(Bangkok) – Japan’s first girl prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, ought to promote new laws prohibiting discrimination primarily based on race, ethnicity, or faith, Human Rights Watch mentioned at present in its World Report 2026.
The unprecedented variety of migrant staff residing and dealing in Japan, together with report numbers of international vacationers made immigration and xenophobia core themes of July’s higher home election. After turning into prime minister in October, Takaichi created a brand new cupboard put up on points involving international nationals in Japan.
“As Japan’s demographic changes, Prime Minister Takaichi should ensure that everyone’s rights are protected by passing an anti-discrimination law and creating an independent national human rights body,” mentioned Kanae Doi, Japan director at Human Rights Watch. “The new government should also take on the leadership role that Japan should play in promoting human rights in the region and globally.”
In the 529-page World Report 2026, its thirty sixth version, Human Rights Watch opinions human rights practices inmore than100 nations. In his introductory essay, Executive Director Philippe Bolopion writes that breaking the authoritarian wave sweeping the world is the problem of a era. With the human rights system underneath unprecedented risk from the Trump administration and different international powers, Bolopion calls on rights-respecting democracies and civil society to construct a strategic alliance to defend basic freedoms.
In addition to the dearth of a common anti-discrimination regulation, Japan has no laws prohibiting discrimination primarily based on sexual orientation or gender identification, or age. Japan additionally doesn’t have a nationwide human rights establishment. Japanese civil society teams have lengthy urged the enactment of anti-discrimination legal guidelines in addition to the institution of an impartial human rights establishment.
The following had been different key developments in Japan throughout 2025:
The Japanese authorities ought to deal with its weak techniques for the safety of human rights by enacting complete anti-discrimination legal guidelines and organising a nationwide human rights establishment, Human Rights Watch mentioned.
Source: Human Rights Watch