Japan
Japan is a high-performing democracy, exhibiting high-range performance across the Global State of Democracy Indices (GSoDI) indicators, except for mid-range performance in Gender Equality, Judicial Independence, Electoral Participation, and Civil Society Participation. In the last five years, there have been declines in Effective Parliament, which may be attributed to several government scandals that revealed questions about the legislature’s ability to hold leaders to account. Despite being home to the world’s oldest population, Japan continues to boast the world’s third largest economy after the United States and China, with manufacturing and services constituting its largest industries. It is a member of G7 and plays a leading role in the global and regional trading system.
Post-WWII Japan has been stable and dominated by one party, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP). Political and electoral reforms in the 1990s, which included a new electoral system (a parallel system replaced a single non-transferable vote system) and a tightening of political funding rules improved the quality of democracy by increasing transparency, reducing corruption, and promoting programme-based electoral campaigns. However, reforms were also criticized for failing to address malapportionment between urban and rural voters and for facilitating factionalism. Japan has struggled with low electoral turnout (below 60 per cent during the last decade), due in part to one-party dominance and youth disengagement. Finally, some experts have questioned judicial and media independence in recent years.
A major division comes from “the pacifist clause” (Article 9) of the Constitution – drafted by the US in post-WWII Japan – and the role of the Self Defense Force, which have frequently sparked public protests against the LDP’s pursuit of Constitutional revision. Yet the evolving geopolitics (threats from Russia and China) have shifted the discourse, with growing public concerns about the risks of conflict, and increased government prioritization of the need to review dependence on the US military and establish a more independent defense policy through revising the post-1945 security posture. Japanese politics have also been marked by historical disputes with neighboring countries, including over “comfort women” in South Korea.
The demographic crisis of a rapidly aging population and declining birth rate has become a most pressing political concern. The significant possible economic consequences of a shrinking workforce are compounded by Japan’s strict immigration laws (foreign workers are only 2.5 per cent of the labor force).
Japan ranks low on gender equality globally and regionally, as well as among OECD and G7 countries, with poor performance on women’s parliamentary representation and gaps in wage and employment. Recent women’s economic empowerment policies expanded childcare support, but there is progress to be made. Japan does not have laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, and foreigners are often subject to discrimination, including racial profiling by the police. As the only G7 country that denies same-sex marriage, pressure is building on Japan to recognize LGBTQIA+ rights .
In the years to come, it is important to watch Social Rights and Equality, as the government attempts to implement measures to counter the falling birthrate, secure public welfare for an aging society, promote gender equality, and bridge the labour shortage through its plan to bring 345,000 foreign “Specific Skilled Workers” by 2025. Given widespread voter apathy, Electoral Participation should also be monitored. However, this requires long term measures to build diversity in government both through enhanced representation of women and youth as well as through building a viable and vibrant opposition. The latter can also potentially strengthen parliamentary oversight. Finally, the government’s new defense policy should be watched, particularly on how the required resources will be raised, and how potential gaps between intentions and perceptions on the policy will be managed, both domestically and regionally.
Monthly Event Reports
February 2024 | Japanese court approves first gender change without surgery
On 7 February, a Japanese court in Okayama approved a transgender man’s request to change his legal gender without first undergoing sterilization. The precedent-setting ruling comes after landmark decision by the Supreme Court in October 2023, which deemed the sterilization requirement unconstitutional. LGBTQIA+ rights advocates celebrated the verdict as an important advancement for transgender rights.
December 2023 | Criminal investigation into political funding scandal
In December 2023, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) became embroiled in what analysts describe is the worst Japanese fundraising scandal in decades. Prosecutors are investigating allegations that LDP faction members failed to report hundreds of millions of yen in political funds raised at fundraising parties over the past five years, and that the extra revenue may have been pocketed by lawmakers. The scandal casts a shadow over Japan’s entrenched political faction system, characterized by institutionalized parties within parties with formal membership structures. Prosecutors raided the headquarters of two LDP factions associated with the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai on 19 December. In response, four cabinet ministers from LDP have resigned, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stepping down as head of his faction in a bid to restore public trust. The failure to record these funds in official statements is said to violate the country’s political funding laws.
November 2023 | Human rights violations in women’s prisons
Human Rights Watch released a report on 14 November documenting serious human rights abuses in women’s prisons in Japan. Violations include mistreatment of transgender people, inadequate access to medical services, separation of women from their babies, and arbitrary solitary confinement measures as a form of punishment. Rights advocates have urged the government to improve conditions in Japanese prisons as well as consider legal and justice reforms to prevent imprisonment in the first place. These reforms include decriminalizing simple drug-related violations and introducing alternative sentencing methods to the country's penal code, such as community service. In a broader discussion of Japan’s “hostage justice” system, the Japanese National Diet (parliament) engaged in a hearing of activist voices on 10 November, a move which activists hope will pave the way for wider reforms.
July 2023 | Supreme court rules toilet restrictions on transgender persons illegal
Japan’s Supreme Court on 11 July issued a landmark ruling against a government ministry saying it is unlawful to restrict transgender persons from using certain bathrooms in the workplace. The decision marks the first time a top court has made a ruling on bathroom usage by sexual minorities, with LGBTQIA+ activists hopeful that the ruling will set a positive precedent for other cases related to working conditions for transgender persons.
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GSoD Indices Data 2013-2022
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