NGO Report on the Convention on the Right of the Child(Japan)Implementation of the CRC in Japan:
Perspectives of NGOs on the Fourthand Fifth Periodic Report of Japan
October 2017

Committee for NGO Reporting on the CRC (JAPAN)
Secretariat
General Research Institute on the Convention on the Right of the ChildNGO with Special Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC
Tel& Fax: (+81 3) 3203 4355
E-mail: npo_crc@nifty.com
Midorigaoka 2-6-1 Meguro-ku Tokyo 152-0034 JAPANContact Persons
ARAMAKI Shigeto (aramaki@ygu.ac.jp)
HIRANO (KAMORI) Yuji (yujihirano@nifty.com)

Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
General Research Institute on the Convention on the Rights of the Child
ADD: Midorigaoka 2-6-1 Meguro-ku, TOKYO 152-0034, Japan
Tel & Fax: 81-3-3203-4355
E-mail: npo_crc@nifty.com
HP: http://npocrc.org/

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Committee for NGO Reporting on the CRC (Japan): List of Participating
Organizations
ACE (Action against Child Exploitation)
ARC (Action for the Rights of Children)
Association for Returnees from China
Children & Law 21 [Citizens in the 21st Century for Children’s Development andLegislation]
Child Information and Research Center
Child Welfare InstituteFederation for the Protection of Children’s Human Rights
General Research Institute on the Convention on the Right of the Child
Human Rights Association of Korean Residents in Japan (HURAK)
International Foster Care Alliance (IFCA)
Japan Teachers’ Union
Save the Children Japan
Shiawase Namida [Network for the Eradication of Victimization through Sexual
Violence]
Society for Abolishing the Family Registration System and Discriminations
against Children Born out of Wedlock (AFRDC)
Soka Gakkai Women's Peace Committee
Tokyo Citizens’ Forum for Local Ordinances on Children’s Rights
Tokyo Seikatsusha Network

Note: A number of persons were involved in the preparation of the present reportin individual capacity, although they are not listed here.
Abbreviations
CEDAW: Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
CERD: International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination
CESCR: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
HRC: Human Rights Committee
MEXT: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
MHLW: Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
MoJ: Ministry of Justice
NPA: National Police Agency
SPR: State Party’s Report2

Table of Contents
Committee for NGO Reporting on the CRC (Japan): List of Participating
Organizations ..................................................................................................... 2
Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... 2
Introduction ............................................................................................................... 7
Major Cross-Cutting Issues Affecting Children’s Rights ....................................... 10
A. Sufficient Attention Has Not Been Paid to Children’s Rights in Responses
to the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Accidents at the Fukushima
Nuclear Power Plants ...................................................................................... 10
B. Sufficient Measures Have Not Been Taken to Deal with Child Poverty ... 11
I. General Measures of Implementation ................................................................ 12
I-1. A Comprehensive Law on the Rights of the Child Needs to Be Adopted 12
I-2. Courts Are Still Reluctant to Apply the Convention, Which Demonstrates
the Need to Accept the Communication Procedures ...................................... 13
I-3. A Rights-Based Approach Is Lacking in Policy-Making and Institutional
Basis Remains Inadequate .............................................................................. 14
I-4. The Government Demonstrates Its Lack of Good Faith to the Committee
by Continuing Not to Provide Important Data in SPR .................................. 15
I-5. The Best Interests of the Child Are Not Fully Considered in the
Budgeting Process ............................................................................................ 16
I-6. Protection and Promotion of Children’s Rights in the Business Sector .. 16
I-7. It Is Necessary to Increase Budget Allocations and to Adopt a Child
Rights-Based Approach in the Field of ODA .................................................. 17
I-8. The Convention and the Committee’s Concluding Observations Have Not
Been Disseminated Adequately in Qualitative and Quantitative Terms ...... 18
II. Definition of the Child ....................................................................................... 19
II-1. The Upper Age for the Application of the Juvenile Act Should Not Be
Lowered, While the Age of Consent Should Be Raised .................................. 19
III. General Principles ............................................................................................ 20
III-A: Non-Discrimination ................................................................................... 20
III-A-1. Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation Should Be
Developed Promptly ......................................................................................... 20
III-A-2. Hate Speech and Hate Crime Targeting Children of Korean Schools
in Particular ..................................................................................................... 21
III-A-3. Progress in the Elimination of Discrimination against Children Bornout of Wedlock and Remaining Problems ....................................................... 22
III-A-4. Further Efforts Are Needed for the Elimination against Girls3

Especially in the Field of Education ............................................................... 23
III-A-5. Further Educational Measures Are Needed to Prevent Discrimination
against LGBTI Children .................................................................................. 24
III-A-6. Protection and Promotion of the Rights of the Ainu Children as An
Indigenous People Should Be Ensured ........................................................... 25
III-A-7. Foreign Children Are Subjected to Disproportional Punishment
under Immigration Law .................................................................................. 26
III-B: The Best Interests of the Child ................................................................. 27
III-B-1. The Principle of the Best Interests of the Child Should Be Integrated
into Legislation, Policy and Practice ............................................................... 27
III-B-2. The Principle of the Best Interests of the Child Should Be Integrated
into Legislation, Policy and Practice ............................................................... 27
III-C: Right to Life, Survival and Development ................................................. 28
III-C-1. Adequate Care Has Not Been Taken for Children and Parents Who
Suffer from (Perceived) Radiation Exposure Caused by the Fukushima
Nuclear Accidents ............................................................................................ 28
III-C-2. Children Are Killed or Injured in Accidents Due to the Inadequate
Minimum Standards and Guidelines .............................................................. 29
III-C-3. Measures against Suicide among Children and Young People Should
Be Strengthened .............................................................................................. 30
III-C-4. U.S. Military Bases Threaten Life, Survival and Development ofChildren in Okinawa ....................................................................................... 31
III-D: Respect for the View of the Child/Child Participation............................. 31
III-D-1. The Rights of Children to Express Their Views and to Have Them
Respected Are Not Ensured Sufficiently ......................................................... 31
III-D-2. The Expression of Views and Participation by Children Remain
Difficult at School............................................................................................. 32
III-D-3. Children in Alternative Care Should Be Given Opportunities for
Raising Voices and Participating .................................................................... 33
III-D-4. Child Participation in Legislative and Policy Making Processes is
Insufficient and Citizenship Education Should Be Strengthened ................. 33
IV. Civil Rights and Freedoms ................................................................................ 34
IV-1. Measures Should Be Taken to Protect Children from Statelessness and
Non-Registration .............................................................................................. 34
IV-2. The Imposition of the National Flag and Anthem Threatens Children’s
Freedom of Thought and Conscience .............................................................. 35
IV-3. School Rules Still Impose Excessive Restrictions on Children’s Rights 36
V. Violence against Children ................................................................................... 374

V-1. Corporal Punishment of Children Should Be Prohibited in All Settings
and Awareness-Raising Measures Should Be Strengthened ......................... 37
V-2. Supportive Interventions and Psychological Aftercare Should Be
Strengthened to Respond to an Ever Increasing Number of Reported Cases ofChild Abuse ...................................................................................................... 38
V-3. Initiatives to Eliminate Corporal Punishment and Other Forms ofViolence at School Are Still Insufficient .......................................................... 39
V-4. More Effective Implementation of the Bullying Prevention Act Should Be
Taken ................................................................................................................ 39
V-5. Appropriate Responses Are Needed to Sexual Abuse of Children That
Tend to Remain Unreported ............................................................................ 40
V-6. The Issue of Dating Violence Should Be Officially Acknowledged with
Strengthened Preventive Education ............................................................... 42
VI. Family Environment and Alternative Care ..................................................... 43
VI-1. Single-Parents, Most of Whom Are Employed, Remain in Difficult
Conditions ........................................................................................................ 43
VI-2. Gaps in Procedures for Temporary Protection in Cases of Child Abuse
and Neglect....................................................................................................... 43
VI-3. Majority of Children without Parental Care Are Still Placed in
Institutions ....................................................................................................... 44
VI-4. Family Contact and Reunification Should Be Sought in the BestInterests of the Child ....................................................................................... 45
VI-5. The Adoption System Should Be Modified Further to Ensure the BestInterest of the Child ......................................................................................... 46
VII. Disability, Basic Health and Welfare .............................................................. 46
VII-1. “Special Needs Education” Should Be Shifted to Inclusive Education 46
VII-2. Re-Introduction of the Color Perception Test at School Should Be
Reconsidered .................................................................................................... 47
VII-3. Reproductive Health Education Is Not Provided in Systematic andEffective Ways .................................................................................................. 48
VII-4. Further Efforts Should Be Made to Admit All the Children in Need toDaycare Centers while Ensuring and Improving the Quality of Care .......... 49
VIII. Education, Leisure and Cultural Activities .................................................. 49
VIII-1. Impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Nuclear
Accidents in Fukushima .................................................................................. 49
VIII-2. The Competitive Nature of the Education System Has Been Fosteredthrough the Academic Ability Surveys for All Pupils/Students ..................... 51
VIII-3. Problems in the Present “Education Reform” Process and5

Strengthened State Interference with Education .......................................... 52
VIII-4. The Government Views Are to Be Reflected in Textbooks through the
Authorization and Adoption Process ............................................................... 52
VIII-5. The Improvement of Educational Conditions Falls behind the Needs ofChildren While Teachers’ Working Conditions Have Worsened .................... 53
VIII-6. The Expansion of Preschool Education Should Be Promoted ............ 54
VIII-7. Equal Educational Opportunities Should Be Provided at the Upper
Secondary and Higher Levels .......................................................................... 55
VIII-8. Alternative Forms of Education Should Be Further Promoted andStrengthened .................................................................................................... 56
VIII-9. Human Rights and Child Rights Education Has Gone Rather
Backward.......................................................................................................... 57
VIII-10. Children of Foreign Origin Are Not Guaranteed Opportunities toLearn Their Own Languages and Cultures .................................................... 58
VIII-11. Foreign/Ethnic Schools in Disadvantaged Status and Institutional
Discrimination against Children in Korean Schools ...................................... 59
IX. Special Protection Measures............................................................................. 60
IX-A: Trafficking in Persons & Sexual Exploitation .......................................... 60
IX-A-1. The Efforts against Child Trafficking Remains Inadequate ............. 60
IX-A-2. Commercialization and Sexualization of Children ............................ 61
IX-A-3. Child Labour and Exploitation of Part-time Child Workers ............. 62
IX-A-4. Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution andChild Pornography ........................................................................................... 63
IX-B: Juvenile Justice ......................................................................................... 64
IX-B-1. Growing Gaps between the Convention and the Domestic Law
through a Series of Amendments to the Juvenile Act .................................... 64
IX-B-2. Criminalization of Juvenile Justice ................................................... 65
IX-B-3. Increased Restrictions on Personal Liberty of Children Involved in
Justice Procedures ........................................................................................... 68
IX-B-4. Inadequate Access to Education for Children in Detention .............. 70
IX-B-5. Police-Led Measures for Children with Delinquent Behavior andOther Challenges ............................................................................................. 71
List of Annex (as of October 2017).......................................................................... 73

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Introduction
Who Prepared the Present Report for What Purposes
The present NGO report was prepared to highlight the problem areas andchallenges of the combined fourth and fifth periodic report of Japan on theConvention and to help the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to examine
the periodic report more effectively and adequately.
The report was prepared by the Committee for NGO Reporting on theConvention on the Rights of the Child. The key members of the NGO Committee
have started observing the sessions of the UN Committee since its second session(1992) and played a role as a liaison between the UN Committee and Japanesesociety as well as working on implementation and dissemination of theConvention in Japan.
The NGO Committee has submitted its reports to the UN Committee in
1997, 2003 and 2010 and worked to follow up the concluding observations adopted
by the UN Committee. The General Research Institute on the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, an NGO with Special Consultative Status with the United
Nations Economic and Social Council, serves as the secretariat of the NGO
Committee.
Main Problems in the Fourth and Fifth Periodic Report of Japan: An Overview
It is very regrettable that we have to point out similar problems that havebeen indicated in our previous reports again with regard to the fourth and fifth
periodic report of Japan (hereafter referred to as “SPR” [State Party’s Report]).
While SPR formally follows the Committee’s reporting guidelines(CRC/C/58/Rev.3, 2014), in fact, it does not meet the Committee’s expectations inmany areas. The main problems can be summarized as follows.
(a) It is positive that SPR seeks to respond to the Committee’s previous
concluding observations and that it provides the relevant data to a certain
extent. However, it often fails to understand what was precisely recommended
in the previous concluding observations and refers to the previous
recommendations only formally, failing to show proactive attitude towards theeffective implementation of the Convention by making use of the reporting
process. Some parts of SPR can be regarded as “defiant attitude” [e.g. paras.
31 and 123]. In addition, references to the relevant paragraphs in the previous
report continue to appear in many sections, making it difficult to see progressor challenges in the relevant areas for the past decade.
(b) In this context, SPR demonstrates insufficient understanding of the7

Convention on the part of the Government, including in relation to achild-rights approach enshrined in the Convention [e.g. para. 38]. This
indicates that the Government is not proactive enough to seek to solve andimprove the problems concerning children from the child rights perspectives
and rights-based methodologies. Some inconsistencies are found in SPR as
well, including in relation to the descriptions about the 2016 amendments to
the Child Welfare Act, which can be regarded as a positive step in the area oflegislation.
(c) While SPR describes the relevant legislation and institutions rather in detail,it does not make the actual status of children and the impact of the measures
visible. Above all, it does not report on how the Great East Japan Earthquake
and the Fukushima nuclear accidents in 2011, one of the major social issues inJapan, have affected children. The descriptions about the measures againstchild poverty are not sufficient in terms of the implementation of theConvention, either.
(d) SPR does not refer to positive initiatives undertaken at the municipal level,
demonstrating the reluctance on the part of the central Government to learn
from such initiatives to improve the implementation of the Convention.
(e) Sufficient and meaningful efforts were not made to reflect the views andachievements of civil society, including NGOs. No attempts were made to hearfrom children about the implementation of the Convention, either.
Towards “Constructive Dialogue” and the Effective Implementation of the Convention
Given the above-mentioned fundamental problems in SPR, at least thefollowing additional information should be provided by the Government in thespirit of constructive dialogue:(a) Information about major issues affecting children’s rights, including theimpact of disasters (including the Great East Japan Earthquake and the
Fukushima nuclear accidents in 2011) and child poverty, from the viewpoint of
the implementation of the Convention;(b) Specific data and statistics on the actual status of children and on theeffectiveness of the measures taken, along with the interpretation of such data,
especially with regard to non-discrimination (including the issue of hatespeech), stateless and unregistered children, non-attendance at school anddropout from upper secondary school, bullying, suicide, corporal punishment,child abuse and neglect as well as juvenile justice;(c) Detailed explanation on the challenges in pursuing general measures of
implementation of the Convention and, in particular, on the prospects of the8establishment of structures and systems for the promotion and monitoring of
the effective implementation of the Committee’s concluding observations; and,(d) Information on municipal initiatives to implement the Convention, along withthe outcomes of such initiatives and challenges in the provision of support by
the central Government.
In order to prepare sufficient additional information for the Committee,
the Government is encouraged to have opportunities of “constructive dialogue”
with the relevant NGOs between the pre-sessional working group in February
2018 and the public meetings with the Committee.

9Major Cross-Cutting Issues Affecting Children’s Rights
A. Sufficient Attention Has Not Been Paid to Children’s Rights in Responses to theGreat East Japan Earthquake and the Accidents at the Fukushima Nuclear Power
PlantsThe Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on 11 March 2011,
brought about death of 15,824 persons (as of 29 February 2016; the total sum of
the number of the deceased in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures). The
identity of the deceased have been confirmed for 15,749 persons, among whom 893
were children. As a result of the earthquake, 241 children lost both and 1,514 lost
either of their parents (as of 1 March 2014). A significant increase of the numberof reports on child abuse and neglect, dealt with by the child guidance centers,
was observed in these three prefectures in the year 2011/12: 524 in Iwate (anincrease of 45% from the previous year), 1,314 in Miyagi (an increase of 75% fromthe previous year) and 564 in Fukushima (an increase of 182% from the year
2009/10; the figures are not available for the year 2010/11 in Fukushima becauseof the earthquake and the nuclear accidents), according to the Reports on Social
Welfare Administration and Services compiled by MHLW.
As such, the Great East Japan Earthquake has brought about significant
consequences for children. However, the situation of the victimization of andsupport for many of these children has not been grasped on a comprehensive andcontinuous basis across the affected areas. Although the accidents at the
Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants have also affected the children’s lives inextremely serious ways, the relevant issues are not taken up as if the accidents
did not happen or have been completely resolved, as is demonstrated in the whole
SPR (and in particular para. 37). Although the Reconstruction Agency wasestablished, the Government has not set up a central focal point to collectinformation on the situation of the affected children as well as support for themand coordinate such support; the bodies entrusted with such tasks exist only ineach of the three prefectures mainly affected by the earthquake. Support
measures for the affected children are planned and implemented in line with thepolicies developed respectively by the relevant ministries and agencies, not on acomprehensive and continuous basis. Official support measures are limited to theminimum level, including the arrangement for admitting the affected children
into schools in other areas, the dispatch of school counselors and the flexible
treatment concerning the payment of different benefits and allowances. Other
areas of support, such as providing the affected children with safe andcomfortable spaces and opportunities for play as well as creating opportunities for10children and guaranteeing their right to participate in the reconstruction processactively, are mostly covered by civil society organizations. In spite of the fact thatJapan is prone to natural disasters, inadequate measures have been taken to
prepare for and respond to major disasters that are likely to happen in the future.

Recommendations
1.
The Government should prepare a white paper on the children affected by theGreat East Japan Earthquake, with a view to having a comprehensive picture of how
the earthquake and the accidents at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants haveaffected children and sharing the experiences of these children among the generalpublic. Mechanisms should be developed to reflect these experiences in the relevant
policies through active participation of children in the reconstruction process.
Measures should be taken to make use of the knowledge, information and experiencelearnt from support activities in the future efforts for disaster prevention and reduction,with a view to developing tools to support children in future disasters.
2.
The Government and the Diet should take measures to ensure that the effortsof civil society to support reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake andthe nuclear accidents in Fukushima, focusing on support and activities for the affectedchildren through the realization of their rights, are institutionally established so thatthey can be implemented on a continuous basis tailored to the local circumstances.
B. Sufficient Measures Have Not Been Taken to Deal with Child Poverty
Although efforts have been made to tackle the social issue of child poverty
through the relevant laws and policies [SPR para. 14], the situation has not been
improved to a sufficient level due to the inadequacy of child rights perspectives.
In its previous concluding observations (para. 67), the Committee
recommended Japan to allocate appropriate resources to eradicate child poverty,
including through the elaboration of a poverty reduction strategy. The SPR,
however, does not provide specific information on the budgetary measures for theeradication of child poverty, only referring to the budgets concerning support fordevelopment of children and young people [para. 16].
While the General Principles of Policy on Poverty among Children [SPR
para. 14] envisage different forms of financial support for children and families,
these measures only focus on single-parent families and households on social
assistance and major budgetary measures have not been taken to implementthem.
In terms of the public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP,
Japan stood at the lowest among the OECD countries (see I-5 below). Even at the
primary and lower secondary levels, which are compulsory and said to be free of11charge, each household bears the burden of the expenses for school education andschool lunch that amounts approximately to ¥102,000 (public primary school;$808 or so in USD) and ¥167,000 (public lower secondary school; $1468 or so in
USD) on average every year. There are regional discrepancies in the provision offinancial assistance for school attendance, under which municipalities provide
subsidies for school supplies and school lunch for economically disadvantaged
families with compulsory school-age children, because the budgets are allocatedfrom municipal general funds with regard to the assistance for the households
that fall short of the qualifications for the assistance.

Recommendations
1.
Child rights-based responses and measures should be strengthened for theeradication of child poverty, including through taking necessary budgetary measureson the basis of surveys on the actual situation of child poverty.
2.
With a view to reducing the burden of educational expenses on families at thecompulsory level, measures should be taken to make compulsory education
completely free of charge, including with regard to school supplies and school lunch,in accordance with Article 28 of the Convention as well as the recommendation fromthe Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2013, para. 29). In themeantime, budgetary measures should be taken at the national level to eliminate
regional discrepancies in the administration of the system of financial assistance forschool attendance.

I. General Measures of Implementation
I-1. A Comprehensive Law on the Rights of the Child Needs to Be Adopted
The SPR mentions different legislative measures that have been taken in
the reporting periods as the measures taken to harmonize national laws with theprovisions of the Convention [paras. 5-10]. A comprehensive review of thelegislation on the basis of a rights-based approach has not been conducted,
however, and no measures have been taken to consider “adopting a comprehensive
law on child rights”, which was strongly recommended by the Committee in theprevious concluding observations (para. 12). It is a positive step that the 2016
amendments to the Child Welfare Act [SPR paras. 35 and 39] finally referred to
the Convention explicitly and declared that the child is a holder of rights (Article1), incorporating the principles of the best interests of the child and respect for theviews of the child (Article 2 (1)). The amendments are no more than the indicationof the philosophies, however, and have not been integrated into legislation,12

policy-making and administrative practice, as is illustrated by the fact the SPR
quotes the provisions of the Child Welfare Act before the amendments [paras. 48
and 83]. Meanwhile, there have been moves to intervene in families without theperspectives of children’s rights and family diversity, such as a Bill to Support
Family Education that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has sought to submit
to the Diet.
On the other hand, at least 44 municipalities (as of October 2016) haveadopted comprehensive local ordinances on children’s rights, which incorporated
the provisions of the Convention, at the local level; however, the Government has
not promoted such initiatives in an active way. With regard to the reservation anddeclarations, the SPR only refers to the previous report [para. 4], which
demonstrates that the Government has not considered the Committee’s
recommendations in this regard in good faith.

Recommendations
The reservation to and declarations on the Convention should be withdrawn.
The Government and the Diet should initiate a comprehensive review of thelegislation on the basis of a rights-based approach as well as the enactment of a
Fundamental Law on the Rights of the Child (tentative title), which is to be thefoundation of the comprehensive promotion and protection of children’s rights.
I-2. Courts Are Still Reluctant to Apply the Convention, Which Demonstrates the Needto Accept the Communication Procedures
While the SPR provides little information on the court cases where humanrights treaties were invoked, courts remain reluctant to apply the Convention andother human rights treaties. A significant exception was the Supreme Court
judgment in September 2013, which declared that discrimination against children
born out of wedlock in the field of inheritance was unconstitutional, referring also
to the observations of the Committee. Although the amendments to the Civil Codeto eliminate the discrimination were adopted in response to the Supreme Court
judgment, the Government does not mention it in the SPR [para. 29]. The
principles and provisions of the Convention, including the principle of the bestinterests of the child, have not been consistently considered in cases where
undocumented children and/or their families sought for special permission to stay,although there have been some judicial decisions in favor of these children on
humanitarian and other considerations [See III-B-2].
An effective remedy for this situation is to accept communication
procedures established under the Convention and other human rights treaties.
While the Government had announced that it started to consider for accepting
13

these procedures, no progress has been observed in this regard thereafter.

Recommendations
In accordance with Article 98 (2) of the Constitution of Japan, the Vienna
Convention on Law of Treaties and other relevant national and international obligations,
the Government and the Supreme Court should take all necessary measures,
including the provision of training and information to judges, to ensure that theConvention is fully taken into account and applied in judicial cases concerning children.
The Government and the Diet should promptly ratify the Optional Protocol on
Communication Procedures to the Convention.
I-3. A Rights-Based Approach Is Lacking in Policy-Making and Institutional Basis
Remains Inadequate
In spite of the repeated recommendations by the Committee, acomprehensive rights-based national plan of action for children has not been
adopted yet. Although the Outline mentioned in the SPR [para. 12] can be seen as
positive to some extent as a general policy document concerning children andyoung people, its reference to the Convention is no more than formalities and, inparticular, it does not pay sufficient attention to the implementation of theConvention and to empowerment of children and adults who support them.
Due to the lack of a comprehensive rights-based policy, no mechanisms
exist to undertake comprehensive coordination of the measures concerning theConvention and children’s rights [SPR para. 15], leading to problems in different
fields, including concerning a comprehensive review of the implementation of theConvention and the promotion of the rights of pre-school children. There has been
little progress at the national level in the discussion about ombudspersons orother independent institutions to monitor the implementation of the Convention
and children’s rights, contrary to the explanation by the Government that it is“being discussed appropriately” [SPR para. 19]. (At the local level, ombudspersons
for children or equivalent bodies have been established in some 30 municipalities
as of September 2016.) Cooperation with civil society [SPR para. 22] has not been
sufficiently systematic; and there have been tendencies that the Government does
not seek to fulfill public responsibility in adequate ways, relying on the efforts ofcivil society, including in the field of child poverty.

Recommendations
1.
The Government formulate a comprehensive rights-based national plan ofaction for children of all ages, including specific targets, timeframe as well as
indicators and procedures for evaluation, ensuring full participation of children and14

civil society. For this purpose, the “child rights impact assessment” procedures should
be introduced as well.
2.
On the basis of the above-mentioned plan of action, the Government should
establish a policy coordination body represented by all the public authorities involvedin the implementation of the Convention as well as representatives of civil society andNGOs concerned. The institutionalization of dialogue and cooperation with civilsociety and NGOs should also be sought, including through making a rule to include
representatives of civil society and NGOs working for children’s rights in thecoordinating body as well as different councils and committees concerned withchildren.
3.
In line with the repeated recommendations by different human rights treaty
bodies, the Government should promptly move to establish an independent national
human rights institution in accordance with the Paris Principles, along with measures
to support existing local ombudspersons for children or equivalent bodies and topromote the establishment of such bodies in the municipalities that have not yet doneso.
I-4. The Government Demonstrates Its Lack of Good Faith to the Committee by
Continuing Not to Provide Important Data in SPR
It is a step forward that the Government places more emphasis than theprevious reports, including by submitting the compilation of the relevant
statistics as one of the annex. The data submitted does not fully encompass therelevant areas, however, and the selection of the data is uneven. In particular, theSPR does not describe the situation of the children affected by the Great East
Japan Earthquake and the nuclear accidents in Fukushima (see “Major
Cross-Cutting Issues Affecting Children’s Rights” above); it does not provide theexisting data on child poverty (ibid.), including on the poverty rates amongchildren and single-parent households, only stating that the Government is“conducting survey research” [para. 14] on this issue. This raises doubt about goodfaith of the Government with regard to the dialogue with the Committee and evento the protection and promotion of children’s rights. This is particularly true in thefield of education; while the SPR states that the Government collects the data on“school aid to guardians of child students living in difficult economic conditions at
the elementary and middle school stage” and “acts of violence, bullying,
non-attendance, and other problem behaviors for child students at elementary,
middle and high schools” [para. 11], it does not provide the Committee with thedata.

Recommendations
15

In order to ensure that the accurate picture of children’s rights can be drawn,
the Government should strengthen the data collection system further, paying attention
to the Committee’s reporting guidelines and in consultation with NGOs and civilsociety. With a view to ensuring the effective use of such data, a comprehensive white
paper on children, separate from white papers of the relevant ministries, should be
published as well.
I-5. The Best Interests of the Child Are Not Fully Considered in the Budgeting Process
The explanation of the SPR on the budget allocations [para. 16] does not
respond to the Committee’s previous observations (paras. 19 and 20) at all, only
stating that Japan “secures sufficient resources to realize the rights of children”
without showing sufficient evidence. For example, however, the comparative
survey undertaken by the OECD (published in September 2017) shows that, in
terms of the public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (as of 2014) ,Japan stood at the lowest (3.2%) among the 34 countries surveyed. The proportionof the public expenditure allocated to pre-school education (46%) was also thelowest among the surveyed countries, far below the OECD average (82%); theproportion of the public expenditure allocated to higher education institutions(34%) was less than half of the OECD average (70%) as well. In addition, as was
acknowledged by the Cabinet Office on its website, the social expenditure forfamilies as a percentage of GDP was 1.34% in 2014/15, which remained low
compared to European countries such as Germany (2.24%), France (2.91%),
Sweden (3.63%) and the United Kingdom (3.86%).

Recommendations
The Government and the Diet should take all necessary measures to ensurethat the best interests of the child is fully considered in the budgeting process,including the institutionalization of the “child rights impact assessment” in the process.
I-6. Protection and Promotion of Children’s Rights in the Business Sector
The SPR [paras. 23-26] demonstrates lack of awareness on the part of theGovernment of adverse impacts of business activities on children, which issignificantly inconsistent with what was recommended by the Committee in its
previous concluding observations. The report shows no manifestation ofawareness of various possible impacts of business activities on children, includingchild labor in global supply chains; forced and exploitative labor of parents,
caregivers and young workers; land confiscation and destruction of livelihood andenvironment due to infrastructure development; increase in domestic low-paid
and irregular employment among parents and caregivers; challenges in
16

employment including work-life balance; sexual exploitation of children and childpornography; unsafe and insecure products and services for children; and impactsof marketing, advertisement, and mass media on children. Although it isnoteworthy that the Government refers to the formulation of a “National Action
Plan on Business and Human Rights” and the dissemination of “Children’s Rights
and Business Principles”, specific measures for these purposes are not indicatedin the report.

Recommendations
1.

The Government should establish legal and institutional frameworks torespect and protect children’s rights in this field and consider ensuring access toremedies for violations of these rights, fully respecting the Committee’s General
Comment No. 16 and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (2011).
2.
The Government should collect and aggregate information on the adverse
impacts of business activities on children, report the Japanese government’s current
policies, regulations, legislative measures, and other efforts based on the frameworkof “Protect, Respect and Remedy”, lay out challenges, and underline an outlook for
future efforts.
3.
In order to achieve the two suggested targets above, the Government should
ensure the participation of civil society in the process of formulating a “National Action
Plan on Business and Human Rights”, and utilize and reflect the “Children’s Rights
and Business Principles” in the action plan.
4.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned two recommendations, theGovernment should establish procurement policies for companies and thegovernment and consider a legal and institutional framework to encourage companies
to conduct human rights due diligence in supply chains.
I-7. It Is Necessary to Increase Budget Allocations and to Adopt a Child Rights-BasedApproach in the Field of ODA
Japan’s ODA as a proportion of GNI remains at 0.2%, which has been
decreasing since 2000 and stands at the 20th out of the 29 DAC members. While
the SDGs call on countries to commit 0.15-0.20% as a proportion of GNI for the
LDCs, Japan’s performance was only 0.08% in 2015.
Whereas Japan’s total ODA budget has been increasing, it has not led tothe increase of aid to education and other basic social sectors. Rather, Japan’s
ODA to education has been decreasing from 7.4% in 2011 to 2.7% in 2015. 52.2% ofbilateral ODA to education went to higher education and seniorvocational/technical training in 2015, which is much higher than primaryeducation at 7.5% and pre-school education at 0.2%.
17

Finally, Japan allocated only 2.3% of total bilateral ODA channeled to andthrough NGOs in 2014-2015, compared with DAC country average of 16.9%.

Recommendations
1.
The Government should develop a plan to achieve the 0.7% ODA/GNI and0.15~0.2% LDCs targets.
2.
Following the adoption of the SDGs, The Government should prioritize andstrengthen the protection and respect of children’s rights, by reviewing the current
ODA focusing on national interests and economic infrastructures. Also, in order toavoid ODA violating children’s rights, the Government should ensure in all projects
includingpublic-private
partnerships,
theapplicationofhumanitarian
criteria/standards such as the JICA guidelines for Environmental and Social
Considerations, local community engagement, and impact assessments.
3.
The Government should expand aid for basic social sectors that benefits
children, such as health, nutrition and education. Especially, humanitarian aid for
health, education and child protection in the situation of armed conflict and disasters isin urgent need, demanding immediate increase of aid.
4.
To achieve the SDGs principle “Leaving no one behind”, the respective areasof activities in ODA, especially for vulnerable groups, should be made open to NGOs
working close to local areas and communities which are difficult to reach. In addition,
to ensure respect and promotion of children’s rights, participation of NGOs,
partnership with NGOs, and monitoring by NGOs in ODA/public-private partnershipprojects should be expanded.
I-8. The Convention and the Committee’s Concluding Observations Have Not Been
Disseminated Adequately in Qualitative and Quantitative Terms
In spite of the provisions of Article 42 of the Convention and theCommittee’s previous recommendations (para. 23), the Government has not taken
sufficient measures to improve understanding and awareness of the principles
and provisions of the Convention (in particular Articles 3 and 12), leading to thepreservation of negative attitude among the public towards the notion ofchildren’s rights. While Annex II to SPR provide relatively detailed information on
training activities, what is important is evaluation of the impact of thesemeasures on “attitudinal change, behaviour and the treatment of children”, as
was recommended by the Committee in 2014 (para. 21(c)). There are still few
cases of systematic and practical education on children’s rights in training ofwould-be professionals concerned with children. Furthermore the dissemination
about the Convention among children, who are rights holders, remains to be
insufficient because it is not easy for children to have access to the text of the18

Convention and because the text is not child friendly.

Recommendations
1.
Following the precedent of the surveys about the extent to which the
CEDAW Convention is known, the Government should conduct adequate periodic
surveys about the extent to which the Convention is known among children, parents
and the general public as well as professionals concerning children and about to what
degree the philosophies and principles of the Convention have taken root, with a viewto taking all necessary measures to disseminate the Convention further on the basis of
the findings. In this regard, attention should also be paid to children who do not attend
school, children who belong to linguistic minorities and children with disabilities and to
the need to adopt methodologies that enable children to exercise their rights ineffective ways.
2.
In particular, the Government should take the following measures to promote
the dissemination of the Convention:(a) To launch a child-friendly section about the Convention on the website of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs;(b) To promote the dissemination of the Convention for foreign residents in Japan,
especially children, in their mother tongues (at least in Chinese and Korean as is
the case for the CEDAW Convention);(c) To put the text of the Convention on “maternity record books”; and,(d) To refer to the Convention explicitly the Course of Study so that its principles andprovisions are reflected in textbooks.

II. Definition of the ChildII-1. The Upper Age for the Application of the Juvenile Act Should Not Be Lowered,
While the Age of Consent Should Be Raised
After the voting age was lowered from 20 to 18 years of age in June 2015,
the issue of whether or not the age of majority under the Civil Code (20 years ofage) should be lowered is on the agenda. As is explained in the SPR [para. 27],
consideration is given in this process to the elimination of the difference in theminimum age of marriage for boys and girls (18 and 16 years respectively). In thisprocess, the lowering of the upper age for the application of the Juvenile Act from
20 to 18 is also being considered. It is appropriate, however, to continue to apply
the Juvenile Act, which is based on the principle of protection, to young people
who are 18 or 19 years old; the effectiveness of applying protective measures tothem is acknowledged by the members of the ruling party as well (the proposals
19

by the special mission committee of the Liberal Democratic Party on 10
September 2015). The exclusion of this age group from the coverage of theJuvenile Act means that some 55% of the juveniles involved in the justice process
would not be sent to the family court (the estimate based on 2016 Annual
Prosecution Statistics, Table 25).
With regard to the age of sexual consent, the SPR states that there are“provisions to penalize sexual activities, regardless of consent, with child who are
not less than 13 years of age but less than 18 years of age in the laws other thanthe Criminal Code as well as in local ordinances [para. 28]. This is not an accurate
description, however, because these provisions penalizes inappropriate sexual
contact, including sexual exploitation and what is called “sexual misconduct”.
Although the amendments to the Criminal Code in June 2017 criminalized the
involvement in sexual conduct with those under 18 years of age by taking
advantage of the influence as a guardian (Article 179), persons other thanguardians who can exercise influence over children was not covered by theprovision.

Recommendations
1.

In the light of the Committee’s General Comment No. 10 (para. 38), the upper

age for the application of the Juvenile Act (20 years of age) should be left as it is now,
since there is no need to lower the setting of the age, whose purposes are different
from those of the voting scheme.
2.
The Government and the Diet should amend the Criminal Code further, with aview to raising the age of sexual consent to an appropriate level and to criminalizing
the involvement in sexual conduct with those under 18 years of age by taking
advantage of the influence over children, whether the perpetrator is the guardian of
the child or not.

III. General Principles
III-A: Non-Discrimination
III-A-1. Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation Should Be Developed
Promptly
While the Diet has adopted pieces of legislation in some areas,
acknowledging the existence of discrimination and providing for measures for its
elimination, these legislative acts are not comprehensive anti-discrimination lawsand do not establish effective measures to provide remedies in sufficient ways.
20

Consequently there still remains discrimination against different categories ofchildren, such as: children of national minorities, including Buraku people (people
from the areas that have traditionally been segregated from the mainstream
community and who have been discriminated against) and the Ainu people (seeIII-A-6 below); children of migrants, returnees from China and who are otherwise
linked to foreign countries; children who are LGBTI (see III-A-5 below); andagainst children affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear
accidents in Fukushima. On 26 July 2016, at an institution for persons withintellectual disabilities, a former employee who had strong prejudices against
persons with disabilities killed 19 persons who had been admitted in theinstitution and inflicted severe or minor injuries on other 26 persons; sufficient
responses have not been taken on the basis of the acknowledgment that this mass
killing was a form of hate crime.
While the reinforcement of the human rights counseling system in foreign
languages [SPR para. 34] is a positive step, its impact is limited partly because it
was not underlined by comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation. The surveyof foreign residents in Japan, published by the Ministry of Justice in March 2017,
found that some 30% of the respondents have experienced discriminatory remarks
against them and that discrimination in the fields of housing and employment
still persists.

Recommendations
In the light of the relevant recommendations by the human rights treaty bodies,
the Government and the Diet should promptly develop comprehensive
anti-discrimination legislation, which includes provisions on such matters as
definitions of prohibited acts of discrimination (including hate speech), effective
mechanisms for the provision of remedies, research as well as education,awareness-raising and training.
III-A-2. Hate Speech and Hate Crime Targeting Children of Korean Schools in
Particular
Several human rights treaty bodies, including the Committee on the
Rights of the Child repeatedly expressed their concern about verbal and physicalattacks and hate crime against minorities, especially children attending Korean
schools to the Japanese Government. Not only any effective measures have beentaken to combat hate speeches and hate crimes against Korean school children,
but also the Japanese government has never conducted any research orinvestigation on incidents targeting Korean schools and their students, in the end,
racist groups attacked Korean school where children have lesson inside while the21issue of hate speech against minority groups, especially Korean residents inJapan has been increasing in its number and grossness. The racist attack itself
had enormous negative mental damage on the victims, especially the traumatic
experience suffered by the Korean elementary school children. What is worse,
racist groups filmed the whole process of attack and uploaded the video to several
websites so as to incite discrimination, hatred, and violence against Korean
residents in Japan.
While the anti-hate speech law was enacted in May 2016, the law only
clarified the basic principles with hate speech in Japan and does not prohibit thehate speech. Even after the enactment of the law, there are tons of webpages ofhate speech demonstrations against Korean residents in Japan, which make
Korean children fear to express their ethnic identity in public places.

Recommendations
1.
The Government should conduct fact-finding survey for the damage affected
to Korean school children, who is the most vulnerable target of hate speeches andhate crimes and take effective measures towards hate speeches and hate crimes.
2.
The Government should enact comprehensive anti-discrimination law which
includes regulation of hate speeches and hate crimes on the internet which incites
discrimination, hostility or violence against Korean residents in Japan, especiallychildren attending Korean school.
III-A-3. Progress in the Elimination of Discrimination against Children Born out of
Wedlock and Remaining Problems
The discriminatory provision with regard to the right to inheritance ofchildren born out of wedlock, about which the Human Rights Committee, the CRC
Committee and other treaty bodies have repeatedly expressed concerns, wasrepealed at last in December 2013. Since then, no measures have been taken toeliminate other discriminatory provisions in the Civil Code, the Family
Registration Act and the taxation laws. The concept of “legitimacy” has been kept
in the Civil Code and discriminatory expressions such as “a legitimate child” and“a child who is not legitimate” are still used. Many discriminatory legal systems,
including the provision of the Family Registration Act concerning thediscriminatory description in the birth notification, are maintained.
In society there still exists deep-rooted discrimination against unmarriedmothers and children born out of wedlock. Many of them have to live secluded inorder to keep them undiscovered. There are cases where children born out of
wedlock have gotten harassed or expelled from their houses once they were foundto be born out of wedlock. For these and other reasons, the percentage of children
22born out of wedlock out of all births in Japan was only 2.3% in 2015.
It should be noted that the previous concerns expressed andrecommendations made by the CRC Committee as well as those by the CEDAW in
2016 (paras. 12 and 13) refer not only to discriminatory provisions of the Civil
Code but also to the indication on birth certificates and family registers and theuse of discriminatory terms such as “a child who is not legitimate”.
(See Annex: Discriminatory Legal Systems towards Children Born out of Wedlock
in Japan for details.)

Recommendations
1.
The Government should repeal the provision of the Family Registration Act
which requires the description, in a birth notification, whether the child is ‘legitimate’ or‘not legitimate’.
2. The Government should correct the indication of gender on the family registers
filed before November 2004, which makes it easy to see that the child was born out of
wedlock, on its own initiative in a lump without waiting for the applications from thoseconcerned. If this is not possible because of the present requirement that the family
relationship should be indicated so that the birth order of children can be understoodat a glance, the requirement itself should be repealed.
3. The Government should consider abolishing the notion of ‘legitimacy’ itself andeliminate such legal terms as ‘a legitimate child’ and ‘a child who is not legitimate’ assoon as possible.
III-A-4. Further Efforts Are Needed for the Elimination against Girls Especially in the
Field of Education
Since around 2002, Japan has experienced backlashes against sexuality
education and “gender-free” (seeking to free people from gender stereotypes)
initiatives by the conservatives. Some parliamentarians tried to inflame thepublic sentiment by referring to extreme cases in the national and local
parliaments as well as the media, putting pressure on local authorities and otheractors to refrain from being involved in such initiatives. Teachers were subjected
to disciplinary measures in some cases (in one of such cases that occurred in
Nanao School for Children with Disabilities, the disciplinary measures against
the teachers who had conducted sexuality education were found wrongful by the
court, which was finalized by the Supreme Court in 2013), which has discouraged
gender equality education and sexuality education at school. While the SPR [para.
31] argues that the removal of the provision on co-education of boys and girls fromthe Basic Act on Education has not produced negative consequences, genderequality and sexuality education is not systematically integrated in school
23

curricula, only being addressed sporadically in such subjects as health andphysical education, home economics and morality education. Stereotyped
attitudes about gender roles still persist in Japanese society, which are reflected
in gender gaps in different areas as well as in the distinctively high poverty rate
among single mothers.
In October 2017, MEXT announced that it would abolish the Gender
Equality Learning Division, which has supported participation of women insociety, and merge it with the newly-established Division on the Promotion of
Learning for Society Based on Harmonious Coexistence. There is concern that lessfocus may be placed on the promotion of gender equality in the pretext of pursuing“society based on harmonious coexistence in a broader sense”.

Recommendations
The Government, especially the Gender Equality Bureau (the Cabinet Office)and the Ministry of Justice, should integrate gender equality education systematicallyinto school curricula, with a view to promote girls’ empowerment and to increaseawareness about gender equality among both boys and girls, taking into consideration
the recommendations by the CEDAW Committee in 2016 (in particular para. 33).
III-A-5. Further Educational Measures Are Needed to Prevent Discrimination against
LGBTI Children
With regard to LGBTI children, MEXT issued a circular in April 2015 andpublished a guidebook for teachers in April 2016 concerning the treatment of suchchildren; those children were identified as one of the groups “who should be given
particular attention” in the Basic Policy for Bullying Prevention, revised in March2017. In the Course of Study concerning the subjects of (health and ) physicaleducation, however, the reference to “the emergence of interest in the opposite sex
along with physical and mental growth and development” has been maintained aspart of what should be taught in school education. In addition, the Government
has taken the position that “it is difficult to take the issue of [LGBTI] as part ofwhat should be taught in school education in the light of the need to ensureteachings in accordance with the developmental stages of each pupil and student,
understanding of the guardians and the public and the appropriateness ofteachings by teachers”, in spite of the fact that it acknowledges that prejudice,exclusion and other forms of discrimination may be a matter of life or death,
recognizing that LGBTI children are more likely to have suicidal though in the
Guideline for Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Measures (2007).

Recommendations
The Government and the Diet should adopt a comprehensive law that24

prohibits people who are LGBTI and strengthen measures, particularly in school, toprotect LGBTI children from discrimination. The Government, especially MEXT,
should take prompt measures to promote training of all teachers about the issues ofsexual orientation and gender identity so that they have proper understanding of
sexual diversity. In addition, it should create the school environment where children’s
dignity and diversity is respected and they can learn with a sense of security, by
promoting the introduction of gender-neutral school uniforms and school regulations
as well as the repairing of school facilities to make them gender-neutral, whether or
not the existence of LGBTI children is recognized by particular schools.
III-A-6. Protection and Promotion of the Rights of the Ainu Children as An Indigenous
People Should Be Ensured
The Ainu, a recognized indigenous people in Japan, have been deprived of
their land, mother tongue and culture through assimilation policies and continued
to face social discrimination and educational disadvantages. According to thesurvey on the living conditions of the Ainu people in Hokkaido (the northern partof Japan where the majority of the indigenous people live), conducted by the
Hokkaido Government in 2013, the gaps have grown in the enrolment rates at theupper secondary and higher education level between the Ainu people and the local
average since the previous survey in 2006; the survey also found the decrease in
the household annual income, which suggests that the parents have become moreconcerned about “stable life and employment” than “improvement in education”.
The survey also found that the proportion of the respondents who have “neverexperienced discrimination” has decreased significantly from the previous survey,
demonstrating that discrimination against the Ainu people has not been
eliminated. At school, however, the preparation and use of supplementary readersand other learning materials on the Ainu history and culture has moved
backward even in Hokkaido; in other areas, the situation of the Ainu people has
not been adequately recognized as a human rights issue in education, only taken
up in history classes with regard to the relationship between them and theJapanese to the utmost. Contrary to the recommendations by the CESCR
Committee in 2013 (para. 30), the descriptions in a history textbook for lower
secondary schools about the discriminatory law that had existed (the Law on theProtection of the Former Aboriginals in Hokkaido) were subjected to a negative
opinion in the textbook screening process with regard to the historical fact thatthe land of the Ainu had been taken away by the government at the time.

Recommendations
1.

The Government and the Diet should develop legislation that prohibits
25

discrimination against the Ainu people and protects their rights as an indigenous
people, including the right to ethnic identity.
2.
Given the importance of education in the elimination of discrimination and theprotection of ethnic identity, the Government, especially MEXT, should guarantee
ethnic education for the Ainu children from the preschool stage and, in school
education and social education in Hokkaido as well as in other areas, promoterights-based education about the history, culture and actual situation of theindigenous Ainu people in active manners.
III-A-7. Foreign Children Are Subjected to Disproportional Punishment under
Immigration Law
Although the obligation of foreigners to carry the alien registration
certificate all the time was abolished for special permanent residents, it ismaintained for medium/long-term residents, who are to be subjected to criminal
punishment (a fine no more than ¥200,000 (around $1750 USD)) in case ofnon-fulfilment.
In addition, foreigners over 16 years of age are obliged to renew theregistration by the prescribed period (during six month before the birthday,
including the birthday itself), irrespective of whether they are special permanent
residents or medium/long-term residents. Those who fail to do so are also to be
subjected to criminal punishment (imprisonment no more than a year or a fine nomore than ¥200,000). What is strange is that, after the introduction of the newscheme on 9 July 2012, children of foreign nationality who 16 years of age canrenew the registration by themselves only on the birthday, because the parents orother relatives in the same households have the duty to do so until the day before.
This means that, if parents or relatives fail to fulfil the obligation, these children
would be subjected to criminal punishment unless they undertake the renewal
procedures on the very day of birthday, even if they have important school eventsor examinations on the day. See also the concluding observations of the Human
Rights Committee in 1993 (para. 9) and 1998 (para. 17).

Recommendations
In the light of the provisions of the Convention, including Article 2 (2) and
Article 3 (1), the Government should take legislative measures to repeal theprovisions that subject children over 16 years of age to criminal punishment when
they fail to fulfill the obligation to carry the alien registration certificate all the time orwhen they fail to renew the registration by the subscribed deadline.

26

III-B: The Best Interests of the Child
III-B-1. The Principle of the Best Interests of the Child Should Be Integrated into
Legislation, Policy and Practice
While the SPR [para. 35] does not clearly mention, it is a positive step thatthe 2016 amendments to the Child Welfare Act explicitly refers to the principle ofthe best interests of the child in Article 2 (1). However, in spite of the fact that the
Act to Support Training of Children and Young People (2009) already refers to theConvention and provides for the need to take the principle into account, the bestinterests of the child have not been a primary consideration in the legislative,
policy-making and budgeting processes since the adoption of the Act, partly
because there are no procedures to ensure the implementation of the principle.
This tendency is particularly notable in the fields of education and juvenile justice(see VIII-* and IX-B-1). The fact that the SPR takes up the two principles in one
section [Section 3 (2)] can be seen as reflecting inadequate awareness of theimportance of these principles on the part of the Government.

Recommendations
The Government and the Diet should provide for the principle of the bestinterests of the child explicitly and systematically in the laws, regulations and otherdocuments concerning children and establish mechanisms and procedures to ensure
this principle, including the “child rights impact assessment” procedures, taking into
account the principle of respect for the views of the child (Article 12).
III-B-2. The Principle of the Best Interests of the Child Should Be Integrated into
Legislation, Policy and Practice
In spite of the fact that the Committee refereed to “a mandatory process of
integrating the best interests of all children, including refugee and undocumented
migrant children” in its previous concluding observations (para. 37), theGovernment does not provide explanations in this regard in its report. In
decisions concerning deportation of or special permission to stay for
undocumented families, the Government still maintains its position that “the bestinterests of the child are considered within the framework of the immigration
control system”. Cases where the best interests of the child have not been
sufficiently considered in immigration procedures continue to occur. In one case,for example, a deportation order was issued against a former victim of traffickingof Thai nationality who had been in an irregular situation as well as her son who
was born and has been grown up in Japan for 17 years. The courts (the Tokyo
District Courts in June 2016 and the Tokyo High Court in December 2016) upheld27the order while suggesting the possibility of granting special permission to stayfor the child, virtually forcing their separation.

Recommendations
In addition to withdrawing the declarations on Articles 9 (1) and 10 (1) of theConvention, the Government, especially MoJ, should take legislative, procedural andother measures to ensure that the best interests of the child become a primaryconsideration in decisions concerning the residence, the maintenance of family unity
and/or family reunification of undocumented children and their families.
III-C: Right to Life, Survival and Development
III-C-1. Adequate Care Has Not Been Taken for Children and Parents Who Suffer from
(Perceived) Radiation Exposure Caused by the Fukushima Nuclear Accidents
In June 2017, the Prefectural Task Force on the Health Status of the
Citizens of Fukushima announced that the number of the children who werediagnosed as suffering from thyroid cancer or as being suspected as such wasincreased to 191 from 74 in December 2013. In order to avoid focus on this issue,
the Fukushima Prefectural Office has described thyroid cancer among children as“malignant [which means cancer] or being suspected as malignant” to implicatethat children who do not suffer from thyroid cancer are also included, making it
difficult to compare the figures with those from the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
While the Task Force acknowledged “the obvious increase in the cases of thyroid
cancer”, it concluded that they “cannot be regarded as having been caused by the
nuclear accidents in Fukushima” without showing solid grounds.
Actually, however, metastasis has been observed in many of the cancer
patients; and some of the children who had been diagnosed as A1 (no cysts or
nodes have been found) in the first cycle of the screening tests have been found tohave cancer in the second cycle of the tests after a short period of time. Some of
the children and their families who were told about their status have faced
economic difficulties (due to the costs of medical examinations and attending
hospitals), isolation and problems in continuing education, finding employment orenvisaging future marriage and childbirth; others may be forced to be receive
medication and other forms of medical treatment throughout life due toredevelopment and/or metastasis. Different forms of continuous support for thesechildren and their parents, including financial assistance, have been provided by
NPOs and other private organizations instead of the authorities.
The children and parents affected by the exposure to radiation have filed
suits against the State and Fukushima Prefecture to seek for remedies on the28

grounds that the suggested threshold about the annual radiation dose inschoolyards, which is set at 20 mSv, is illegal; that there are still many areas in
Fukushima where the criteria for the control areas for radiation are met; that a
lot of radioactive fallouts continue to be detected; that the soil pollution levelremains high, leading to the refloating of radioactive fine particles in the soil andforcing children to be subject to internal exposure to radiation.

Recommendations
1.
In addition to even more careful surveys and other efforts to find out the
impact of the nuclear accidents on health of the affected population, the Government,
Fukushima Prefecture and the Diet should pledge medical, social, financial and othermeasures to support the children from thyroid cancer and other health conditions wellinto the future and, on the basis of the precautionary principle, accelerate thedevelopment of national and local legislation and institutions to ensure the rights ofthe children and their parents who suffer from (perceived) radiation exposure toevacuation to and recuperation in safer environments.
2.
The Government, Fukushima Prefecture and other authorities should
acknowledge their responsibilities for exposing children to radiation, by promoting
nuclear power plants relentlessly without fulfilling the obligations of security inadequate manners, and take measures to protect the rights of the affected children tolife, survival and development on the basis of the shifted burden of proof.
III-C-2. Children Are Killed or Injured in Accidents Due to the Inadequate MinimumStandards and Guidelines
In spite of the previous recommendations by the Committee (paras. 40 and42), the SPR [para. 35] only refers to the staffing standards in child welfare
institutions. Urgent measures are necessary to prevent “unexpected accidents”,
which are one of the leading causes of death, especially among younger children,
as is shown below (the statistics compiled by MHLW).
 Infants: the fourth leading cause of death (unexpected suffocation, among
others) Children between 1-4 years of age: the second leading cause of death(unexpected suffocation and drowning, among others) Children between 5-9 years of age: the leading cause of death (traffic accidents
and unexpected drowning, among others)
In daycare facilities, more than ten fatal accidents and some hundreds ofother serious accidents (leading to injuries that will take more than 30 days) occur
every year (according to the Cabinet Office and other official sources). The
obligation to report these accidents, however, had not been imposed on licensed
29

facilities until 2015 and on unlicensed facilities until October 2017. Fatal andother serious incidents occur in extracurricular activities and sports meetings inprimary and secondary schools, too.

Recommendations
While being careful not to put excessive restrictions on creative initiatives bycivil society organizations, the Government should establish necessary safety
standards and other minimum standards for facilities and institutions concerning
children, followed by appropriate supervision of their observance. In addition, allnecessary measures should be taken to prevent traffic, school and domestic
accidents and to ensure appropriate responses to the accidents that occurred,
including the comprehensive re-planning of community roads, the provision of safety
and first aid education and the expansion of pediatric emergency care arrangements.
III-C-3. Measures against Suicide among Children and Young People Should Be
Strengthened
While it has been a positive step that measures as are described in the
SPR [paras. 46 and 47] have been taken to address suicide among children andyoung people, the report only provides the data on the general suicide rate. While
the suicide rate has exhibited a decreasing trend in general, it has remained
almost flat or exhibited a slight increase among children and young people under
20 years of age, which marked 2.4% in 2016 (according to the statistics compiled
by MHLW). Suicide is the leading cause of death among those between 15 and 19
years of age and the second leading cause of death among those between 10 and
14 years of age (in 2016, ibid.).
According to the NPA, the motive of suicide that is identified most often
among primary and secondary students was “school problems” (36.3%), followedby “trouble with parents” (23.4%) and “health problems” (19.7%) in 2016. The
finding suggests that stress in school is a heavy burden for children, underpinnedby the announcement of the Cabinet Office that the day when the number ofsuicide among children is the highest throughout the year is the first of September,which is the first day of the second semester after the summer vacation for the
majority of schools in Japan. Among the cases of suicide motivated by “school
problems”, which were identified as the leading cause of suicide, there were six
cases found be caused by bullying; the SPR, however, does not provide such dataneither.

Recommendations
The Government, especially MEXT and MHLW, should further strengthen theexisting measures to prevent suicide among children, including through hearing
30

children’s voices. Emphasis should be placed in this regard on alleviating stress inschool, providing counseling services about parent-child relationships and paying
more attention to LGBTI children and other children in vulnerable situations.
III-C-4. U.S. Military Bases Threaten Life, Survival and Development of Children in
Okinawa
Okinawa, an islands prefecture located in the southern part of Japan, wasan independent country called "Ryuku Kingdom" until it was merged into Japan
in 1879, after which it has been the subject systematic discriminatory policies.
And, due to the concentration of the US military bases in Okinawa (some 74% of
all the US military bases in Japan), the children of Okinawa have been subject toseverer violation of their rights to life, survival and development as well as tosafety and health, compared to children in other areas. Accidents caused by the
US military personnel, including during military exercises, as well as rape andother forms of sexual violence against girls continue to be big problems. The noiseof fighter planes and other aircrafts have caused health problems, including
hearing problems due to the noise. The concentration of the US bases has also
infringed the right of the children of Okinawa to education in safe environment
significantly, compared to children in other areas.

Recommendations
Recognizing the fact that the children of Okinawa have been forced to bear far
more burdens than children living in other areas do, the Government should take
immediate measures to eradicate negative consequences of the presence of the U.S.
military bases on their education, health and development. In addition, effective
measures should be taken to protect the children of Okinawa from sexual violence
and crime by U.S. military personnel, including through the effective law-enforcement
against them.
III-D: Respect for the View of the Child/Child Participation
III-D-1. The Rights of Children to Express Their Views and to Have Them Respected
Are Not Ensured Sufficiently
While the SPR [para. 35] does not clearly mention, it is a positive step thatthe 2016 amendments to the Child Welfare Act explicitly refers to the principle ofrespect for the views of the child in Article 2 (1). In addition to the introduction of
the relevant provisions in the Act to Support Training of Children and Young
People (2009) [SPR para. 36] and the Act on Securing Opportunities for Education
Equivalent to Formal Education at the Compulsory Level (December 2016), it can
31also be seen as a positive step that the Domestic Relations Case Procedure Act(2011) consolidated the provisions concerning the child’s participation in theproceedings [SPR para. 40]. Some municipalities have established permanent“children’s councils” in an attempt to reflect children’s views in municipal policies.
Children’s voices have not been systematically heard, however, in thelegislative and policy processes, including the budgeting process. Although the
SPR refers to the Child Welfare Council by way of example [para. 39], theprovision states that the Council “may, when it finds it particularly necessary,hear the views of children and families”, showing that the rule and the exception
are turned around. Sufficient measures have not been taken, either, to promotechildren’s voices and participation at school (see III-D-2 below), in alternative care(see III-D-3 below) as well as in health and medical settings. While it is a positive
step that efforts have been made in some areas to listen to children in the processof reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake [SPR para. 37],
advocated and supported by NGOs, only less than 20% of the municipalreconstruction plans include the elements of child participation, many of whichhave been developed by the municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture.

Recommendations
In the light of the Committee’s General Comment No. 12 (2009), the Diet and
the Government should amend major laws concerning children other than the Child
Welfare Act, including the School Education Act, with a view to introducing explicit
provisions on the principle of respect for the views of the child, and add necessarychanges to laws and regulations to ensure the effective implementation of theprinciple. Furthermore, measures should be taken to promote awareness-raising andtraining about the rights of children to be heard and participate as well as theimportance of these rights among children, parents, professional concerning children
and the general public as well as to encourage municipalities to develop mechanisms
for children’s participation.
III-D-2. The Expression of Views and Participation by Children Remain Difficult at
SchoolThe Government still maintains the one-sided interpretation about
Article 12 that “[t]he formulation of school rules, determination of curricula andother related matters at schools are not considered items related to individual
children and do not come under the scope of rights for expressing opinions
described in Article 12(1)” [SPR para. 38], which is contrary to the Committee’s
General Comment No. 12 (2009). The fact that it is the rights of children to
express their view and participate is not acknowledged, as is demonstrated in the32statement in the report that the opinions of children are taken into account in theschool administration “as needed” [ibid.]. While “care” is to be taken to give
pupils/students opportunities to explain themselves in suspension of attendanceor other disciplinary procedures, such “care” is encouraged with a view toensuring smooth implementation and educational effectiveness of these measures,
instead of being required to protect children’s rights and guarantee due process
for them. Under these circumstances, children’s participation remains inactive atschool.

Recommendations
1.
The Government, especially MEXT, should correct its understanding of theConvention, including in the light of the Committee’s General Comment No. 12, andtake measures to legally guarantee the rights of children to participate in the school
management and to develop institutional basis to this effect.
2.
With regard to disciplinary measures or measures to suspend attendance, theSchool Education Act and the relevant regulations should be amended with a view toimposing legal obligations on schools to make prior notifications to the children
concerned and to provide them with opportunities to explain themselves and toguaranteeing those children the right to appeal against such decisions.
III-D-3. Children in Alternative Care Should Be Given Opportunities for Raising Voices
and ParticipatingChildren in alternative care are not given adequate opportunities toexpress their views and participate in the whole processes of temporary protection,
placement or changes of placement into foster care or institutional care and daily
lives in institutions. In the absence of institutionalized mechanisms, including
advocates for them, to support such children in expressing their views andparticipating, those children have significant difficulties in the expression of theirviews and in life planning on their own. Children who are or had been placed inalternative care are not heard in sufficient manners in the discussions on policy
and institutions concerning alternative care. (For details, see Annex: Toward a
More Meaningful Foster Youth Engagement.)

Recommendations
The Government, especially MHLW, should take all necessary measures,
including the institutionalization of child advocates, to ensure and promote theexpression of the views and participation by children who are or had been placed inalternative care in the whole processes of alternative care.
III-D-4. Child Participation in Legislative and Policy Making Processes is Insufficient33

and Citizenship Education Should Be Strengthened
There is a growing interest in citizenship education in the aftermath of thelowering of the voting age to 18 through the amendments to the Public Officers
Election Act in 2015. MEXT issued a circular on the education for general politicalknowledge for and political activities by upper secondary school students,
announcing that the education for general political knowledge will be promoted.
At the same time, however, the Ministry required schools to ensure “politicalneutrality” in accordance with Article 14 (2) of the Basic Act on Education; it also
called on teachers to refrain from expressing personal thoughts and positions andto conduct teachings from impartial and neutral perspectives, while referring to
the importance of indicating diverse views so that students can deepen theirthoughts and arguments. Since the interpretation of “neutrality” may be arbitrary,these requirements have chilling effects on those working at school. In order toenable children to participate in the construction of better society as citizens andsubjects, education should be conducted in the manners that equip students withliteracy and that make it possible to explore ways of solving familiar problems anddifficult challenges through cooperation and collaboration; citizenship education
promoted by MEXT, however, is not committed to the teachings that emphasize
democratic values.

Recommendations
In order to build better society, it is necessary to promote education oriented
to the nurturing of citizens who form peaceful and democratic society, which should be
integrated into school curricula at each level of education. In the light of the principlesof the Constitution of Japan and the Convention, children should be provided withactive learning opportunities on the universal values of democratic society. For thispurpose, citizenship awareness should be fostered in education through academic
lessons, class activities, student councils, school events and child-led activities atcommunity.

IV. Civil Rights and Freedoms
IV-1. Measures Should Be Taken to Protect Children from Statelessness and
Non-Registration
The SPR ignores the Committee’s previous recommendation that called forlegislative measures “to ensure the registration of all children and protect
children from de jure statelessness” (para. 46 (a)), only responding to para. 46 (b)by stating that “the presence of stateless persons and the protection of their status34

and rights have not been a major issue in Japan and domestic needs forconcluding the Convention [Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons] are notnecessarily clear” [para. 53]. According to the Ministry of Justice, however, there
were 191 stateless students (154 at the primary level and 37 at the lower
secondary level) as of March 2016; and there were at least 626 stateless persons inJapan as of the end of 2016, among whom 112 were under 18 years of age.
In addition, there are persons who are not registered on the family
register because the notifications of their birth have not been submitted for
different reasons, including the so-called “300-day problem” (non-registration
caused by the provision under the Civil Code that a child born within 300 days
after the parents’ divorce shall be registered as a child of the mother and herformer husband even if it is contrary to the fact). Through the survey conducted
between September 2014 and March 2017, the Ministry of Justice found 1305
persons who are not registered on the family register; some people estimate thatthe number is actually likely to amount nearly to 10,000. While the Ministry ofJustice has taken measures to respond to the non-registration, the problem has
not been completely solved. Furthermore there are a certain number of children
whose whereabouts are unknown: the number is 1349 according to the National
Census (2010, 104 according to the Basic Research on Schools (2016) and 35
according to the survey by MHLW (2016).

Recommendations
In order to ensure that all the children living in Japan are duly registered andgranted nationality of Japan or other states at birth, the Government and the Diet
should amend the Family Register Act, the Nationality Act, the Immigration Control Act
and other relevant laws, while taking all necessary measures to ensure that
non-registered children can receive education, health care and other essential social
services.
IV-2. The Imposition of the National Flag and Anthem Threatens Children’s Freedomof Thought and Conscience

Hinomaru (Sun-Rising Flag) and Kimigayo (Emperor’s Era) were formallyrecognized as the national flag and anthem of Japan respectively through theenactment of the Act on the National Flag and the National Anthem in 1999.
Given the fact that a certain number of people maintain negative attitudes about
the specific flag and the song, associating them with Japan’s acts of aggression
before the end of the World War II, the representatives of the Government
repeatedly stated, during the drafting process of the Act, that the bill “is notintended to impose duties to respect the national flag and anthem on the people”
35and that they “have no intention to interfere with what pupils and students thinkwith a view to forcing them to behave in certain ways”. Nevertheless, guidance
and pressure by the boards of education and other authorities is prevalent inpractice, often amounting to de facto imposition; in recent years, such guidance
and pressure has been extended to national universities and pre-school
institutions (kindergartens and daycare centers), not only to primary andsecondary schools (including schools for children with disabilities).

Recommendations
The Government, especially MEXT, should take all necessary measures toensure that the rights of the child under the CRC, inter alia, the right to thought,
conscience and religion (Article 14), the right to express opinions freely concerning
matters affecting them and to have them respected (Article 12) and the right toeducational environment that permits for a diversity of values (Article 29), are notinfringed in the course of the introduction of the national flag and anthem in school
events and ceremonies.
IV-3. School Rules Still Impose Excessive Restrictions on Children’s Rights
Although MEXT instructed, in its circular issued upon the entry into forceof the Convention in Japan, that schools should “continue to review school rules …
with consideration for the conditions of children, the views of guardians, thecurrent circumstances in the local community, changes of society, and movementwith the times”, it does not recognize the right of students to express their viewson school rules, as is acknowledged in the SPR [para. 38] (see also III-D-2).
Consequently there still remain unreasonable school rules that impose excessive
restrictions on children’s body, clothes, behavior and daily lives (including theirlives outside school). Even in 2017, there have been reported cases where publichigh schools in Tokyo require the students whose hair is not black or straight tosubmit proof that the it is their natural hair or where a public high school in
Osaka has instructed a student whose hair is brown by nature to dye it black.
Such rules deny diversity among children (including diversity based on disability,
sexual orientation and gender identity, ethnic origin and other factors), infringeon the rights of the child, among others, to freedom of expression, to freedom of
association and peaceful assembly and to physical integrity and deprives them ofopportunities to develop through experiences of autonomous decisions.

Recommendations
The Government, especially MEXT, should take all necessary measures toensure that unreasonable school rules that unjustly infringe on children’s rights arereexamined and that students’ participation in the development and review of school36

rules are guaranteed as their right, including issuing circulars, developing
rights-based guidelines and establishing independent complaint mechanisms.

V. Violence against Children
V-1. Corporal Punishment of Children Should Be Prohibited in All Settings andAwareness-Raising Measures Should Be Strengthened
Several measures have been taken for the prevention of corporalpunishment at home and in alternative care settings since June 2010. In 2010, forexample, the Civil Code was amended to provide explicitly that the parent’s rightof custody and education shall be exercised “for the interests of the child” (Article
820). The 2013 revision of the official Handbook on Responses to Child Abuse andNeglect made it clear that corporal punishment is inappropriate. The amendment
to the Child Welfare Act in June 2016 explicitly provides that the parent(s) “shallnot discipline the child beyond the extent necessary for custody and education indisciplining the child” [SPR para. 61]; after the adoption of the amendment,
MHLW published a brochure for the prevention of corporal punishment inaccordance with the supplementary resolution by the House of Councilors. In thefield of education, MEXT responded to the case where a high school student killed
himself because of corporal punishment (December 2012) by issuing a newcircular to reconfirm the rule of prohibition of corporal punishment.
Corporal punishment and humiliating treatment of children, however, is
not explicitly prohibited in all settings yet. Partly due to this lack of total ban,society in general remains to be tolerant of such treatment, leading to theoccurrence of many cases of corporal punishment in all settings where children
spend their life, including at school where corporal punishment is alreadyprohibited; in several questionnaire surveys of parents conducted by the media,
more than 60% of the respondents replied that they have used corporalpunishment. Further efforts are also needed to address abuse and other forms ofviolence against children in alternative care, including violence by other children
in institutions.

Recommendations
The Government and the Diet should explicitly prohibit all forms of corporalpunishment and humiliating treatment of children in all setting, including at home, bylaw. The Government should conduct, promote and support campaigns andawareness-raising activities on alternative forms of discipline and on children’s rights,
targeting parents, professionals concerning children (including teachers and childcare
37

workers) and the general public. It is also necessary to establish mechanisms to haveaccurate pictures of corporal punishment and humiliating treatment of children indifferent settings.
V-2. Supportive Interventions and Psychological Aftercare Should Be Strengthened to
Respond to an Ever Increasing Number of Reported Cases of Child Abuse
Through the amendments to the Child Welfare Act, the Child Abuse
Prevention Act and other relevant pieces of legislation, a broad range of measures
have been taken to address child abuse and neglect, including the reinforcementof reporting channels [SPR para. 62] and awareness-raising activities [ibid., para.
61]. Those measures, however, still tend to be reactionary in nature and notnecessarily focus on the rights of children. For example, abusive parents are
sometimes subject to unilateral and directive interventions instead of supportive
ones in the processes of temporary protection and the development ofchild-rearing plans thereafter; children are not adequately heard in theseprocesses, either. In addition, temporary protection primarily focus on theprotection of children, paying insufficient attention to the protection of theirrights, including the right to education.
While the general public is highly interested in the issue of child abuse
and neglect, many of them are not sufficiently aware of what constitutes childabuse and neglect under the Child Abuse Prevention Act and of the importance ofreporting. Consequently there are many cases of abuse and neglect that have notbeen reported to the appropriate authorities. In addition, adequate supportive
interventions are not provided at the early stage in many cases. Efforts toencourage parents with difficulties to seek for advice and help have not beensuccessful enough, leading to non-response to or deterioration of abusive acts.
Awareness-raising targeted at children has not been sufficient, either, andchild-friendly mechanisms are hardly available for children to seek for advice andhelp. Adequate measures have not been taken to address social, financial andother problems behind cases of child abuse and neglect, which makes it difficult toprevent these cases from occurring.

Recommendations
In order to prevent and eliminate child abuse and neglect and other forms ofviolence against children, the Government, especially MHLW and MEXT, should
strengthen awareness-raising campaigns and training about such violence and takefurther support measures to deal with the problems behind child abuse and neglect,
including poverty and mental health difficulties. With a view to prevent non-responseto and deterioration of cases of abuse and neglect, comprehensive early supportive38

interventions should be further promoted by reinforcing the existing structures.
V-3. Initiatives to Eliminate Corporal Punishment and Other Forms of Violence at
School Are Still Insufficient
As is mentioned above (see V-1), national surveys and training have been
conducted to promote school education without corporal punishment in theaftermath of the suicide of a high school student in 2012 driven by corporalpunishment. Many cases of corporal punishment are still reported, however; thenumber of teachers who were subjected to disciplinary measures on the ground of
corporal punishment amounted to 952 in 2014/15 and 721 in 2015/16.
During club activities in school at the secondary level, in particular,
corporal punishment and other forms of physical and verbal abuse as well as
unreasonable conduct on the pretext of “coaching” have been observed, including
cases of sexual violence. Observers have been pointed out that violence in club
activities in school are exacerbated by excessive burdens on teachers who are
involved in club activities, which makes it difficult to spend sufficient time to beengaged with students with care. Other contributing factors include social
tolerance of corporal punishment as well as the expectation on the part of schools
and/or parents for excellent results, for example in athletic meetings. With a viewto reduce such burdens, MEXT amended part of the Ordinance for Enforcement of
the School Education Act in 2017, introducing the system of “club activities
instructors” recruited from outside, who are to be in charge of club activities inschool and who can instruct the members and take them out for games and otherpurposes.

Recommendations
Taking the Committee’s General Comments No. 8 and 13 on violence againstchildren, the Government, especially MEXT, should develop and implement acomprehensive programme of action to prevent and resolve violence at school, as
was recommended by the Committee in the first concluding observations on Japan(1998). In this regard, it is necessary, inter alia, to cover all forms of violence at school,
to hear pupils/students and other stakeholders and to promote human rights
education and learning about rights, an essential in the prevention of violence.
V-4. More Effective Implementation of the Bullying Prevention Act Should Be Taken
The adoption of the Act for Promoting Bullying Prevention Measures in2013 [SPR para. 124] was a positive step, although such a measure had been
waited for a long time well before the tragic incident of suicide of a junior highschool student on the ground of bullying (in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, in 2011),
39

which triggered such a move.
Although the SPR states that the Government “conducts annual surveys
and analysis of national conditions related to acts of violence, bullying, and otherproblem behaviors by children and students at elementary schools, junior highschools, and high schools”, it does not provide the outcomes of such surveys (seealso I-4). While it is positive that emphasis has been placed on “how cases ofbullying were identified” instead of focusing on the non-existence of such cases,
the dark figures are likely to be high, as is reflected in the variations in therelevant statistics, which makes it difficult to have an accurate picture of thephenomenon. While the NPA estimates that 1.9% of suicide cases among children
were motivated by bullying (2016), the figure is likely to be higher if attention ispaid to cases associated with bullying because the causes and motivations ofsuicide are often multi-faceted (see also III-C-3 on suicide among children andyoung people).
While the Bullying Prevention Act focuses on the prevention, early
identification of and responses to cases of bullying, the responses called for by the
Act have not been well-established in each and every school, including in terms ofthe definition and nature of bullying. This holds true with regard to the obligation
to set up an independent task force concerning serious cases of bullying, including
those that have led to death or non-attendance at school of the victim, at theschool or municipal level. This indicates the need to further improve and promote
the guidelines on the task force, developed by MEXT for the purposes ofstandardizing and ensuring impartiality of the inquiry process.

Recommendations
The Government, especially MEXT, should implement and promote practicalmeasures that take into consideration the nature of bullying, rather than seeking toconclude cases in formalistic ways (simple apologies from the bullies, for example) or
only taking punitive measures. Such measures should include: the establishment ofeffective channels for children to seek help, including independent complaint
mechanisms at the local and national levels; the placement of school counselors andschool social workers and the arrangements for systematic and effective collaborationof the relevant professionals; and the improvement of the functions of independenttask forces set up under the Bullying Prevention Act in serious cases, including
through sharing lessons learnt from the activities of the existing task forces.
V-5. Appropriate Responses Are Needed to Sexual Abuse of Children That Tend to
Remain Unreported
While 1622 cases of child sexual abuse were reported to child guidance40

centers in 2016/17, the number of arrest on the ground of child sexual abuse waslimited to 162 in 2016. While 989 cases of rape (including those against adultwomen) were reported to the police in 2016, the figure cannot be regarded asreflecting the actual picture of sexual violence, since 6.5% of women haveexperience forced sexual intercourse but only 4.3% of them reported to the police(according to the Gender Equality Bureau, the Cabinet Office). In the field of
education, some 200 teachers have been subjected to disciplinary measures on the
grounds of “indecent acts” every year, although not all the acts were conductedwithin the schools where they were employed; as has been mentioned above (seeV-3), the issue of sexual violence in school club activities have become a social
issue. While the amendments to the Criminal Code in June 2017 removed therequirement of a formal complaint to bring the perpetrator to justice andcriminalized the involvement in sexual conduct with those under 18 years of age
by taking advantage of the influence as a guardian (see also II-1), no changes havebeen added to the statute of limitations and sufficient support is not provided tohelp the victims to file complaints.
One of the reasons why sexual abuse of children remain hidden is thatlack of professionals who can conduct interviews of child victims in appropriatemanners (forensic interviewing). While MHLW encouraged the use of thetechnique in its circular in October 2015, the numbers of such interviews havebeen limited to 188 (those interviewed under the jurisdiction of the MoJ), 214(MHLW) and 139 (NPA); the official statistics in this regard are not available on aperiodic basis.
In addition, the official statistics specifically concerning sexual abuse ofchildren with disabilities are not available, making it difficult to have a picture of
the situation. While cases of abuse and neglect of children with disabilities aredealt with under the Child Abuse Prevention Act instead of the Act on thePrevention of Persons with Disabilities (2011), the primary institutions in chargeof responding to cases of child abuse do not necessarily have the expertise andexperience concerning disability.

Recommendations
With a view to protecting children from sexual abuse and violence, theGovernment and the Diet should take further legislative measures, including making
the initial date for reckoning the statute of limitations the day when the victim reachedmajority. Further measures should be taken to encourage and support complaints by
the child victims (including children with disabilities) as well as to avoid re-victimizationin the investigative and judicial processes, including the development of appropriate
human resources.
41V-6. The Issue of Dating Violence Should Be Officially Acknowledged with
Strengthened Preventive Education
The number of violence from dating partners (dating violence) is
increasing. According to the surveys by the Cabinet Office, 10.1% of the
respondents reported that they had experienced this type of violence in 2011/12;
the figure increased to 14.8% in 2014/15, with more males reporting thevictimization. While more females in their twenties and thirties as well as moremales in their thirties have been subjected to this type of violence, cases of dating
violence also occur among younger people, including adolescents. 20.5% of thevictims reported the experience of risks to their lives; in some cases, dating
violence led to killings of the partners’ family members. Due to the widened use ofmobile phones, the Internet and SNS services, the victimization tend to get
invisible, serious and prolonged.
Under the amendments to the Spousal Violence Prevention Act in January
2014, it is now possible for the victims to apply for restraining orders or otherprotective orders when they are subjected to violence from their partners,
provided that they are cohabiting couples. It is often difficult for the victims,
however, to submit necessary evidence when they become disempowered byviolence; in addition, most cases of dating violence occur between couples who are
not cohabiting, making the protective scheme still inadequate.
According to the above-mentioned surveys, the victims of dating violence
are more likely, with a significant difference, to suffer from spousal violence aftergetting married. This finding indicates the importance of the measures to deal
with dating violence, including with a view to preventing future victimization
through domestic violence. In addition, there is a significant shortage of advisory
services and skilled supporters for gays and lesbians who suffer from dating
violence, which is further likely to go unreported because such relationships areoften kept secret.

Recommendations
The Government should develop effective measures to support victims(including males and LGBTI persons) of dating violence, including through theconsolidation of protective schemes on a statutory basis. Specific preventive
education on this issue should be provided in all educational institutions inaccordance with children’s developmental stages. Effective responses to perpetratorsof dating violence should also be explored.

42

VI. Family Environment and Alternative Care
VI-1. Single-Parents, Most of Whom Are Employed, Remain in Difficult Conditions
In spite of the high employment rate among single-parents (80.6% of
single mothers and 91.3% of single fathers were employed in 2011), many of them,especially single mothers, continue to be disadvantaged in terms of financial andother conditions. The poverty rate among single-parent households was 50.8% in
2015; two in one single-parent households live with the annual income less than
1.22 million yen, which is one fourth of the average income in Japan.
The rate of income redistribution through taxation and social security
schemes is extremely low, ranking at the bottom among the OECD countries.
According to a survey conducted in 2014, the amount of the social welfare benefits
constitute no more than 18.7% of the total annual income of single-parent
households on average. These circumstances make it difficult for them to get outof poverty on their own. While some efforts have been made with regard to therecovery of maintenance for the child, many single parents (around 80% of single
mothers) do not receive maintenance for their children from the previous partners.
Conflicts concerning the payment of maintenance often affect regular contact
between children and their separated parents.
Those factors affect the rate of enrolment in higher education amongchildren in single-parent households, which was 23.9％ in 2011 compared to thegeneral enrolment rate (53.7％ in 2014).

Recommendations
The Government, especially MHLW, should development and implement
comprehensive policies to support single-parent households, including throughmeasures to increase their income (for example by raising the amount of various
social benefits and/or grant-type scholarships) and the reinforcement of advisory
services on different aspects of their lives.
VI-2. Gaps in Procedures for Temporary Protection in Cases of Child Abuse andNeglect
In 2015/2016, child guidance centers dealt with 103,286 reported cases ofchild abuse and neglect. Among such cases, children were separated from theirparents and placed into temporary protection by child guidance centers in 11,607
cases and 6,194 children were placed in child welfare facilities.
Child guidance centers have the power to separate abused children fromtheir parents and to provide them with temporary protection on their own
initiative against the will of the parents. Although temporary protection of43children amount to the deprivation of liberty under Article 37 of the Convention,
the relevant procedural rights are not guaranteed to children who are subjected totemporary protection and their parents. While temporary protection can bechallenged through administrative suits on an ex post basis, it usually takes a few
months to reach to the conclusions, which makes the scheme virtual separation ofchildren and parents without judicial review not in line with Art. 9 (1) of theConvention. The gaps would be partially remedied by the amendment to the Child
Welfare Act in June 2017, which provides that the permission of the family court
is required when the child guidance center seeks to extend the period of
temporary protection beyond two months against the parents’ will.

Recommendations
In the light of the provisions of Articles 9 (1) and 37 of the Convention, theGovernment and the Diet should take further measures to ensure that temporary
protection of children is promptly subject to judicial review.
VI-3. Majority of Children without Parental Care Are Still Placed in Institutions
In spite of the Committee’s previous recommendations (para. 53), themajority of children without parental care are still placed in residential
institutions. While measures have been taken to promote foster care, theproportion of placement in foster care stood at 17.5% as of March 2017; most of thechildren without parental care (74.5%) were placed in children’s homes and young
children (8.1%) were placed in infant homes.
In Challenges and the Future of Alternative Care, a policy document
prepared by the Government in 2011 to improve the situation, the target figure
concerning the proportion of foster care was set at one third of all the placement,
while one third of the institutions were to be maintained. In 2017, a task force of
MHLW formulated the New Visions of Alternative Care and announced the future
policies, including that young children under the age of 3 should be placed infamily environment as a rule and that institutions should be made small andcommunity-based, which are basically in line with the UN Guidelines on
Alternative Care of Children. Children with disabilities who live in residential
institutions are not included in the statistics on alternative care, however, and thedeinstitutionalization of such children was not explicitly mentioned in the 2011
document.
On the other hand, sufficient human resources have not been allocated so
far to promote foster care. The number of the staff who are primarily involved in
the task in child guidance centers, the primary organ in this field, is only 1.5 on
average. This is one of the reasons why more children without parental care are44not placed in foster care and why there are many cases where foster children are
moved to other faster families. The shortage of the staff also makes it difficult toprovide foster parents with sufficient care and support.

Recommendations
The Government, especially MHLW, should steadily implement the policy ofdeinstitutionalization, reflected in the New Visions of Alternative Care of 2017, while
paying sufficient attention to the need to avoid negative consequences that may bebrought about by hasty processes. The policy of deinstitutionalization should also be
applied to children with disabilities living in residential institutions. Proactive measures
should be taken to strengthen the capacity of child guidance centers with regard tofoster care and to promote appropriate involvement of civil society in this regard.
VI-4. Family Contact and Reunification Should Be Sought in the Best Interests of theChildChildren in alternative care (including temporary protection) often
prevented from having regular contact with their parents at the discretion of thehead of the child guidance center. While restrictions on such contact may benecessary in the light of the circumstances of specific cases, sufficient safeguards
have not been taken to avoid unnecessary restrictions.
In addition, some 60% of children in child welfare institutions have stayed
there for more than three years, which indicates that efforts for family
reunification have not been successful enough. It is a positive step that the 2017
amendments to the Child Welfare Act empowers the family court to recommend
the prefectural authorities to provide guidance to parents with a view topromoting family reunification in cases where children and parents have been
separated for a prolonged period of time.

Recommendations
1.
The Diet and the Government, especially MHLW, should ensure that
restrictions on contact between children and parents in separation are imposed inaccordance with due process prescribed by law and consider the introduction of
judicial review in this regard.
2.
In line with the UN Guidelines on Alternative Care of Children, theGovernment, especially MHLW, should strengthen efforts to promote family
reunification for children in alternative care, provided that it is in the best interests ofthe child. It should also consider the institutionalization of the arrangement for
adoption or other permanent solutions in case of non-cooperation on the part of theparents.

45

VI-5. The Adoption System Should Be Modified Further to Ensure the Best Interest of
the Child
While the special adoption system is intended to serve the best interests ofthe child by securing permanent families for children without parental care, there
are many factors that hinder the use of the system, including the upper age limitof the adopted child (6 years of age), the rigid requirement to obtain the consent of
the biological parents and the non-involvement of child guidance centers in theprocess in many municipalities. Consequently the number of special adoption isvery small, being 500 cases or so per year, compared to the number of children
placed in alternative care for a prolonged period of time.
In addition, follow-up measures have not been taken to implement theCommittee’s previous recommendation that all adoptions should be subject tojudicial authorization and be in accordance with the best interests of the child(para. 55 (a)), as is acknowledged in SPR para. 94. The same holds true for theCommittee’s recommendation concerning the ratification
Convention on Intercountry Adoption [SPR para. 95-96].

of

the

Hague

Recommendations
1.

The Diet and the Government should review the legislation on and proceduresof adoption of children, including the removal of the factors that restrain the use of
special adoption, while paying special attention to the need to ensure that the bestinterests of the child be the paramount consideration in all cases.
2.
The Diet and the Government should take concrete steps to ratify the Hague
Convention on Intercountry Adoption in the near future, including the consideration of
the possibility to adopt specific legislation on intercountry adoption.

VII. Disability, Basic Health and Welfare
VII-1. “Special Needs Education” Should Be Shifted to Inclusive Education
Although the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was
ratified and the relevant legislation was amended or adopted, necessary
reasonable accommodation has not been provided on a sufficient basis because of
the shortage of human and financial resources as well as of the inadequate
dissemination of the Convention and the relevant legislation. On the other hand,the number of “special needs schools/classes” and of pupils/students who are given“special instruction in resource rooms” have been on the steady increase. “Special
needs education” is still based on the concept of segregation and cannot be
regarded as inclusive education envisaged in the relevant human rights treaties.
46

Under the revised Course of Study for special needs schools, one of the objectivesof special needs education is to help pupils/students with disabilities “toameliorate or overcome the difficulties caused by their disabilities in daily lives
and learning”, which focus on the instructions based on the medical model.
Since the adoption of the Act on Support for Persons with Developmental
Disabilities in 2005, an increasing number of children who are “found” to havedevelopmental disabilities have been placed in special needs schools/classes.
Under the Ordinance for Enforcement of the School Education Act, which wasrevised in 2013, “the wishes of the pupil or student and his/her parents shall be
respected to the maximum extent” with regard to the educational placement ofchildren found to be with disabilities, abolishing the rule that the placement in a
special needs school should be prioritized; after the revision, however, some 80%
of children with disabilities are enrolled in special needs schools.
In addition, there has not been sufficient progress in terms of admission ofchildren with disabilities at the upper secondary level; cases of non-admission on
the ground of disabilities continue to occur even if the number of applicants for an
upper secondary school does not exceed the prescribed quota.

Recommendations
In the light of the Committee’s General Comment No.9, the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNESCO Salamanca Declaration and otherrelevant international instruments, the Government, especially MEXT, should takeurgent measures to promote inclusive education, including the provision of sufficienthuman and financial resources to enable children with disabilities to be included inregular schools/classes. In particular, the obligatory nature of reasonableaccommodation should be widely known among teachers, school administrators andlocal officers as well as children and their parents.
VII-2. Re-Introduction of the Color Perception Test at School Should Be Reconsidered
Persons with color-vision deficiency had faced many obstacles incontinuing education or finding employment. Since the deficiency does notinterfere with daily lives or most of jobs in serious ways, and since there werecases where persons with the deficiency were not employed in spite of the fact itwould not interfere with the work, the Industrial Safety and Health Act wasamended in 2001 to exclude the color perception test from the medical
examination at the time of employment. In 2003, the test was excluded from the
medical examination of pupils/students on the ground that the deficiency does notaffect their school lives in most cases.
After the amendments to the School Health and Safety Act in April 2014,47

however, MEXT recommended that the appropriate arrangements be made to
conduct the color perception test when necessary. Since then, an increasing
number of schools have started to conduct the color perception test again, partly
in response to the arguments from ophthalmologist calling for the necessity of thetest at school. Concerns have been expressed about the involvement of teachers in
the color perception test, which is a form of genetic screening.

Recommendations
The Government, especially MEXT, should reconsider the policy concerning
the color perception test at school, including the possibility of prohibiting the test at
school. Restrictions on education and employment on the ground of color-vision
deficiency should be lifted further and efforts should be made to eliminate social
barriers faced by persons with color-vision deficiency, including the provision oftraining for teachers.
VII-3. Reproductive Health Education Is Not Provided in Systematic and EffectiveWays
The descriptions of SPR concerning sex education at school [para. 112] do
not reflect the actual situation. According to a questionnaire survey conducted by
the Japan Teachers’ Union, more than 30% of the respondents reported that “sexeducation is not included in the curricula in my school” or “I don’t know (about sex
education in my school”. 30% of the respondents answered that they do notprovide sexuality education and the proportion got higher in the order of primary,lower secondary and upper secondary levels. Concerns have been expressed fromteachers that they cannot find many good examples of sexuality education; thatthe curricula on sexuality education are not systematic and consistent; and thatthey cannot have common understanding of the necessity of sexuality education at
school.
Resistance on the part of the general public about reproductive healtheducation is still persistent. Backlashes against such education have beenrecorded, including the disciplinary measures imposed on the teachers who hadprovided sexuality education for children with disabilities (see III-A-4). There
have been reported cases where pregnant girls were urged or forced to withdraw
from upper secondary schools. Concerns have been expressed that sex education
promoted by MEXT might lead to the promotion of birth given the declining
birthrate faced by Japan.
There are other gaps in the field of adolescent health, including thoseconcerning mental health.

Recommendations
48

The Government, especially MEXT and MHLW, should adopt a plan of action
to improve adolescent health, including reproductive health of adolescents, whichcontains target figures for the reduction of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS
and abortion. In this regard, emphasis should be given to the development ofeducation and community-based services which are sensitive to the special needs ofadolescents, in the light of the Committee’s General Comments No.4, 5 and 20.
Support should be given to teenage mothers and their partners, including counseling,educational and occupational assistance and the provision of opportunities forcommunity exchanges.
VII-4. Further Efforts Should Be Made to Admit All the Children in Need to Daycare
Centers while Ensuring and Improving the Quality of CareAs an increasing number of women get employed, demands for daycare
centers are rapidly growing, especially with regard to children under the age ofthree. Consequently the number of children on waiting lists (who cannot be
admitted to daycare centers even if both of their parents are working) have beenon the increase in recent years, mainly in urban areas. The number amounted to
26,081 (the increase of 2,528 from the previous year); children under the age ofthree constitute 88.6% (23,114 children) of them.
Although the central and local governments have tried to solve the issue,
including through the implementation of the Plan to Accelerate the Elimination of
Waiting Lists for Nursery Schools (daycare centers) [SPR para. 119], it has
become difficult to open new daycare centers in urban areas due to different
reasons, including lack of appropriate spaces and shortage of skilled childcare
workers. Concerns have been expressed about the quality of daycare in thiscontext, including about fatal and other serious accidents (see also III-C-2).
Similar problems have been pointed out with regard to afterschool care of primaryschool pupils.

Recommendations
The Government, especially MHLW, should take all necessary measures,
including budgetary ones, to meet the demands for daycare services on the basis of achild rights-based approach. In this regard, special attention should be paid to theneeds to ensure both the quantity and quality of daycare.

VIII. Education, Leisure and Cultural Activities
VIII-1. Impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Nuclear Accidents in49

Fukushima
In the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011,
many schools are still in the process of reconstruction. Many children continue toschool infirmaries for support because of their unstable mental conditions causedby such factors as financial difficulties faced by their parents or changes in family
relationships. The reconstruction budget to allocate more teachers to provide carefor children affected by the earthquake has been reduced, however; in Iwate
Prefecture, for example, the number of the additional teachers was reduced to 180
in 2017/18 from some 200 in the previous fiscal year. School counselors are sent toprimary and lower secondary schools on a rotational basis, which makes it
difficult for them to provide thorough care for children. Psychological care forparents as well as teachers and other school staff is also required.
In the affected prefectures, temporary shelters still remain in schoolyards
in some areas. Some children are forced to go to school by bus or their parents’cars, which is not often the case in Japan, because of the heavy traffic of large
construction trucks. While there are children who stay in temporary shelters with
their parents because they do not want to leave the areas where they have lived,
the population of the affected areas have been on the decrease, which has led toclosing and consolidation of schools.
In Fukushima, some schools still operate in temporary buildings orclassrooms in other schools. In Futaba County, located in the proximity of the
Fukushima nuclear power plants, the number of children in primary and lower
secondary schools has dramatically decreased; even after the evacuation orders
were lifted in some areas, the proportion of the children who returned to theprimary schools in the areas does not exceed 45%; with regard to some schools inthe difficult-to-return zones, only 1% or so of the original pupils attend therelocated schools. In some schools, wastes produced through the decontamination
process have been “temporarily” placed in their schoolyards but have not been
completely removed yet. Even after the evacuation orders were lifted, theresidents who had been ordered to evacuate must wait for a few years to havetheir houses repaired, while their children are forced to travel a long way to go toschool after the re-opening. Sufficient efforts have not been made to provide
radiation education, including human rights perspectives, which is essential todeal with such issues as exposure to radiation and damage caused by harmful
rumors and to provide care for children.

Recommendations
1.
The Government, especially MEXT, should take measures to continue “theprogram to support the school attendance by the pupils/students affected by the50disaster” by allocating sufficient budgets to the program and to improve the measures
to help them to continue education at the upper secondary and higher levels, including
the provision of grant-type scholarships. Measures should be taken to continue andincrease the allocation of additional teachers for the affected schools and to haveschool counselors permanently stationed in each school.
2.
The Government should continue to provide support for the construction andrepairmen of the school buildings and facilities in the affected areas and to remove
temporary shelters set up in the schoolyards.
3.
In Fukushima, budgetary and other measures should be taken to strengthenradiation education and provide opportunities for recuperation in order to reduce andprevent exposure to low doze radiation among children. With a view to preventing
discrimination and bullying against the children affected by the Fukushima nuclear
accidents, human rights-based radiation education should be provided at school
across the country.
VIII-2. The Competitive Nature of the Education System Has Been Fostered throughthe Academic Ability Surveys for All Pupils/Students
The National Survey on Academic Ability and Learning Status, which is
not in the SPR [para. 123], was introduced in 2007, targeting at the 6th- and 9thgraders, and now involve all the pupils/students in the relevant grades. In 2017,
the outcomes of the Survey began to be published not only on the prefectural basis
but also with regard to major cities designated by cabinet order, contributing to
the stratification of schools and geographical areas on the basis of academic
performance. In this context, municipalities and schools have begun to make useof supplementary learning materials, workbooks, tests and teacher training
marketed by business enterprises for the improvement of the scores. Pressure has
been given on teachers to improve the scores, for example by reflecting theoutcomes of the Survey in their performance appraisal. The competitiveness ineducation has been exacerbated through this process, with overheated
preparations for the Survey or similar tests conducted by municipalities for theother grades not covered by the Survey. Consequently concerns have been raisedthat children become less willing to learn or that pressure is given to teachers byschool administrators and/or boards of education. The exclusion and selection ofchildren has been reported as well, including children with developmental
disorders who are sometimes excluded from the reported outcomes to MEXT.

Recommendations
The organization and management of the National Survey on Academic
Ability and Learning Status should be thoroughly reviewed to eliminate its contributing51

effects on the stratification of schools and competitiveness in education, including
making it a sampling survey rather than involving all the pupils/students in the specificgrades. With regard to the Course of Study, which constitutes the basis of the Survey,
MEXT should maintain the position that the document is a general outline of whatshould be taught in school and instruct municipalities and boards of education not tointerfere with the content of teachings, paying attention to the Recommendation
concerning the Status of Teachers adopted by ILO/UNESCO.
VIII-3. Problems in the Present “Education Reform” Process and Strengthened State
Interference with Education
During the process of major reforms of the education system undertaken
so far, there has been total lack of a child rights-based approach; education has
been considered primarily as a tool to serve specific policy objectives, such as
adjustment to the globalization or the development of patriotism. During theprocess, the provisions of the Convention or the relevant general comments of the
CRC Committee and the CESCR Committee have barely been referred to or
mentioned; systematic measures have not been taken to involve civil society,children and young people on a broad basis, either. In addition, the new Basic Act
on Education focuses only on “citizens” (those who have Japanese nationality inthis context) and seeks to foster “an attitude to …love the country [Japan]”,ignoring the fact that there are minority children who are different from
“Japanese” in terms of ethnicity, language and nationality. Furthermore the State
interference with education has been reinforced, including through the impositionof “the national flag and anthem” (see IV-2) and of the official views in the
textbook screening process.

Recommendations
In the light of the Convention and the Committee’s general comments, theDiet and the Government, especially MEXT, should conduct comprehensive review of
the Basic Act on Education and amend it in accordance with a rights-based approach.
In this process, effective participation of children, parents, teachers and otherteaching staff, NPOs and other stakeholders should be guaranteed. The State
interference with education should be terminated and the “education reform” should
be proceeded with respect for autonomy of the stakeholders in the field.
VIII-4. The Government Views Are to Be Reflected in Textbooks through the
Authorization and Adoption Process
The Government amended part of the Textbook Authorization Standards
in January 2014 and then, three months after, revised the Guide of the Screening52

of the Textbook Authorization. Consequently textbook publishers are now
required to reflect official views, such as the Government’s positions expressed in
Cabinet decisions and other documents as well as the jurisdictions of the Supreme
Court. Contrary to the recommendation by the CESCR Committee (2013) thatJapan should “educate the public on the exploitation of ‘comfort women’” (para.
26), a lot of screening opinions have been put forward on the descriptions about“comfort women” or “the massacre of Koreans during the Great Kanto Earthquake[of 1923]”, to which many publishers responded by deleting the descriptions.
Concerns have been expressed about self-restraint on the part of textbook
publishers, which has resulted in insufficient presentation of historical facts (seeSPR para. 128).
The Act on Free Provision of Textbooks in Schools at the Compulsory Level
was also partially amended in April 2014, which made it mandatory to adopt thesame textbooks for all the schools in the area in accordance with the conclusion of
the area conference for the selection of textbooks. Consequently somemunicipalities have reduced transparency of the textbook adoption process,especially when there are disagreement about the adoption, including by making
the meetings of the area conference closed to the public on the pretext of ensuring“the peaceful environment for the adoption” or by not announcing the result
immediately.

Recommendations
Since homogeneous values should not be imposed in education by the State,
the Government, especially MEXT, should stop the textbook authorization practices
that may amount to censorship or excessive imposition of specific descriptions. In thelight of the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers adopted by
ILO/UNESCO and other relevant instruments, the views of teachers and otherstakeholders should be reflected in the textbook selection process.
VIII-5. The Improvement of Educational Conditions Falls behind the Needs of Children
While Teachers’ Working Conditions Have Worsened
Teachers’ overtime work has continued to be on the increase. According to
the survey undertaken by MEXT in 2017, the average working hours on weekdays
were 11 hours and 15 minutes per day (including 29 minutes’ work at home) for
primary school teachers and 11 hours and 32 minutes per day (including 20
minutes’ work at home) for lower secondary school teachers. According to thesurvey conducted by a private institution, 70% of primary school teachers and
90% of lower secondary school teachers do overtime work for more than 80 hours
per month, which is one of the threshold of recognition of karoshi (death from53

overwork). Many teachers are exhausted both physically and mentally due tothese working conditions, resulting in the high number of teachers who are on
leave of absence on the grounds of mental disorders or other health conditions,who die before retirement and who leave the job before the retirement age.
The factors contributing to these harsh conditions include: lack of proper
management of working hours in most schools; excessive burdens of work causedby the number of pupils/students in a classroom that is higher than the OECDaverage (approximately 23 children), the high number of class teachings required
for a week, the need to respond to questionnaires and other survey requests sentby the central and local authorities, etc.; and the duty to instruct club activities,
including on weekends, which are virtually imposed on teachers working in lower
secondary teachers despite its extracurricular nature. Consequently teachers
have less time to interact with children, which makes it difficult for them tounderstand the situation and developmental status of each children, resulting in
negative consequences for children’s development.

Recommendations
In order to reduce burdens on teachers, the Government, especially MEXT,
should decrease the number of pupils/students in a classroom to the level of theOECD average (approximately 23 children) and take necessary measures to ensurethat teachers do not have work overtime, including through allocating more teachersand other staff, reducing tasks that should be performed by them and requiring school
administrators to manage their working hours properly. Other proactive measures
should be taken to make teachers less busy and to realize decent work for them,including by seeking to transfer club activities to the field of social education and by
repealing the Act on Special Measures concerning the Wages of Teachers in
Compulsory Education Schools, which fosters indeterminate overtime work.
VIII-6. The Expansion of Preschool Education Should Be Promoted
The Government started to discuss the possibility of making earlychildhood education, whose importance has been acknowledged at the global level,available free of charge. Public daycare centers and kindergartens play importantroles, in the context of an increasing number of children in need of support, as thesafety net in the community for children and their parents.
The new Child and Child-Raising Support System [SPR para. 119] wasintroduced to realize the philosophy that all children should be provided withquality preschool education, whether or not both of their parents are employed.
Since the system had been envisaged on the prerequisite that the consumption(VAT) tax rate be raised to 10%, however, it became difficult to secure sufficient54

budgets for the operation of the system due to the sudden decision of theGovernment to postpone the raising. This has caused confusion among children,
parents, communities and preschool teachers and workers, together with the lackof sufficient dissemination about its objectives and of the time for adequate
preparations. Some municipalities have focused more on the reduction of public
spending than on the realization of the objectives of the system, promoting theprivatization of public facilities for preschool education; 422 public kindergartens
were closed in one year from 2015 to 2016. Since emphasis has been placed on theelimination of waiting lists for daycare centers (nursery schools), it has beenfound out that some licensed day care centers were involved in mismanagement,
including admission beyond the permitted capacity.
The working conditions of preschool teachers are poor and they are
exhausted, as their counterparts in primary and lower secondary schools are,from long working hours and excessive burdens of different tasks. Due to therecent budget reduction, the number of non-regular and short-time workers is on
the increase in preschool institutions in many municipalities. It has gotten
difficult to secure an adequate number of teachers and other staff, partly because
the wages are low in the light of the professional responsibilities and workloads;
some kindergartens were not able to secure class teachers before the new term
starts, while employees without the teacher’s license for preschool education
became class teachers in other kindergartens. Thus it has become difficult toensure quality education at the preschool level.

Recommendations
In order to ensure the right of children to learn in the community from thepreschool level, the Government should maintain and improve public preschool
education institutions, which have functioned as a safety net of education andchildcare at the community. MEXT, MHLW and the Cabinet Office, among others,
should promote inter-agency coordination for the improvement of preschool education,
including in terms of the prescribed number and working conditions of preschool
teachers and of the facilities and equipment of preschool institutions.
VIII-7. Equal Educational Opportunities Should Be Provided at the Upper Secondaryand Higher Levels
More than 50% of students in higher education receive scholarships or
student loans. The proportion of the students who receive grant-type scholarships
is less than 1% of the total, however. While the Government announced that it
would give grant-type scholarships for some 20,000 students on an annual basis
after the year 2018, young people in more difficult situations may be excluded55

because the thresholds of academic performance for receiving the scholarships arehigh and because the would-be beneficiaries consist less than 3% of the total
number of students at the higher level.
The proportion of the private expenditure for higher education in Japan ishigher than many European countries; students have to pay high school expenses
that cannot be covered by the amount of the scholarships to be introduced after
2018. While most students use student loans to study at higher education
institutions, 60% of the loans are not interest-free. There are many students whoare in debt at the time of graduation that may amount to 10 million yen or so. The
increase in the proportion of non-regular workers in the workforce, which reacheda record high (37.5%) in 2016, makes it difficult for many to repay the loans.
At the upper secondary level, the Tuition Waiver and Tuition Support
Fund Program for High School Education was introduced in 2010. The scheme
was modified in 2014, however, to introduce the income cap and the requirement
to apply for the support. This has led to the exclusion of some children who are in
real need of such support on the ground of non-application.

Recommendations
The Government, especially MEXT, should have a clear picture of thefinancial burdens of upper secondary and higher education on children and theirfamilies, with a view to making necessary arrangements for the responses to andelimination of poverty and discrepancies among children and young people. For thispurpose, secondary and higher education should be made available free of charge assoon as possible; in the meantime, the grant-type scholarship schemes should be
expanded and student loans should be made interest-free.
VIII-8. Alternative Forms of Education Should Be Further Promoted and Strengthened
According to the survey by MEXT, the number of children who did notattend school (who were absent from school for more than 30 days a year on the
grounds other than diseases or financial reasons) reached a record high in 2017/17,
amounting to 134,398; the figures were 31,151 at the primary level (0.5% of thetotal number of pupils) and 103,247 at the lower secondary level (3% of the total
number of students). While those who have not completed compulsory educationor who have graduated from lower secondary school only in formality may be able
to attend “evening junior high schools” to receive basic education, such schools
have been officially established only at 31 places across the country so far, making
it difficult to realize their right to learn in adequate ways. SPR, however, does notprovide a picture of and the data on children who do not attend school andalternative opportunities for them to learn.
56

In response to the reality of the deprivation or insufficient provision of
educational opportunities and to the initiatives taken by parents and civil society
in this regard, the Act on Securing Opportunities for Education Equivalent toFormal Education at the Compulsory Level was adopted in December 2016.
Article 1 of the Act states that its purpose is to promote measures to secure
opportunities for education in comprehensive manners in accordance with theobjectives of the Basic Act on Education and the Convention on the Rights of theChild and other treaties concerning education. The implementation and impact of
the Act is yet to be seen.

Recommendations
In order to ensure the effective realization of the right of children to education(Articles 28 and 29 of the Convention), the Diet and the Government (especially
MEXT) should interpret and implement the Act on Securing Opportunities for
Education of 2016 in the light of the principles and provisions of the Convention, inparticular its general principles (Articles 2, 3, 6 and 12) as well as the provisions
concerning the rights and responsibilities of the parent (Articles 5, 18 and 27). In thisregard, measures should be taken to improve financial and institutional arrangements,
including in terms of teachers’ working conditions, while respecting the views of thechildren and civil society organizations concerned.
VIII-9. Human Rights and Child Rights Education Has Gone Rather Backward
Morality education is to be introduced as a subject in April 2018 at the
primary level and in April 2019 at the lower secondary level; authorized textbooks
for the subject will be used in the teachings of the subject.
In Japan, morality education has not been included as a subject in school
education after the end of the World War II, reflecting the recognition thatpre-war morality education had contributed to Japan’s war efforts. In 2006,
however, the Basic Act on Education was amended to incorporate the fostering of“sense of morality”, “the public spirit” and “an attitude to …love the country andregion” into the objectives of education, leading to the incorporation of morality
education as a subject and the specification in the Course of Study of the “virtues”
that should be taught in the subject. Given the textbook authorization system andthe obligation to use authorized textbooks in Japan, this means that the State issignificantly involved in the development of moral values that influence the lives
of individuals.
On the other hand, human rights education has not been incorporated as a
subject and the number of children who receive human rights education at the
primary and lower secondary levels have decreased. Even if they receive such57

education, it is often the case that they do not given specific knowledge abouthuman rights, simply being taught about desirable values and attitudes. Many
teachers may have not learned about human rights and in particular children’s
rights at universities and colleges, since human rights and children’s rights
education is not mandatory in the teacher training curricula. Although MEXT
argues that it has been involved in human rights education [see SPR paras.
131-133], it is actually not proactive in promoting human rights education, as isreflected in the fact that it has not conducted surveys on the status of humanrights education since 2013 and that human rights education has been replacedby morality education in the relevant initiatives taken by the Ministry.

Recommendations
Taking into consideration the provisions of the Convention, the Committee’s
previous recommendations as well as the World Programme for Human Rights
Education and other relevant international and regional initiatives, and in accordancewith the Act on the Promotion of Human Rights Education and Awareness-Raising(2000), human rights education and children’s rights education in particular should be
integrated in educational curricula so that such teachings are conducted in all schools
and classrooms.
VIII-10. Children of Foreign Origin Are Not Guaranteed Opportunities to Learn Their
Own Languages and Cultures
In 2017/18, MEXT started to allocate one teacher for 18 pupils/students
who have difficulties in terms of Japanese language to help them to learn
Japanese; the total number of the teachers allocated in the first year was 190, andit intends to increase the number to 1900 by the year 2026. The number ofchildren who need Japanese instruction amounts to some 37,000, however,irrespective of their nationality (foreign or Japanese). In addition, more than 60%
of schools have one or two such children and, in some 60% of the municipalities,
there are less than ten such children in the whole area of each municipality, whichindicates the need to allocate far more teachers to support them in respective
schools.
Furthermore MEXT only focuses on Japanese instruction for them,lacking considerations for the need to expand teaching of their mother tongues
and cultures to foster their ethnic and cultural identity. A survey conducted by
MoJ found that their parents also want “places where children can learn theirmother tongues and cultures” rather than “instruction of Japanese language”. In
addition, since the Government maintains the position that it is not obliged toguarantee compulsory education for children of foreign nationality, MEXT is not58

be able to confirm their enrolment status with regard to 17.5% of such children.
Although the notifications for enrolment in schools are sent to parents of suchchildren as well, provided that they are registered on the municipal basic resident
resisters, the notifications are not sent if they are unregistered or if they had
moved without reporting to the authorities; some parents may not be able to readthe notifications if they are written in the languages that they do not understand.
Consequently the right of children of foreign origin to education is not adequately
guaranteed.

Recommendations
Given the steady increase in the number of children of foreign origin, theGovernment, especially MEXT, should ensure their right to education, including
education of their mother tongues and cultures, in accordance with their individual
needs and in the formal curricula instead of in the framework of extracurricular
activities.
VIII-11. Foreign/Ethnic Schools in Disadvantaged
Discrimination against Children in Korean Schools

StatusandInstitutional

Foreign schools, including Korean schools are not provided enoughsubsidies although social recognition of those schools’ educational level andcontents are equal to those of Japanese general schools is spreading in theJapanese society. Thus, foreign schools must rely exclusively on high tuition fees
and financial contributions by parents and supporters. However, while regularJapanese schools and even Western foreign schools can receive support from thecentral government in terms of tax exemptions, non-Western foreign schools suchas Korean schools and Chinese schools cannot receive such benefit.
Although several human rights treaty bodies, including the Committee on
the Rights of the Child have repeatedly made recommendation to correct thediscriminatory policy, diplomas from Korean schools are still not recognized as
direct university entrance qualifications. Thus, there are cases when graduate of
Korean schools are refused to access to higher education systems such asuniversities.
By enforcing“Tuition Waiver and Tuition Support Fund Program for HighSchool Education” (hereafter, “Tuition Waiver Program”), in 2010, the Japanese
Government exempted tuition fees for students of Japanese public high school andprovided funds equivalent to tuition fees of Japanese public high school forstudents of private high schools, including technical schools and foreign schools.
However, students of 10 Korean schools have only been excluded among otherforeign schools since 2010, owing to the political and diplomatic reason, that is,59

“there was no progress in the abduction issue” which is totally irrelevant tochildren attending to Korean schools. Seeking for inclusion of “Tuition Waiver
Program” without discrimination and recovery of dignity which was severely hurt
by the Japanese Government, graduates of Korean schools filed lawsuits andcurrent students carry street campaign and collection of signatures.
In spite of the lack of central government subsidies, all local governments
where Korean schools are located have provided subsidies in their own ways.
However, with exclusion of Korean schools from “Tuition Waiver Program”, someof local governments have started to suspend or to reduce subsidies that had been
provided to Korean schools over decades, which threatens the environment whichchildren attending Korean schools learn their own language, culture and history.

Recommendations
1.
The Government should recognize foreign schools including Korean schools
as equivalent to “School of Article 1” defined in article 1 of School Education Act andeliminate discrimination with regard to tax exemption and health care.
2.
The Government should recognize diplomas from Korean schools as direct
university entrance qualifications.
3.
In view of the principles of the best interest of the child andnon-discrimination, the Government should correct unreasonable discrimination
against children attending Korean schools, extend “Tuition Waiver Program” to them
immediately and urge local governments to resume their subsidies to Korean schools.

IX. Special Protection Measures
IX-A: Trafficking in Persons & Sexual Exploitation
IX-A-1. The Efforts against Child Trafficking Remains Inadequate
The Government has addressed the issue of human trafficking
internationally and domestically, by becoming a State Party to the Protocol toPrevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women andChildren, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime in July, 2017, and formulating the Action Plans to Combat
Trafficking in Persons in 2009 and 2014.
The number of people arrested for trafficking in persons had peaked in2005 and decreased from 81 to 19 in 2010. Since then, the number has been on theincrease, recording 44 in 2016. Most victims were Thai, Pilipino and Japanese,and in particular Japanese victims and victims below twenty years old had
60sharply increased. Although the Government’s measures have had some impacts
on human trafficking across borders, it has not taken sufficient measures within
Japan and targeting children.
It must be noted that the number of arrests is far from the actual numberof victims of human trafficking. For example, a Japanese NGO, which supports
child victims of human trafficking, dealt with 150 cases only in 2016. Efforts areneeded to grasp a full picture of this issue. It is also necessary to impose more
severe punishments. In 2016, only 26 out of 42 suspects were indicted, and theheaviest sentence was only three-year imprisonment suspended for five years anda fine of around US 16,000.
The Government says that police stations and child guidance centerscollaborates in supporting child victims, but it does not mention if children are
well informed about court procedures and are provided with trauma care andphysical and psychological rehabilitation.

Recommendations






More severe punishment should be imposed on criminals of human trafficking to
reduce the number of first and repeated offenders.
Comprehensive and child-friendly supports and rehabilitation should be provided
to child victims.
Training on child’s rights and child forensic interviews should be provided topersonnel who contact with child victims.
Tools for awareness-raising on human trafficking and easy access consulting
services should be conducted for children.
Collaboration with and financial assistance to civil society organizations thatprovide support and care to child victims.

IX-A-2. Commercialization and Sexualization of Children
Businesses which commercialize and sexualize children are prevalent andthis situation is accepted by people in Japan. So-called, “Idols,” who wear
school-uniform-like costumes, provide men with services, such as shaking hands
and giving hugs, in return for money. Photography events are organized, in which
men take photos of girls in swimming suits, sometimes in one-to-one settings.
In JK business (JK stands for Joshi-Kosei which means high school girls),
girls are employed to entertain men by providing such services, as hugging,
simple massaging, going to karaoke, and chatting in private rooms. This businessis said to be a hotbed of child prostitution, but new types of services are created
one after another, when Police tightens control on certain types of JK business.
Business owners run JK business to secure profits in short periods of time, after61

finding loopholes of laws, and considering profits, risks of arrests, and incurred
losses.
Since it is not easy to crack down on business owners and customers in thepresent legal framework, Police catches girls on streets who are involved in JK
business as delinquents, and reports the incidents to their parents. According to
the Act on Regulation on Soliciting Children by Using Opposite Sex Introducing
Service on Internet, criminal sanctions are imposed on not only adults but also
children, when children offer themselves for prostitution. Children, who are notprovided sufficient protection and instead are labeled as delinquents, might beobliged to drop out of school.

Recommendations








A comprehensive law on banning businesses which commercialize and sexualize
children should be formulated, in order for Police to be able to crack down on
business owners and customers.
The law should include severe punishment to prevent from starting business
which exploits children.
Protection and support should be provided to children involved in JK business andprostitution, rather than catching and penalizing them.
Awareness-raising and child-friendly consulting service should be provided, giventhat business exploiting children is likely to go underground as Police tightens
control over such business.
Cooperation among Police, Government agencies, schools and civil society is ofvital importance in providing protection, support and care to children.

IX-A-3. Child Labour and Exploitation of Part-time Child Workers
Two to three hundred cases are reported as violation of articles on minors in
the Labour Standards Act, in each year between 2011 and 2015. High numbers ofviolations are found in retail and restaurant businesses for working hours andnight work, followed by in the construction industry for restrictions on dangerous
and harmful jobs. For example, boys below eighteen years old worked in the
nuclear power plant or were engaged in decontamination work in Fukushima. JK
business, which is mentioned earlier, is certainly categorized as hazardous work.
Children aged sixteen and over can work in Japan, and many high school
students work at part-time jobs. A problem recognized in recent years is thatyoung part-time workers are exposed to economic exploitation and power
harassment. For example, they are not properly paid for overtime work, are finedfor mistakes (e.g. breaking dishes), and are forced to work during examination
periods.
62

In the background two factors can be pointed out. Firstly, Awareness onchild labour is low in Japan. Many people do not think child labour exists inJapan. Some employees hire children being unaware of the Labour Standards Act.
When people see children working, but they do not always report to Labor
Standards Inspection Offices or Police.
MHLW has no department in charge of child labour, including compilingdata and information. Secondly, child poverty has become a serious problem,
which may increase child labour. Reportedly, some children are involved in JK
business or prostitution to earn and support their families. These cases and otherillegal cases are not easily identified. It is necessary to address child labour toachieve SDG 8.7 ― by 2025 end child labour in all its forms.

RecommendationsThe situation of child labour should be surveyed and policy measures should betaken to eliminate child labour.
A mechanism should be established for society as a whole to monitor and preventchild labour.
Education on workers’ rights and labour standards should be conducted forchildren at school.
Awareness on child labour should be created among employees, teachers, andpublic.

IX-A-4. Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child
Pornography
The Government formulated the Act on Punishment of Activities Relating
to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and the Protection of Children in
1999, and revised the Act in 2004 and 2014. Measures against this issue has beenstrengthened, including punishment for possession of child pornography. However,the number of people arrested for child prostitution did not decrease between 2011
and 2015, and those for child pornography is increasing. Given that some children
may not recognize themselves as victims or find difficult to report what happened
to the them, the actual number would be higher than the number reported. As
more and more people use internet and SNS, new types of crimes are emerging.
In particular, an increasing number of child victims are found among
those who are asked or forced to take naked photos of themselves and send themto perpetrators. Children are also involved in “Adult Chat” on online video
services, in which they are asked to take off closes or have sexual relationships. Ifphotos or videos are uploaded, they will not easily be deleted and children will
suffer for a long period of time. Furthermore, ages of victims become lower. Videos,63

in which elementary school girls wear micro bikinis in sexual poses, are sold atshops on main streets in Tokyo.
People’s awareness on child pornography is low in Japan. Often time, they
do not see any problem in TV commercials, cartoons and photos that are identified
as child pornography in other countries.

Recommendations


The Act on Punishment of Activities Relating to Child Prostitution and Child
Pornography, and the Protection of Children should be revised to ban sexual
images of children even though they put on clothes.



Efforts should made for prevention and early intervention, such as revising laws
which can punish people at the time when they ask to send naked photos or for
prostitution.
More severe punishments should be imposed on child prostitution and childpornography, and rehabilitation should be conducted for criminals, since criminals
tend to repeat offences.
Education should be conducted at schools to prevent children, especially smallchildren at elementary schools, kindergartens, and nursery schools, from childprostitution and child pornography.







Child victims should be well protected and rehabilitated through close cooperation
between Police, child guidance centers, and civil society.

IX-B: Juvenile JusticeNote: The Annex on Juvenile Justice (hereafter referred to as “Annex” in the present section)
will be submitted in due course.

IX-B-1. Growing Gaps between the Convention and the Domestic Law through a
Series of Amendments to the Juvenile Act
Children involved in delinquency needs “special protection” because casesof juvenile delinquency, especially serious ones, reflect significant problems infamily and society, including child abuse and neglect. This is why the Juvenile Act
of Japan had maintained the fundamental principle of protection based on welfare
and educational approaches. Since 2000, however, a series of Amendments to theJuvenile Act have expanded the gaps between the Convention and the domesticlaw.
The 2000 amendments lowered the minimum age for criminal punishment from 16 to 14(the age at the time of disposition); made it a rule to apply criminal sanctions instead ofprotective measures in specified cases; allowed prosecutors to participate in juvenile
proceedings; and extended the maximum period of pre-hearing detention.

64

The 2007 amendments made it possible to place juveniles under the age of criminal
responsibility and who breached the conditions of probation into juvenile institutions.
The procedures were introduced to appoint public attendants (legal representatives) on adiscretionary basis in serious cases.

The 2008 amendments made it possible for the victims and/or their family members(hereafter referred to as “the victims”) to observe the juvenile trials.



The 2009 amendments introduced the Saiban-in (a kind of lay judge) system for juvenile
cases that have been referred to the criminal court.

In spite of the concerns and recommendations by the Committee in theprevious concluding observations (paras. 11, 83 and 84), the Government only
provides misguided responses in its report [para. 155], stating that thesemeasures were necessary “to foster the morality of juveniles … and to have themrecognize their responsibility in social life by clearly stipulating that they can becriminally punished if they commit a crime, in order to ensure their soundupbringing”. In spite of the fact that the number of cases of juvenile crime has
been dramatically reduced and that there is no tendency of growing brutality
among juvenile offenders (see Annex (1)), the amendments to the Juvenile Act hascontinued.
The 2014 amendments expanded the involvement of prosecutors in juvenile cases,
together with the expansion of the appointment of public attendants (legal
representatives), and introduced tougher penalties for juvenile offenders.



In February 2017, the Minister of Justice referred the issue of lowering the upper age ofthe application of the Juvenile Act to 18 to the Legislative Council of the Ministry ofJustice.

In this context, we would like to raise the following four issues as the mosturgent ones that cannot be overlooked: (i) the criminalization of juvenile justice;(ii) increased restrictions on personal liberty of children involved in justiceprocedures; (iii) inadequate access to education for children in detention and (iv)the police-led measures for children with delinquent behavior and otherchallenges.
IX-B-2. Criminalization of Juvenile Justice(1) Involvement of Prosecutors in Juvenile Trials
The 2000 amendments to the Juvenile Act allowed prosecutors toparticipate in juvenile proceedings, which distorted the nature of juvenile trials.
In addition, prosecutors were given the right to appeal to higher courts throughthe amendments. In 2014, the Juvenile Act was amended again to increase thenumber of the offences that prosecutors can be involved even if defendants are65

juveniles. Consequently, prosecutors had taken part in some 20 juvenile cases
every year since 2001; the number has doubled after the amendments in 2014
(See Table 1 of the Annex (1)).
(2) Lowering of the Minimum Age for Criminal Punishment and the Introductionof the Rule of Transfer to Criminal Courts
The 2000 amendments lowered the minimum age for criminal punishmentfrom 16 to 14 (the age at the time of disposition) and made it a rule to apply
criminal sanctions for juveniles who killed someone through intentional criminal
acts and who are 16 years old or over at the time of the commission of the acts (therule of transfer to criminal courts under Article 20, para. 2 of the Juvenile Act).
How the rule has been applied is shown in Table 2 of the Annex (2). While the
SPR states, “Based on the investigation and other evidence the family court
makes a decision, and the juvenile is subject to the criminal procedure only if thefamily court finds it appropriate” [para. 155], in practice, the introduction of therule has diminished one of the fundamental principles of the Juvenile Act that
calls for decision-making concerning dispositions in the light of the individual
circumstances.
(3) Criminal Trials and Saiban-in (Lay Judge) Trials for Juvenilesa.
While there are some exceptions, juveniles who are subjected to criminal
procedures are basically treated as adults and are subjected to Saiban-in (layjudge) trials if the conditions, which are the same with those for adults, are met.
Almost all the juvenile criminal cases are tried in Saiban-in courts.
b.
Unless they are released on bail, those juveniles are held under police
custody or in detention houses for prolonged periods of time. While it takes
significant time to deliver judgments in the cases tried in Saiban-in courts, theycannot receive education while in detention. Hearings are conducted in publicthrough the adversarial procedures, with a number of adults present (in the caseof Saiban-in trials, six lay judges, three professional judges, a prosecutor and legal
counsel). The victims can also attend. The structure gives pressure on juveniles
and make it difficult for them to express themselves adequately.
c.
Saiban-in courts are composed of three professional judges and six lay
judges (citizens chosen from the electoral roll). Some citizens who served as lay
judges reportedly stated, “It’s unreasonable to impose lighter sanctions because
the offenders are juveniles. I regarded them as adults”. This kind of attitude iscompatible with the findings of the survey on sentencing for juveniles, conductedby the Supreme Court in 2006. Saiban-in courts cannot keep up with thephilosophies of the Juvenile Act, because it is practically impossible to make thelay judges understand the philosophies through the explanations given in a66

limited time. In its previous concluding observations, the Committee expressed its
concern that the Saiban-in system “constitutes an obstacle to the treatment ofchild offenders by a specialized juvenile court” (para. 83) and recommended thereview of the system; no reviews have conducted, however, and theabove-mentioned problems remain. (For the details in this regard, see Annex (3)).
(4) Diminishment of the Scientific Approach in Juvenile Justice and the Saiban-in
SystemThe SPR [para. 156] states that, in the course of the criminal trial, “theresults of the investigation conducted by the family court can be taken into
consideration as evidence”. This refers to “family court inquiry reports” (juvenile
inquiry sheets), compiled through inquiries on the basis of Article 9 of theJuvenile Act. It is pointed out, however, that family court probation officers havebeen repeatedly told to try to prepare “concise” juvenile inquiry sheets, only
entering “what is necessary” and not putting on “what is unnecessary” (For more
information on this issue, see Annex (4) and (5)). Furthermore, when only
professional judges sit in criminal trials, they used to read full juvenile inquiry
sheets prepared by the family court, which include detailed private information of
the juvenile defendants. In Saiban-in trials, however, the Supreme Court has
recommended that only the concluding opinions of the family court probation
officers concerning the measures that should be taken should be submitted, on thepretext of reducing the burden on lay judges and protecting personal information;
lower courts have followed this recommendation.
While the SPR [para. 156] refers to the procedure of transferring the caseback to the family court when the criminal court judges found that the juvenile
should be put under protective measures (Article 55 of the Juvenile Act), suchcases are rare in reality because of the above-mentioned practice. Some two years
after the introduction of the system, a case was transferred back to the family
court by the decision of the Saiban-in court for the first time; thereafter, suchcases have happened only about once every year or two. Not having integrated thescientific approach in adequate ways, the Saiban-in trials for juveniles so far havefailed to achieve “the discovery of the truth of the case”, which is sought for in the
Criminal Procedure Code and the Juvenile Act, and to ensure the treatment
envisaged in the Juvenile Act. For more information in this regard, see Annex (5)and (6).
(5) Observation by the Victims
While it is essential to maintain confidentiality and protect juveniles’
privacy in the administration of juvenile justice, the 2008 amendments to theJuvenile Act allowed the victims and/or their family members to observe the67

juvenile trials in the prescribed cases. As far as the statistics indicate, courts haveallowed the observation of the victims in most of the cases (some 90%) where thevictims had applied for observation. On the other hand, judges have pointed out
negative consequences of the observation by the victims; some of the juveniles
who experienced the observation by the victims have suffered from worsening of
their physical and mental conditions. For more information in this regard, see
Table 3 and (ii) of Annex (7).

Recommendations
The Government and the Diet should take the following measures:(a) To abolish the involvement of prosecutors and their (virtual) right to appeal injuvenile procedures;(b) To raise the minimum age for criminal punishment again to 16 and to abolish therule of the transference of the prescribed cases to criminal procedures;(c) To exclude juvenile cases from the jurisdiction of Saiban-in courts;(d) To make sure that Articles 3 and 9 of the Juvenile Act, which provide for thescientific approach in the administration of juvenile justice, are fully implemented;and,(e) To keep juvenile trials not open to the public by repealing the provisions that allow
victims and/or their family members to observe juvenile trials.
IX-B-3. Increased Restrictions on Personal Liberty of Children Involved in Justice
Procedures
The statistics shown in the SPR only indicate absolute figures. Discussion
in this field, however, should be based on the proportions and rates of the total
number of arrested juveniles because the population of young people has dropped
and because the number of arrested juveniles has been reduced as well both inabsolute and relative terms. Thus the relevant proportions and rates are shown in
the following explanation.
(1) Expansion of Deprivation of Liberty during Judicial Proceduresa.
Arrest and detention (para. 167 of the SPR)
The arrest rate of juvenile suspects (except for arrests on the charges oftraffic offences) has been on the increase (from 12.2% in 2007to 15.4% in 2012,
16.6% in 2013, 17.4% in 2014, 19.2% in 2015 and 20.4% in 2016), illustrating the
expansion of deprivation of liberty of juvenile suspects.
Articles 43 and 48 of the Juvenile Act prohibit detention of juveniles afterarrest in principle; if deprivation of their liberty is absolutely necessary,“measures for observation and protection in lieu of detention” (protective custodymeasures) should be taken. In 2016, however, 75.47% of the arrested juveniles
68were placed in detention; on the other hand, the rate of protective custodymeasures has dropped from 9.94% in 2007 to 7.04% in 2016, indicating that theabove provisions has completely become dead letters. While the Juvenile Act
provides for separation of juveniles from adults during detention, stating that ajuvenile “may be detained in a juvenile classification home” (Article 48, para. 2),
the placement in these homes rarely happens and most of the juveniles are placedin police detention facilities (what is called “daiyo-kangoku” or substitute prison).
For more information, see Tables 4 and 5 as well as (iii) of Annex (8).
b.
Prolonged period of protective custody measures
After having been referred to family courts, juveniles are kept underprotective custody for a prolonged period of time, as is shown in Annex (9).
(2) Expanded and Prolonged Placement in Institutions after Judicial Proceedingsa.
Increase in the rate of placement in juvenile training schools
While the rate of placement in juvenile training schools through juvenile
trials was 1.5% in 1996, the rate has steadily increased and more than doubled(3.1%) in 2016, as is shown in Annex (10).
b.
Placement of children under the age of criminal responsibility in juvenile

training schools
The 2007 amendments to the Juvenile Act made it a rule to send juveniles
under the age of criminal responsibility (14 years of age) who are in conflict withcriminal law, who should be subject to welfare measures in principle, to family
courts. In addition, the amendments also made it possible to place juveniles“roughly of 12 years of age and over” to juvenile training schools, lowering the age
from the previous level (14 years of age), about which the Committee
recommended the Government in the previous concluding observations to“[e]nsure that children under the age of criminal responsibility are not treated as
criminal offenders or sent to correctional centres” (para. 85(c)). As a result of theamendment, a certain number of juveniles under the age of criminal
responsibility have been placed in juvenile training schools, which arecorrectional facilities, every year. For more information, see Table 7 of Annex(10)(ii).
c.
Placement in institutions on the ground of breaches of the conditions ofprobation
The 2007 amendments made it possible to place the juveniles who
conducted serious breaches of the conditions of probation into juvenile training
schools and other institutions. After the amendment, indeed, a certain number ofjuveniles have been sent to institutions on this ground every year. For more
information, see Table 8 of Annex (10)(iii).
69

d.

Tougher sentencing on juveniles (para 170 of the SPR)

With regard to the mitigation of sentencing for “a person who is under 18
years of age at the time of the commission of an offense”, the Juvenile Act before
the 2000 amendments stipulated that (i) death penalty shall be replaced by life
imprisonment and that (ii) life imprisonment shall be replaced by imprisonment
for a definite term. The second option was changed to a discretionary one by the2000 amendments; and the 2014 amendments provided for tougher terms,
stipulating that “the term of imprisonment imposed shall be neither less than 10
years nor more than 20 years” instead of “… neither less than 10 years nor morethan 15 years” in the previous provision.
Furthermore the upper limit of the term of imprisonment declared bycriminal courts for juveniles was also extended by the 2014 amendments. When ajuvenile is given an indeterminate sentence, which is to be declared as “neither
less than X years nor more than Y years”, the maximum terms were five years
and ten years respectively; after the amendments, these terms were extended toten years and fifteen years respectively. For more information, see Annex (11).

Recommendations
The Government and the Diet should take the following measures:(a) To establish a system to ensure that deprivation of liberty is used for juveniles as ameasure of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time, including, atleast, through (i) the vigorous implementation of Articles 43 and 48 of the Juvenile
Act, (ii) the abolishment of the system of “daiyo-kangoku” (substitute prison) and(iii) the repeal of the extension of the period of protective custody measures;(b) To review the present administration of the measures that involve deprivation ofliberty in the light of the Convention and other relevant international documents,
with a view to ensuring that placement in institutions should always be a measureof last resort and limited to the shortest term as may be necessary, including
through proactive use of preliminary observation before the final decision;(c) To raise the minimum age for placement in juvenile training schools again to 14
and to repeal the provisions that allow the placement of the juveniles who
conducted serious breaches of the conditions of probation into juvenile training
schools and other institutions; and,(d) To reintroduce mandatory mitigation of sentences for persons who are under 18
years of age at the time of the commission of the offense and to repeal theamendments in 2014 concerning the terms of imprisonment.
IX-B-4. Inadequate Access to Education for Children in Detention
In spite of the Committee’s previous recommendation that the State70

should “[e]nsure that children deprived of liberty are not detained together withadults and have access to education, including in pretrial detention” (para. 35(g)),
children cannot receive formal education in juvenile training schools.
Consequently the parents (guardians) of the school-age children placed in juvenile
training schools may apply for suspension or waiver of their obligation to send
their children to school for “compelling reasons”. While those juveniles may beprovided with the certificates of the completion of lower secondary education byformally keeping their names on the registry of the junior high schools where theyused to attend, this does not mean that they received formal school education.
Since juvenile training schools are to admit children roughly of 12 years ofage and over in accordance with the amendments to the Juvenile Act, it is aserious problem that children cannot receive formal education in these
correctional facilities where they usually stay for about a year.
In addition, since the minimum age for criminal punishment was lowered,children of 14 years of age who are in the compulsory education stage may besubject to criminal procedures and punishment. Criminal trials for younger
children usually involve serious cases, which means that it takes significant
amount of time from the preparation for the trials through to the hearings and thejudgments. Although these children remain in custody throughout the procedures,
access to education is not guaranteed for them at all. For more information, see
Annex (13).

Recommendations
The Government, in particular the Ministries of Education and Justice, should
ensure the right of access to education for children deprived of their liberty.
IX-B-5. Police-Led Measures for Children with Delinquent Behavior and Other
Challenges
In spite of the fact that the Riyadh Guidelines states, “Formal agencies ofsocial control should only be utilized as a means of last resort”, the police have led
the responses to and measures concerning the issues of bullying, delinquency andother challenges that children face, including through “youth support centers” set
up by prefectural police (SPR, Annex 2, para. 73).
In addition to the powers to identify and investigate juvenile offenders, thejuvenile police have been given more legal powers through the 2007 amendments
to the Juvenile Act, which officially mandated the juvenile police to identify and/or
investigate pre-delinquent juveniles and juveniles under the age of criminal
responsibility who are in conflict with criminal law. Before the amendments, these
activities had been undertaken without legal basis. The further problem is that71

the police have conducted various activities for “sound upbringing” of juveniles
without legal basis, which are defined as “activities for the prevention of juvenile
delinquency”, by issuing circulars and other documents on their own. The
Regulations on Juvenile Police Activities state, “The activities should be
conducted in the spirit of promoting sound upbringing [of juveniles], paying
attention to the need to contribute to the improvement of their morality and theirrehabilitation” (Article 3 (1)). Through the activities for “the protection andguidance” of juvenile delinquents, which consist of “necessary warning, advice,etc.”, they make the records on these juveniles and encourage guardians and/or
schools to give direction to them. The number of juvenile delinquent who aresubject to “the protection and guidance”, which has no legal basis, is significantly
higher than the number of the arrests of juvenile offenders conducted inaccordance with law. For more information, see Annex (14).

Recommendations
1.
The measures for the prevention of juvenile delinquency should beundertaken in accordance with the Riyadh Guidelines rather than being led by thepolice. For this purpose:(a) Children with problematic behaviors should be treated through protective
measures, including effective support for parents and others who are involved intheir care, and through measures addressing the root causes of such behaviors.
(b) The importance of a welfare approach should acknowledged, and budgetary andother measures should be taken for more effective implementation of theapproach.
2.
The Government should ensure that children with problematic behaviors are
not treated as offenders.

72List of Annex (as of October 2017)⚫

⚫

⚫

Society for Abolishing the Family Registration System and Discriminations
against Children Born out of Wedlock (AFRDC): Discriminatory Legal
Systems towards Children Born out of Wedlock in Japan
Human Rights Association for Korean Residents in Japan (HURAK): Humanrights situation of children attending to Korean schools in Japan with relate
to the International Convention on the Rights of the ChildInternational Foster Care Alliance (IFCA): Toward a More Meaningful Foster
Youth Engagement73