Human Rights in Japan: Why Does Change Lag Behind? - with Sanae Fujita

Date
Monday 16 February 2026

Time
6.45pm

Venue
The Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
[Map]

Booking Details
Free- Booking essential

Please help us to keep this event free and open to all! The activities of The Japan Society are made possible thanks to the support of its members. If you are planning to attend this event and are not a member (as an individual or through your employer), please consider becoming a member or making a donation if you can - the recommended donation is £5. Thank you!

Japan is sometimes described as a “Human rights backwater”. It ranks 118th out of 148 countries in the Gender Gap Index and 66th out of 180 countries and regions in the Press Freedom Index, placing it last among the G7 nations in both rankings.

Japan has received various recommendations from United Nations human rights bodies, yet the Japanese government continues to counter them. During the 2014 review by the Human Rights Committee, the Chairperson even remarked: ‘Japan repeatedly receives the same recommendations yet shows no inclination to improve. This constitutes a waste of resources. Japan appears to be defying the international community.’

Meanwhile, an international comparative survey (Ipsos, 2019) found that only one-third of the Japanese population reported being aware of human rights, a figure significantly lower than the global average.

Moreover, people are taught that human rights are about kindness, and they are not fully aware of their own rights. Underlying this is the problem that Japan lacks the kind of national human rights institution that many other countries have established, and proper human rights education is not being provided.

In this lecture, Sanae Fujita will examine the factors that have shaped Japan’s contemporary human rights landscape and the absence of effective institutional and educational frameworks to promote human rights awareness in Japanese society.

Dr Sanae Fujita is a Fellow of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex. Since 2013, she has played a crucial role in raising international awareness of human rights in Japan, including issues raised by the Specially Designated Secrecy Bill (2013), Conspiracy Bill (2017). She also assisted some UN Special Rapporteurs’ country mission to Japan. She has been working to enhance people's understanding of human rights through regular lecture tours and publications in Japan. Her book entitled Buki to shiteno kokusai jinken (International Human Rights as Arms, Shueisha, 2022) has been widely read, reaching its ninth printing, and has been cited in parliamentary questions and university entrance examinations. In June 2023, she was awarded the Facilitation of Information Distribution Prize from the Hizumi Kazuo Foundation for her activity. She holds a Master's degree in International Development from Nagoya University, and a Master's degree in International Human Rights and a PhD in Law from the University of Essex.

If you have any questions, please call The Japan Society office on 020 3075 1996 or email events@japansociety.org.uk.

Images: (left) Sculture "Broken Chair" by artist Daniel Berset in front of the United Nations Office at Geneva; (right) Dr. Fujita's talk event in Beppu, Oita © Sanae Fujita.

Supported by the Toshiba International Foundation (TIFO)

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