Japan: Local governments restrict journalists while union members sacked following strike

The state of civic space in Japan is rated ‘narrowed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. While the space for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly is relatively free, restrictions on press freedom, censorship, as well as discrimination against the LGBTQI+ community have been documented. The government has also imposed tougher penalties for criminal defamation.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has yet to fill the post of special adviser on international human rights issues, vacant since he removed former Defence Minister Gen. Nakatani during a cabinet reshuffle in September 2023.

In recent months, concerns have been raised by a journalist union on restrictions against reporters by local governments while union members have been terminated following a strike. There have been protests held in support of Palestine, calling for same-sex marriage rights and against a US ship docking in an Okinawa port.

Expression

Local government limits reporters' questions

The Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers' Unions released a statement in February 2024 protesting against a series of moves by local governments in Japan to restrict journalists from asking questions about specific topics during press interviews with mayors and governors.

The union cited a case in which a Tokushima Municipal Government employee asked a local newspaper reporter not to ask questions about the mayoral election held on 7th April 2024, during a regular press conference with Mayor Sawako Naito, hosted by the press club covering the municipal administration.

Mayor Naito also refused to comply with requests for interviews by the press club covering city administration on two occasions, after she announced her bid for reelection in the forthcoming mayoral race in September 2023.

The written protest also cited another case where the Yamanashi Prefectural Government demanded during an interview that certain media outlets refrain from asking Gov. Kotaro Nagasaki questions about his fund-management organisation's failure to include funds in its political income and expenditure reports. Furthermore, the statement referred to the fact that Ishikawa Gov. Hiroshi Hase has not responded to requests to hold regular press conferences since the spring of 2023.

The union said: "Those are malicious acts in violation of the Constitution (of Japan), which guarantees freedom of speech."

They added: “These cases suggest that local government chiefs' attitudes of turning their backs on their accountability as public figures, mandated by prefectural and city residents through elections, have spread to their public relations staff."

Unionised Amazon Japan delivery members laid off following strike

Labour union members who went on strike on 8th March 2024 to protest termination of their contracts as delivery workers for Amazon Japan in Nagasaki and other areas lost their jobs in April 2024.

According to a member of the Nagasaki branch of the Tokyo Union Amazon delivery workers' labour union, since November 2021, he had worked as an independent contractor for a second-tier subcontractor based in the city of Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture. At the time of the contract, he was told that he would be handling around 100 packages per day, but the workload steadily increased, with some days exceeding 200 packages. However, his daily wages remained almost unchanged from the initial 14,500 yen (about USD 96). As they are classified as independent contractors, there are no unemployment benefits.

In December 2023, the union requested collective negotiations with the first-tier subcontractor in Yokohama after they were given notice that their contract with the second-tier subcontractor would end in April 2024. However, the request was denied, citing no legal obligation to comply.

Peaceful Assembly

Protest in support of Palestine

In January 2024, there were protests in support of Palestine in front of an office of Itochu Aviation, a Tokyo-headquartered company working with Elbit Systems, which bills itself as Israel’s largest defence contractor.

Itochu decided to end its partnership with Elbit Systems in February 2024, following the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that ordered Israel to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

On 7th April 2024, demonstrators gathered in front of the prime minister's office to mark six months since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict and demand an end to the Israeli invasion of Gaza and the resulting mass civilian deaths.

Responding to the "solidarity action" initiated by a group in Hokkaido that has spread across Japan, the event in Tokyo was organised by the Students and Youths for Palestine association and drew about 300 people.

Association member and bookstore employee Natsuki Minamoto, 25, said: "I feel tremendous anger at the genocide that has been happening over the past six months. I urge the Japanese government to immediately sever economic and military ties with Israel."

LGBTQ+ activists call for same-sex marriage rights

Activists and LGBTQ+ community members mobilised around Valentine’s Day in Tokyo marking the fifth anniversary of the launch of a legal battle to achieve marriage equality for same-sex couples.

Gathering outside a busy downtown Tokyo train station, activists and LGBTQ+ community members urged for equal marriage rights as they handed out bags of candy with flyers, explaining their lawsuits.

14th February 2024 marked five years since the launch of the first lawsuits petitioning for LGBTQ+ marriage rights. Since then more than a dozen couples have filed lawsuits in six separate cases at five courts across Japan.

Four of the five rulings so far have found that not granting the right was unconstitutional; one said it was in line with the constitution.

On 14th March 2024, the Tokyo District Court and Sapporo High Court separately made historic decisions on two same-sex marriage cases. The Tokyo District Court first ruled that the current legal framework, which does not recognie same-sex marriage, cannot be reasonably justified and should be considered a violation of Article 24(2) of the Constitution.

Then, in Japan’s first High Court decision on same-sex marriage, Sapporo’s High Court ruled that the provisions of the Civil Code and the Family Register Act that do not recognise same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. The ruling is the first time the judiciary has recognised that the current law prohibiting same-sex marriage violates all three clauses – Article 24(1) and (2) and Article 14(1) of the Constitution.

Protest against US navy ship at Okinawa port

In March 2024, a US Navy Aegis destroyer was met with protests and a port workers' strike after arriving at a commercial port in the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa.

On 11th March 2024, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki met with reporters and said, “I must express concern that ships of this grade will use our ports on a regular basis.” Three days earlier, the Okinawa prefectural government submitted a request to the Foreign Ministry, US Naval Forces Japan and the US Consulate General asking that Navy ships refrain from anchoring at commercial ports in the prefecture except in emergencies.

The local branch of 50 or so dock workers went on strike to protest the anchoring and about 20 local residents gathered to protest shouting: “No port entry! No warship on the island!”. Junichi Yamaguchi, the chairman of the local branch of the All Japan Dockworkers’ Union, said: “We are very concerned that our place of work is being used for military purposes.”