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libertarian doctrine appear in the Bible and in the writings of the Roman statesman Marcus Cicero and the Greek essayist Plutarch. Such ideas, however, did not gain a permanent place in the political structure of the Roman Empire and all but disappeared during medieval times. 5

The catalyst for the transformation of human rights to that which we know today were the revolutions of England, France and the United States. These revolutions stressed libertarian ideals, which became ingrained into those societies. The growth of human rights in Great Britain was tightly interwoven into the fabric of British society through its legal system, parliament and eventual democracy. British colonists then spread this notion of limited government and individual freedom to its vast empire - and the New World was born.

The human rights of citizens of the United States are incorporated in the Bill of Rights and also in state constitutions. They form the first ten amendments to the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religious exercise as well as separation of church and state. The Fourth Amendment protects the privacy and security of the home and personal effects and prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. The Fifth through Eighth amendments protect persons accused of crime; they guarantee, for example, the right to trial by jury, the right to confront hostile witnesses and to have legal counsel, and the privilege of not testifying aga inst oneself. The Fifth Amendment also contains the general guarantee that no one shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. 6

As we can see from the UN Declaration on Human Rights and the US Bill of Rights, human rights violations may take a number of forms. The challenges faced by the international community are exemplified well in the case of Japan. At first glance, it would be inconceivable to think that the world’s second largest economy could be a perpetrator of human rights abuses. However, Japan’s abuses of human rights are largely hidden to the outside world and thus usually escape the radar of the international community. The ‘violations’ are also not necessarily seen to be violations by nations like Japan who argue that human rights declarations (such as that by the UN) suffer from cultural relativism. Furthermore, even when these crimes are exposed, such is the power (political, social, cultural and economic) of those committing the violations -

⁵ "CivilRights and Civil Liberties," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2003 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

⁶ Adapted from Cornell University Law Department website.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html (cited October 13th, 2003).

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usually on minority groups - that it is almost impossible for internal or external pressure to cause change. So what are these mysterious human rights violations? Why do they still persist even after the 2002 Human Rights Protection Bill in Japan? 7

Japan is an ethnically homogenous nation with nearly 99% of its citizens claiming Japanese heritage. The remaining 1% of the population is nearly all either Japanese of Korean or Chinese ancestry. Despite these second, third and even fourth-generation citizens having lived in Japan all their lives and being ‘Japanese’ in every conceivable aspect they are still afforded socialized and institutionalized racial discrimination. ⁸ Examples of discrimination include being forced to carry ‘alien registration cards’ at all times and being passed over for employment, tenancy, marriage, etc. 9

At least the Japanese of Korean and Chinese ancestry blend in to the Japanese population at large but human rights violations can be far worse for those who do not. ¹⁰ An unofficial but widely accepted racia l-pyramid stereotyping exists amongst Japanese society at large. Japanese, naturally, are at the top of the ethnic groups. It could be argued that an inferiority complex with whites (particularly European and American) still exists but this has gradually e roded with Japan’s economic ascension and the increasing crime and disorder in Western cultures. After Westerners follow Asians (first Chinese, then Koreans and finally other Asians) who Japanese look down upon as inferiors and finally blacks (except, paradoxically, musically and athletically gifted blacks whom the Japanese detachedly admire).

Japan has strictly discouraged legal immigration and naturalization but widespread exploitation of foreign workers (usually from South-East Asia) exists. These workers are hired cheaply from abroad and, since they are illegal, have no rights in Japan and can be dispensed with by their employers when needed. Males are often employed to do the “3K jobs” (kitanai, kitsui and kiken - meaning dirty, difficult and dangerous), which modern Japanese refuse to do.

⁷ See full text at http://www.imadr.org/tokyo/about.human.rights.protection.bill-japan.html

⁸ Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee, Japan: 19/11/98. University of Minnesota Human Rights Library. http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/hrcommittee/japan1998.html (cited: October 13, 2003).

⁹ Institutionalized racism exists openly. See Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara Remarks about Foreigners. The Newletter of United for a Multicultural Japan. By Imtiaz A. Chaudry. Volume 5.1.

¹⁰ A popular Japanese proverb is “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down”. The Japanese word for foreigner (gaijin) literally means “outside person”.

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Japan’s human rights abuses extend to Japanese-owned companies abroad too. ¹¹ There has been

a history of sex-slavery of foreign women in Japan since their invasion of South-East Asia in the

last century. Although sex-slavery no longer exists, the legacy still does and is, disturbingly,

being complemented by increased sex tourism by Japanese men ¹² and trafficking of brides and

prostitutes from South-East Asia under appalling conditions. 13

Traditionally revered Westerners have not escaped Japan’s xenophobia either. Amnesty

International created a booklet for travelers to the 2002 World Cup Japan/Korea warning them of

"disturbing pattern of human rights violations, including ill-treatment and incommunicado

detention." ¹⁴ “No F oreigners” and “Japanese Only” signs are openly on display in certain

establishments (usually bars ¹⁵ or public baths ¹⁶ ). Discrimination also exists in employment

contracts for foreigners, particularly university professor tenureships ¹⁷ and for women: 18

The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women members

yesterday welcomed new Japanese laws on a "gender-equal society," spousal abuse and equal

opportunity but said progress toward gender equality has been slow in Japan compared with

other highly industrialized countries. UNDP development policy chief Shoji Nishimoto added

that the "Japanese work office environment is not yet conducive for promoting gender equality."

(Sanchanta/Rahman, Financial Times, July 9).

¹¹ Workers in Malaysia were forced to stand for up to 8 hours at work in order “to increase productivity”. Workers a t Japanese Firms Can’t Stand Poor Treatment. Daily Star [Malaysia]. 5 ^th August 2003.

¹² New Internationalist. Issue 245. July 1993. The Sex Tourist’s Yen. http://www.newint.org/issue245/sex.htm

¹³ Japan Chained To Underground Sex Slave Industry. Mainichi Daily News. June 20 ^th 2002.

¹⁴ See http://www.inq7.net/spo/2002/may/19/spo_6-1.htm

¹⁵ The (British) author has personal experience of being restricted entry from a bar for not being Japanese. The proprietor claimed that potential customers needed to speak Japanese (no reason was given why this was necessary). When the author (and his French friend) pointed out that they were currently conducting a conversation in fluent Japanese the proprietor still did not relent and simply bowed profusely, backing back into the establishment whilst closing the door.

The author returned to the same entertainment district with his same friend again two weeks later - both curious as to the extent of this racial discrimination. They noted that a small proportion of bars would have signs forbidding foreigners but the vast majority would only let it be known foreigners were not welcome at the door (usually with absurd excuses such as “Sorry. We are full”).

Feeling somewhat disturbed that a supposedly advanced nation like Japan could be getting away with this, the two posed as United Nations inspectors in order to delve more deeply into the issue. This tactic completely threw the proprietors of their guard and the general conclusion was that proprietors had no good reason for baring foreigners but persisted with discrimination because they knew they could get away with it.

¹⁶ See http://www.debito.org/activistspage.html. See also for an excellent collection of articles on human rights

issues in Japan.

¹⁷ See http://www.debito.org/activistspage.html

¹⁸ See Collins, Eliza and T. Blodgett. “Sexual Harassment...Some see it...Some Won’t” Harvard Business Review. March-April 1981.