unit 1 is in theprocess of moving in and unit
2 is schedule to move in
2021.”In its 26 July 2017 meeting, theAirin Machizukuri Kaigi cameup with several proposals suchas constructing a new building
for the Airin Center in the sameplace where it was located,
constructing a building for the
Osaka Socio-Medical Center
Hospital in the former Hagi no
C h aya E l e m e n t a r y S ch o o lground, and the construction of
housing facilities.21
The panel of experts has taken
the stand of making the renewalof Kamagasaki as inclusive as
possible, it states:22
For the past twenty years, wehave worked for community

development and [the solutionof] the difficult problems ofthis community with a diverse
group of organizations. [After]
the government’s proposal forthe “Nishinari Special
District” [was raised], we haveworked together to overcome
our differences in order toprovide a participatory
bottom-up alternative to thet o p - d ow n p l a n f o r s l u mclearance. Now, in the face ofchanges brought by the waveof redevelopment in the areaaround the station, we areworking to maintain the
inclusivity of the community
and use its resources to create
a community where starting
over is possible.
[The Panel stresses that the]cooperation among thelaborers, community
organizations, community
residents and local
government is essential.

Pursuant to this perspective, thePanel of Experts submitted to the
Osaka city mayor the “Nishinari
Special District Plan -The Osaka city government
decided to demolish the Airin
Center building due to safetyconcerns. During the 5th Airin
Machizukuri Kaigi, held on 26
July 2016,18 with the attendanceof the Governor and the City
Mayor of Osaka, theconstruction of a new Airin
Center building was officiallydecided.19 A position paper ofthe panel of experts states theplan:20
Machizukuri Conference Poster & Committee

4

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICSEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 97

Community Development
Vision 2018-2022; Opinion by
a Panel of Experts” on 31
October 2018.23
The Plan offers six suggestions
for the renewal of Kamagasaki:
1. P r o m o t i n gthedevelopment of a diverse
cross-cutting town where
people can make anothertry [at improving theirlives] by connecting work,
housing and welfare via
the “service hub;”
2. A i m i n g t o b u i l d a“collective town” [by]sharing various things in
the town through creating
spaces where people canfeel they belong (resilient
town development);
3. Community where thevoices of children can beheard everywhere, andwhere children can beraised easily and cangrow easily;
4. F r i e n d l y ! F u n n y !
Improving [its] image as a
typical town of Osaka(Archives linking town’s
history and culture witheducation);
5. Building a collaborative
system [that links] local
bottom-up approaches
and [supports]
cooperation among
administrative bureaus( h o r i z o n t a lcollaboration) toembodytheapproaches;
6. Aiming toward a town
development utilizinge x t e r n a l f o r c e s 24
flexibly in order toprevent adverse effects
due to gentrification.25
One section of the plan
provides for renewal proposals
for the different areas of
Kamagasaki such as thefollowing:
1. Social Health Centera. P r o m o t i n g t h e
networking [for]regional healthcare;b. Monitoring service forthe elderly;c. Improving pediatrichealthcare;
2. Municipal Housing
a. Monitoring [of the
housing facilities];b. Attracting families withsmall children;c. Actively utilizing themeeting places of thetwohousingcomplexes;d. [ H o u s i n g ]management;
3. New Forest Hagi
a. “My Place” (base for[interaction amonglaborers
andresidents]);c. Community farm;d. “Yatai Mura” (village offood and stalls, etc.);
4. Site of Airin Sogo Centera. [Place for acquiringn]ew work skills + “My
Place;”
b. Service hub, parking
space and open
spaces, etc. considering [their]
sharing and revitalizing
functions;c. Placement [for work],
etc., are being
discussed at acommittee on labor
facilities, etc.
The renewal of Kamagasaki
based on the participation of thedifferent residents in the areaand for the benefit of them all(specially the day laborers andthe homeless) is an idea that has
to be realized.
Jefferson R. Plantilla is the Chief
R e s e a rch e r i n H U R I G H T SOSAKA.
For further information, pleasecontact: HURIGHTS OSAKA.

b. A d v e n t u r o u s
playground;

Illustration of the proposals for the renewal of the different areas of Kamagasaki26

5

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
Endnotes
1 Toshio Mizuuchi, "Changing
urban governance for sociallydiscriminated people: A case ofO s a k a C i t y, J a p a n , " i nProceedings of 2nd.International
Critical Geography Conference,
Korean Association of Spatial
Environment Research, 181-188,
2000, available atwww.lit.osaka-cu.ac.jp/geo/
mizuuchi/english/e_material/
mizuuchi_in_Taegu.htm.
2 Mizuuchi, ibid.
3 Kamagasaki Community
Regeneration Forum,
www.kamagasaki-forum.com/
en/.
4 Sen Arimura, "The History of
Kamagasaki: After 1945,"
Kamagasaki Community
Regeneration Forum,
www.kamagasaki-forum.com/
en/index.html.
5 This is a quotation fromadditional material on "TheHistory of Kamagasaki: After
1945," provided by Sen
Arimura by e-mail on 26
August 2019.
6 Tatsuya Shirahase, "Dilemma
over the Redevelopment ofPoor Areas: A Case Study ofAirin District," Human Welfare
Studies 10 (1), 2017. 12.
7 Shirahase, "ibid.
8 Arimura Sen, "The History of
Kamagasaki: After 1945,” op.
cit.
9 Shirahase, op. cit.
10 A r i m u r a , a d d i t i o n a linformation, op. cit.
11 Shirahase, op. cit.
12 Sen Arimura Sen, “What is aservice hub? No. 2. ([English
translation) Service Hub
Theory) Fukushino Hiroba,
2018. Material received via email from Sen Arimura on 26
August 2019.
13 Shirahase, op. cit.
14 Machizukuiri is the Japaneseword for urban renewal. See
Toshio Mizuuchi and HongSEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 97
Gyu Jeon, "The new mode ofurban renewal for the former
outcaste minority people andareas in Japan," Cities, 2010,
doi:10.1016/j.cities.
2010.03.008, pages 3 - 4,
www.lit.osaka-cu.ac.jp/geo/
mizuuchi/japanese/material/
mizuuchi_jeon_Cities.pdf.
15 Shirahase, ibid. Shirahase uses
the name “Meeting on
Community Creation” insteadof Airin District Community
Development Forum in his
2017 article.
16 Panel of Experts, “Our positionon the present situation of theclosing (rebuilding) of Airin
Sogo Center Clarification of themeasures taken andcontroversial points.” (undated)
Document received via e-mailfrom Sen Arimura on 22 August
2019.
17 Airin Machizukuri Kaigi,（英語版）まちづくり会議ポスター＆委員名簿 ([English version]
Machizukuri Conference Poster& Committee). Material
received via e-mail from Sen
Arimura on 26 August 2019.
18 Panel of Experts, op. cit.
19 Panel of Experts, ibid.
20 Panel of Experts, ibid.
21 Airin Machizukuri Kaigi, op.
cit., material received via email from Sen Arimura on 26
August 2019.
22 Panel of Experts, op. cit.
Nishinari Special District Panelof Experts:
1. Sen Arimura (Director,
Kamagasaki Regeneration
Forum)
2. Seiji Terakawa (Associate
Professor, Department ofArchitecture, Kindai
University)
3. H i r o y u k i F u k u h a r a(Professor, Osaka City
University)
4. Toshio Mizuuchi (Professor,
Osaka City University
Urban Research Center)
5. T a t s u y a S h i r a h a s e( A s s o c i a t e P r o f e s s o r,

6

Department of Sociology
Momoyama Gakuin
University)
6. Ta n a s u k e N a g a h a s h i(Professor, Department of
I n d u s t r i a l S o c i o l o g y,
Ritsumeikan University,)
7. Yo s h i h i s a M a t s u m u r a(Professor, Department of
I n t e r n a t i o n a l To u r i s m ,Hannan University).
23 Panel of experts, Suggestions
from experts about Nishinari
Special Zone Initiative: Town
Development Vision 2018 2022, document received via
e-mail from Sen Arimura on 26
August 2019.
24 The external forces may refer tourban development,
construction and othercompanies that build structuresin urban areas for housing andcommercial purposes.
25 One definition of gentrificationis this: "the process of repairingand rebuilding homes andbusinesses in a deterioratingarea (such as an urbanneighborhood) accompanied
by an influx of middle-class oraffluent people and that often
results in the displacement ofe a r l i e r, u s u a l l y p o o r e r
residents." Merriam Webster,
https://merriam-webster.com/
dictionary/gentrification.

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Remembering the Past: Henomatsu Community
Jefferson R. Plantilla and Kazuhiro KawamotoHenomatsu community is
the only Buraku
community in Sakai city in the
Osaka prefecture in Japan. Up
until the 1960s, the people in
Henomatsu community were
suffering from poverty, poor
housing conditions, and lack offacilities such as water supply.
These problems were the resultof discrimination against themas Buraku people.
The word Buraku means avillage or a hamlet in Japanese
language. Since feudal age,
people in some communities inJapan had been classified as
outcasts, outside the social
hierarchy, which was closely
related to the caste system. These
communities became known as
Buraku communities. Even in themodern age, people living in, orfrom Buraku communities, orare descendants of such people
may be regarded as Buraku
people by ordinary people andmay suffer from discrimination,
exclusion, etc., especially inmarriage and employment.
Cases of hate speech against
Buraku people and identifying
people as Buraku through theinternet have arisen in recent
years in alarming number that
led to the new enactment of alaw in 2016 to promote theelimination of Buraku
discrimination.1
The enactment of the 1969 Law
for Special Measures for Dowa
Projects to alleviate thec o n d i t i o n s i n t h e B u ra k u

communities all over Japanbrought changes to theHenomatsu community.
The 1969 law provided funds tolocal governments to redevelop
the Buraku communities inmany urban areas.
This law had a ten-year period
and then extended for anotherthree years – 1969 to 1981. Thislaw was followed by other lawsthat extended the support for
the renewal of Buraku
communities to twenty-sevenyears. A report explains thelaws:2[The 1969 special measureslaw] was followed by a 5year term new law called
the ‘Special Measures for
Area Improvement Projects
Law’, which was in force
from 1982 to 1986. A
minor change in the law’s
title followed in 1987, andthis renamed ‘Law forSpecial Fiscal Measures for
Area Improvement
Projects’, initially enacted
for 5 years, was once again
extended by another 5
years to 1996. As of March
31, 1997, if the ongoing
Dowa projects were notcompleted, at most another5 years of financial support
was guaranteed.
The local governments played
an important role in
implementing these laws int h e i r r e s p e c t iv e a r e a s i ncollaboration with the national

7

government. Sakai city actively
implemented these laws in theHenomatsu community.
Nishiko Sakamoto: Preserving
the Past
N i s h i k o S a k a m o t o wa s awoman leader in theHenomatsu community. She
realized that her community
had started to change becauseof the 1969 special measures
law in ways that would erase
the memory of its pastc o n d i t i o n s . Th e l a w w a s
bringing radical changes in the
housing and physical conditionsof the Henomatsu community.
Sakamoto advocated for thepreservation of the history ofHenomatsu community – byrecording the situation before
the changes occurred in the
1970s in the community.
She saw the need to startcollecting materials in the
1980s. She convinced thecommunity organization, thelocal chapter of the Buraku
Liberation League (BLL), to
support her idea. She was alsoable to get the support of otherpeople outside the community
including academics to help inthe documentation process.
In late 1980s, BLL started aseries of publications that
present the history ofHenomatsu community. Thispublication is entitled “Shashin
ni Miru Kyowa-cho, Kurashi no
Monogatari - Kyoiku,

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
Undo” (Kyowa-cho: Story of Lifein Photos - Education andMovement). It is also known as
the red book because of its redcolored cover.

SEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 97
the place where documentationmaterials (documents, photos,
magazines and books) about theHenomatsu community could
be stored and processed.
As years passed, the materials
collected grew in significant
number. This led to the idea of
establishing a museum thatwould present the history ofHenomatsu community to thegeneral public.
Henomatsu Human Rights
History Museum

Henomatsu Community Center
The Sakai city government
c o n s t r u c t e d a s e ve n - fl o o rbuilding in the Henomatsu
community in 1974 to serve as
the community center for thepeople in the area. The building
had facilities for sports, culturaland social activities. When aroom in this building became
vacant, Sakamoto was able toget the permission to use it as

The Henomatsu Human Rights
History Museum wasinaugurated in 1998 as therepository of materials on thehistory of the Henomatsu
community. It also displays
materials pertaining to the
Buraku liberation movement.
The text of the 1922 Suiheisha
Declaration,4 which speaks ofthe human rights of the Buraku
people, carved in marble slabs,
was displayed in the museum.
The Henomatsu Community
Center building was demolishedin 2014 and a new building wasbuilt in 2015 to house themuseum and other facilities. The
museum currently
consists of three parts:
Henomatsu community
h i s t o r y, S a n k i n c h i
Sakata Memorial Halland human rights
library.

Henomatsu Community Center building, 1974

The history section
displaysoldphotographs of thecommunity as well as
replicas of the small
one-room houses of thepeople, the communal
toilet, communal water
faucet, and models of
people inside their

8

Portrayal of people working in theleather industry in Henomatsu
community

house and those working in theleather industry in thecommunity.
Museum guides explain tovisitors the stories about thedisplays such as the spread of aneye disease in the communitythat led to the establishment of a
medical clinic, the impact of thetransfer of factories to a nearby
area which refused to hirepeople from the community
because of their status as Buraku
people and the drying up of the
traditional community wells
because of the water pumps ofthe factories. When the wells
dried up, the people in theHenomatsu community pooled
their money to have a communal
water faucet because they could
not afford to have water supplied
to their houses.
The history section likewisepresents the story of the local
anti-discrimination movement. It
provides information on the
different historical events of the
movement and the people
involved.

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICSEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 97

Pamphlet showing the different parts ofHenomatsu community with historicallandmarks

Henomatsu Human Rights History Museum

The human rights library has all
types of written materials aboutthe Henomatsu community.
The Sakata section exhibits theshogi board and other materials
used by the Sankichi Sakata. A
Sakai city website describes
Sakata in the following manner:5
Born in Henomatsu-mura, avillage in Otori-gun, Sakata
Sankichi memorized theJapanese game of shogi(Japanese chess) while watchingit played by adults in thealleyways of his youth. He
exhibited an almost miraculous
strength in the game, deploying
richly imaginative moves whose
potential vastly exceeded themore conventionally accepted
playbook. He was extremely
successful in the achievementbased world of competitive
shogi, and he came to typify thetimes along with Sekine Kinjiro,
whom he considered a worthy
opponent.
In 1955, he was posthumously
awarded the ranks of Masterand King by the Japan Shogi
Association.

The Henomatmatsu Community
Center is being managed by JSA,a group consisting of three nonprofit organizations, namely,
S a k a i C i t y J i n k e n Kyo k a i(Human Rights Association),
Sakai City Shurou Shien Kyokai(Job Assistance Association) andALL (Human Rights Advance
Sakai). JSA has secured acontract to manage the centerfrom the Sakai city government.
Henomatsu Community
Landmarks
The Henomatsu community also
ensured that different places
where historical events
happened are properly marked
for people to remember andlearn from. Thus, various placesin the community have signs
that explain historicalinformation such as an old stonemarker that tells people not tomake the mistake of using thefoot path that leads to the
Buraku community, the place ofa public bath where members of
the community gathered to
discuss community issues,
another place of a factory9building where members of thecommunity held activities, andthe place where the small houseof Sankinchi Sakata family stood
before. Being a member of thecommunity, Sakata is given
honor for his achievement.
Th e H e n o m a t s u C e n t e r
promotes a tour of thecommunity to enlighten people
on its history.
The renewal of the Henomatsu
community was not only amatter of improving its physicalconditions but includes
measures that ensure that thesuffering and the efforts of thepeople in the community to end
their problems are remembered
and known to the general public.
Jefferson R. Plantilla is the Chief
R e s e a rch e r i n H U R I G H T SOSAKA.
Kazuhiro Kawamoto is a
program officer of the Buraku
Liberation and Human Rights
Research Institute.
(Continued on page 15)

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICSEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 97

Single Female Workers in Osaka City: A Survey
Creo Osaka CentralT

he following report is anedited version of thesummary report of the Osaka
Municipal Gender Equality
Center on its survey ofunmarried female workers in
Osaka city.1
Online Survey
The Osaka Municipal Gender
Equality Center undertook an
online survey of four hundred
females in their 20s to 50s
without children who live inOsaka city and work as nonregular employees. The online
survey was undertaken on
21-28 September 2018.
In order to understand theimpact of social security andrelevant governmental policies,t h e s u r ve y c o n s i d e r e d a smarried persons only those whohave registered their marriage.
Th o s e w i t h o u t c h i l d r e n ,whether living together orseparately, were covered as
subjects of the survey.
The 2018 online survey ofsingle female workers in Osaka
revealed that a high percentage
of female workers were working
part-time with no fixed periodof employment.
Background and Objectives of
the Survey
Low marriage rate among
workers is one of the current
trends in the labor market in
Japan. Also, there has been no

increase in the number ofregular workers for both females
and males over the years. Thissituation results in increased
number of non-regular workers.
Under these social
circumstances, the online survey
was undertaken in order toclarify what the single females
who are non-regular employees
think of their jobs and lives. The
online survey was undertaken inorder to have a basis forconsidering measures in pursuitof gender equal society.
Summary of the Survey Results
The online survey revealed thefollowing major findings:〮 60 percent of the single
female respondents are“part-time workers.” And
more than 70 percent
answered that “theiremployment has no fixed
period set.”2〮 60 percent of the single
female respondents areworking for thirty hours aweek or more, whereas
about half of the marriedfemale respondents work
for less than twenty hours aweek, which implies thatthe latter are adjusting theirincome and work
conditions;〮 More than 50 percent of
the single female
respondents receive “lessthan 2 million Japanese Yenas their personal annual

10

income,” and even forhousehold income, nearly
30 percent responded thatthey have “less than 2
million Japanese Yen”
annual income. Half of thesingle female respondents
have housemates, and 40
percent responded that thiswas “because it isfinancially difficult to live
alone.” These results reveal
the fact that they rely on
the support from “family
members” in order to live;〮 30 percent of the single
female respondents
answered that working as
non-regular employee was“the unavoidable choice.”
Even among those who
answered that “it was a
choice they willingly took,”many of them implied in
the general comment
section of the survey
questionnaire that they did
not freely wanted “nonregular employment.”
Support for Maintaining and
Improving “Life Sustainability”
Single females working as nonregular employees facediversified challenges, whichmake them seriously anxious.
However, some of their anxiety
or discontent could be cleared,
though not by improving every
aspect of their conditions all at
once, by improving their(Continued on page 15)

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICSEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 97

The 8th Asia Pro Bono Conference
Jefferson R. PlantillaA

lmost seven hundred
participants and volunteers
from more than thirty countries
attended the 8th Asia Pro Bono
Conference held in Kathmandu,
Nepal on 13-15 September
2019. They participated in close
to fifty conference sessions, inaddition to Access to Justice(A2J) Exchange events(including more than ten fullday workshops) before and after
the conference.
Sessions
The issues covered by theconference agenda went beyond
the traditional concept of pro
bono work (lawyers providing
legal aid to the poor) andextended to law school
programs, paralegalism and legal
empowerment in thecommunities. Pro Bono was
discussed in relation to many
issues including Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs),
rights of migrant workers andrefugees, human trafficking,rights of women, victims of theinternal armed conflict in Nepal,
enforcement of economic, socialand cultural rights, and role ofartists in raising awareness onsocial issues.
The variety of topics taken up in
the conference is seen in thefollowing plenary andworkshop sessions:〮 Launching of the Justice for
All: The Task Force on Justice
Report in the plenary session

facilitatedby Hina Jilani,
one of the Elders in the Task
Force on Justice1 – the reportstresses the continuing needto support access to justiceinitiatives all over the world;〮 Systemic Change Part I: No“Ordinary” Strategic
Litigation – discussion of
examples on how litigation
can be used in order tochange the view of thecourts on significant legal
issues that have impact onhuman rights (arrest andinvestigation procedures,death penalty, use of legal
aid, etc.);〮 Growing Pro Bono andEnsuring A2J [Access toJustice] in the MENA [Middle
Ea st a n d N o r t h A f r i c a ]Region/Experiences from
Jordan – discussion of thechallenges to the realizationof access to justice by thepoor such as insufficientlegal service from thelawyers, limitation of legal
aid service under the law,
language problem for foreign
migrants in seeking courta c t i o n o r wh e n f a c i n gcharges in court;〮 Strengthening Community
Pa ra l e g a l i s m i n A s i a –Recognition, Support andPublic Financing – review of
the role of paralegals inaccessing justice while
ensuring that their work is
not compromised by lack ofproper knowledge and skills

11

and has appropriate
supervision by lawyers;〮E f f e c t i v e P r o B o n oFrameworks to Promote andProtect Economic, Social andCultural Rights (in SouthAsia) – discussion of the
problem caused by
misunderstanding of
economic, social andcultural rights and the
difficulty of enforcing suchrights through the courts;〮 From Street Lawyering to
Human Rights Lawyering toCommunity Lawyering—All
Leading to Rebellious
Lawyering – presentation on
the law clinic program in
Bangladesh that stresses theimportance of helping thepoor fight for their rights, andrequires law students toimmerse themselves in poor
communities for better
understanding of theirsituation;〮 Networking in Asia for
Access to Justice for the
MarginalizedandVulnerable: In Particular,
Refugees, Asylum Seekers
and Migrants Crossing theBorders – presentation of
initiatives at the regional andnational levels that address
the need for refugees andasylum seekers to get accessto justice;〮 Alternative Voices in Social
Justice: Informing the Pro(Continued on page 15)

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICSEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 97

Emerging Issues on Business and Human Rights in the
Asia-Pacific
Ravi Prakash VyasAt w o - d ay w o r k s h o p o nemerging issues regarding
business and human rights in
A s i a - Pa c i fi c w a s h e l d i n
Kathmandu on 16 -17
September
2019.
Representatives of nongovernmental organizations, bar
associations, and law schools
from Nepal, Malaysia,
M y a n m a r, Pa k i s t a n , t h ePhilippines, Japan, Thailand,
India, Laos, Nigeria and United
Nations agencies based in
Nepal and Thailand attended
the workshop.
It was also an access to justiceevent of the 9th Asia Pro Bono
Conference, held in Kathmandu(13-15 September 2019).
Opening Ceremonies
Jefferson R. Plantilla, Chief
Researcher of the Asia-Pacific
Human Rights Information
Center based in Osaka,
explained the initiative taken by
the Asian Consortium for
Human Rights-Based Access to
J u s t i c e ( H R BA 2 J - A s i a ) o n
business and human rights,
particularly by its Northeast
Asian members, that led to theholding of the workshop. He
also stressed the fact that issuesof access to justice and businesshave long been part of theagenda of the civil society way
back in the 1980s in addressing
development issues affecting thepoor and the marginalized in

Workshop participantsA s i a a n d t h e Pa c i fi c . H eexpressed the hope that the
introduction of the business andhuman rights framework would
help resolve these long-standing
issues.
Professor Yubaraj Sangroula,
founder and Dean of the
Kathmandu School of Law, in
his opening remarks
emphasized the need for accessto justice especially for the poorand the marginalized. Heemphasized that denial ofaccess to resources createdproblems in the livelihood ofpeople. This is illustrated in the
disparity of life between those
who work for big companies
and people in the slum area. He
noted that only 10 percent of

12

the entire population, especiallyin South Asia, enjoy proper
protection of human rights. He
therefore observed that thenotion of inclusiveness in a
democratic government had notcontributed to the welfare of thepeople. Priority should be given
to those living in rural villages.
More capability-building
measures should be undertaken
to enable them to enjoy their
human rights instead of simply
giving them food, for instance.
While the corporate sector had
provided revenue to the state, its
self-interest could not becurtailed and had caused
adverse effect on human rights.
He further added that economy,
development and human rights

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICSEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 97

should be reconciled andexamined as a right of anindividual. He ended by sayingthat access to justice andhuman rights should go handin-hand.
Presentations
R. Sudarshan, Dean of Jindal
School of Government andPublic Policy (JSGP) in O.P.
Jindal Global University in India
discussed the role of public
policy in making corporations
serve public interest. He citedthe failure of penalty-oriented
public policies in preventing
corporate abuses that adversely
affect communities. He raised
the better option of public
policy providing corporations
the incentives that would allow
them to make adjustments intheir operations in order tocomply with the legal
requirements.
Livio Sarandrea, Lead Advisor
and Team Leader of Businessand Human Rights Asia (B+HR
Asia) of the United Nations
Develop Programme (UNDP)
Asia-Pacific office, gave an
overview of the business andhuman rights situation in Asia.
He pointed out thedevelopment of national actionplans (NAPs) on business andhuman rights in some countries
in Asia. He cited the need todevelop NAPs with the
involvement of multisectoral
stakeholders and with careful
scrutiny of relevant issues. He
therefore stressed thatgovernments should not rush
the adoption of NAPs just to beable to proclaim to theinternational community thatthey have NAPs.

Group report on access to remedy cases

He also discussed the importantrole that national human rights
institutions should play in thefield of business and humanrights.
Harpreet Kaur, Business andHuman Rights Specialist at the
UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub,started her session with asensitivity game of making theparticipants feel the enjoyment
or non-enjoyment of privileges
according to different statuses
and professions. She discussed

the social, cultural andeconomic factors that should beconsidered by any businesscompany in its operations. She
also mentioned the national andinternational mechanisms andpractices that play an importantrole in the system of providing
remedy. She discussed threemajor areas on how the genderissues could be addressed inrelation to the “Guiding
Principles for Business andHuman Rights: Implementing
the United Nations ‘Protect,Group report on developing training manual on
business and human rights

13

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
Respect and Remedy’
Framework” (UNGPs) throughmeasures like Gender Sensitive
Assessment, Gender
Transformative Remedies andG e n d e r Tr a n s f o r m a t i v e
Programs. She concluded bysuggesting ways to uplift thecondition of women throughwomen empowerment
programs with proper allocationof budget for them.
Tek Tamata of UNDP Country
Office (Nepal), presented thedevelopment of a manual on
human rights-based approach toaccess to justice, discussed the
UN normative frameworks
based on an analysis of thegross human rights abuses byt h e b u s i n e s s s e c t o r, a n dreviewed the existing grievancemechanisms. He concluded bybriefly mentioning the remedial
measures, the key actors andthe requirements for effective
remedial measures.
Surya Deva, Associate Professorof City University of Hong Kongand member of the United
Nations Working Group on
Business and Human Rights,
discussed several issues that
affect the implementation of the
UNGPs. He cited the work of
the Working Group in
consulting different stakeholders
during its country visits. He said
that it wanted to engage thegovernments in a constructive
manner. He also mentioned that
the Working Group received
complaints that were referred togovernments; and thecomplaints and thegovernments’ responses weremade available online.
Activities
Aside from presentations, theparticipants discussed and

SEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 97
reported on the issues that affectaccess to remedy in cases
involving corporations. The
cases discussed covered megaprojects (dams, etc.) that affect awide area and projects that
affect specific communities.
One group showed theimportant role that communities
play. The report stressed thataccess to remedy should startwith the decision of thecommunities to act on theirproblems. The group work was
facilitated by Marlon Manuel(Senior Advisor, Global Legal
Empowerment Network,
Philippines), Sudeep Gautam(Programme Manager of the
UNDP Nepal Country Office)and Jefferson R. Plantilla.
Another activity focused on then e e d f o r t ra i n i n g o n t h ebusiness and human rights
framework and thedevelopment of a training
material. After an input on the“Business, Human Rights andNortheast Asia - A Facilitator'sTraining Manual” developed by
the Northeast Asian members of
HRBA2J-Asia, the participants
reviewed the training manualand proposed possible
additional contents of the
training manual.
Closing ceremonies
For the closing ceremonies, thepresenters gave their remarks
while this author gave the wordof thanks. All presenters were
presented with plaques ofrecognition. Bernardo Cocco,
DeputyResident
Representative, UNDP Nepal
also graced the closing
ceremonies.
In his word of thanks, thisauthor thanked each of theresource persons for their time14

and commitment. He also
thanked Jefferson R. Plantillaand Geeta Pathak especially for
their continuous efforts towards
the culmination of theworkshop. He thanked Yubaraj
Sangroula for the institutional
support of KSL. He further
thanked the UNDP and theGovernment of Nepal for
supporting the event throughtheir Enhancing Access toJustice through Institutional
Reform Project (A2J Project).
The workshop was jointly
organized by the Asian
Consortium for Human RightsBased Access to Justice(HRBA2J), Business Law andArbitration Research Center,
Kathmandu School of Law,
Nepal (KSL) and supported byUnited Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and
Government of Nepal,
Enhancing Access to Justicethrough Institutional Reform
Project (A2J Project).
Ravi Prakash Vyas is an AssistantProfessor of International Law
and Human Rights and Program
Coordinator, Asia Pacific Master
Program (APMA) at Kathmandu
School of Law, Nepal.
For more information, pleasecontact: Ravi Prakash Vyas,
Kathmandu School of Law,
Nepal, Suryabinayak-4,
B h a k t a p u r, N e p a l ; p h :9771-6634455; fax:
977-1-6634801; e-mailrpvyas@ksl.edu.np,
r v ya 1 2 5 1 @ s y d n e y. e d u . a u ;www.ksl.edu.np.

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
R e m e m b e r i n g t h e Pa s t :Henomatsu Community(Continued from page 9)

For further information, pleasecontact: HURIGHTS OSAKA.
Endnotes
1 See HURIGHTS OSAKA, “Law
Against Buraku Discrimination,”
FOCUS Asia-Pacific, March 2017,

Single Female Workers in
Osaka City: A Survey(Continued from page 10)

condition on their own effort,
which is what we call “onestage-up.” It can be said thatstarting
theirown
empowerment even in a stepby-step manner is important forthe support being extended tothem under the public policy on
non-regular female employees.

Th e 8 t h A s i a P r o B o n oConference(Continued from page 10)

Bono Movement –demonstration of different
ways in relaying humanrights/access to justicemessages such as the use ofsongs and art; and〮 Pro Bono and Transitional
Justice – discussion of the
problem of addressing thesearch for justice by familiesof victims of the internal
armed conflict (especially the
innocent non-combatant

SEPTEMBER 2019 VOLUME 97
volume87,
www.hurights.or.jp/archives/focus/section3/2017/03/law-against-bu
raku-discrimination.html.
2 Toshio Mizuuchi and Hong Gyu
Jeon. "The new mode of urban
renewal for the former outcaste
minority people and areas inJapan," Cities, 2010,
doi:10.1016/j.cities.2010.03.00
8,
pages
3
–
4,
www.lit.osaka-cu.ac.jp/geo/miz
uuchi/japanese/material/mizuuc
hi_jeon_Cities.pdf.

3 For the full text of the 1922 Suiheisha Declaration, visit Human
Rights Declarations,www.hurights.or.jp/english//decl
arations-in-the-asia-pacific.html.
4 "Sankichi
Sakata,”www.city.sakai.lg.jp/english/visi
tors/whats/notable/sakatasankic
hi.html.
5 See website in Japanese language of the Henomatsu Community Center (managed by the
JSA) for more information,
https://jinken-fureai.jp.

The Osaka Municipal Gender
Equality Center collaborated
with Utae Mori, a professor at
the Faculty of Economics,
Osaka University of Economics,
in undertaking the online
survey.

mail:otoiawase@danjo.osaka.jp;
www.creo-osaka.or.jp.

For further information, pleasecontact: Creo Osaka Central,
5-6-25 Ueshio, Tennouji-ku,
Osaka, 543-0002; ph816-6770-7200; fax
816-6770-7705;e-people who were killed orwent missing).
Participants’ Profile
Local/national, regional andinternational organizations
working on access to justice inAsia and also Australia, U.S.A.,
United Kingdom and Nigeria
had representatives in the 8th
Asia Pro Bono Conference.
The participants represented
various types of institutions –commercial law firms, nongovernmental legal assistanceorganizations, government law
and justice departments, lawschools, universities (on15Endnotes
1 See website of the Osaka
Municipal Gender Equality
Center.
2 In practice, contract with no
fixed period means continuous
employment but the company
may terminate it for whateverreason.

p r o g r a m s o t h e r t h a n l aw
course), and United Nations
agencies.
The 2020 pro bono conference
will be held in Cebu City.
Jefferson R. Plantilla is the Chief
R e s e a rch e r i n H U R I G H T SOSAKA.
For further information, pleasecontact HURIGHTS OSAKA.
Endnote1 See website of Task Force on
Justice, www.justice.sdg16.plus.

HURIGHTS OSAKA Calendar

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HURIGHTS OSAKA, inspired by the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, formally opened in December 1994. It has the following aims: 1) to engender popular understanding in Osaka of the international human rights standards; 2) to support international exchange
between Osaka and countries in Asia-Pacific through collection and dissemination of information andmaterials on human rights; and 3) to promote human rights in Asia-Pacific in cooperation with nationaland regional institutions and civil society organizations as well as the United Nations. In order to achievethese goals, HURIGHTS OSAKA has activities such as Information Handling, Research and Study, Education and Training, Publications, and Consultancy Services.
FOCUS Asia-Pacific is designed to highlight significant issues and activities relating to human rights in
the Asia-Pacific. Relevant information and articles can be sent to HURIGHTS OSAKA for inclusion in thenext editions of the newsletter.
Sender: HURIGHTS OSAKA(Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center)
8F, CE Nishihonmachi Bldg., 1-7-7 Nishihonmachi, Nishi-ku, Osaka 550-0005
Japan
Phone: (816) 6543-7002
Fax: (816) 6543-7004
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