Japan-EU Agreement Human Rights Clause Causes Controversy

by Beth on Wednesday, May 7, 2014 134 comments comments

In recent negotiations over an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between the EU and Japan, the news that the EU will insist upon a human rights clause in the SPA has not been well received by the Japanese delegation.

This means that any human rights violation on the part of Japan will allow the EU to cancel the EPA, but it is important to note that a reciprocal clause also exists — if the EU violates human rights, then Japan can cancel the agreement.

While the clause is standard for the EU in such agreements, the Japanese delegation perceive the clause as being discriminatory, since no such clause exists in the FTA with the US, while such clauses are common in agreements with emerging nations in order to promote democratic ideals. There is also the fear in the Japanese case that the EU may use this clause to put pressure on Japan for its use of the death penalty.

Netizens took to Yahoo! News and Twitter to express their outrage at the “racist” clause, while a smaller number considered it a good opportunity to look again at human rights issues in Japan.

From Yahoo! Japan:

EU Requires “Human Rights Clause” Of Japan; Violations Would Lead To Cancellation Of Economic Partnership Agreement

On May 5, it was revealed that the EU was insisting that a “human rights clause” be established in the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between the EU and Japan, the final negotiations of which are being held in parallel with the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which aims at trade liberalization. The clause states that should human rights violations or situations that oppose democracy arise in Japan, the EPA can be cancelled. Japan is strongly opposed to this, and it appears that this will be an major outstanding issue in the series of talks surrounding the EPA.

According to EU officials, it was decided internally by the EU to clearly specify a respect for human rights and the principles of democracy, as well as a respect for governance of law in the SPA, and it includes an arrangement whereby the EU can cancel the EPA should Japan violate this agreement. They also explained that as regards Japan, should human rights violations arise in the EU, Japan can also cancel the EPA agreement. Therefore the EU calls for understanding on this point.

Urging democratisation in exchange for economic benefits is a fundamental EU strategy in dealing with developing countries and emerging nations. In agreements with third world countries, the human rights clause is taken as a “vital element”, and the SPA with Japan is an extension of this same EU diplomacy. Still, in FTA negotiations with the US, the EU does not require the conclusion of political agreements in the same way as in the SPA.

The EU official emphasised that any situation with Japan in which the human rights clause would be invoked was difficult to imagine; however, when the death penalty has been implemented in Japan the EU has issued statements criticising that “the death penalty is cruel and inhumane”. There is the possibility that the human rights clause would become a silent pressure in order for the EU, which aims for the abolition of the death penalty, to strengthen its outreach to Japan.

It seems as though by having Japan accept the human rights clause, the EU may also anticipate that it will make the requirement of a human rights clause easier to force through should the EU hold FTA negotiations with China in the future.

Comments from Yahoo! Japan:

pol*****:

Whether we continue or abolish the death penalty is a domestic political issue for Japan, and we won’t accept the slightest interference from a foreign country. It’s only the will of the Japanese people that will decide whether or not we have the death sentence!!

emi*****:

What the hell is this human rights clause — they’re going to push it on Japan, huh? It’s just outrageous, it’s like that murderer in Norway who killed 77 people has his human rights protected and can do what he wants, while the victims cry themselves to sleep at night — what the hell does that have to do with human rights.
Those who protect the perpetrator’s human rights and ignore the human rights of the victims have no bloody right to force us. [NB Norway is not an EU member state]

mym*****:

To think that Europe, which up until quite recently had colonies throughout the world and discriminated between whites and yellow peoples is lecturing Japan on human rights! Hah! Don’t make me laugh (笑)
They’re in a completely rotten mood because they’ve had to lay off their colonies.

ode*****:

Ultimately, white people always go for white supremacy.
They see their thoughts as absolute truth, and just force others.

nai*****:

Don’t get this, how the hell can countries who close their eyes to China’s human rights abuses for the sake of business say anything about human rights!

sho*****:

“The death penalty is cruel and inhumane”
The system of capital punishment does not amount to a violation of human rights!
I wish the EU wouldn’t try to push its values on us.

non*****:

Prisoners who’ve been given the death sentence have no fucking human rights.
Do you get it, EU? And do you get it, Japan’s scummy so-called human rights lawyers?

geo*****:

So what? After we’ve accepted the human rights clause, we’ll openly implement the death sentence, and then if they revoke the SPA, we’ll be able to signal to them very clearly Japan’s stance on this.

nai*****:

Seems like the human rights nuts in Japan are going to kick off over this.

Comments from Twitter:

Ichiro:

So I guess the stuff that NATO did doesn’t come under the human rights clause then?

すきま風の亡霊:

Don’t get what the point of strongly opposing this is.

aqua compact:

It’s unfair that there was no human rights clause for America, where they have the death penalty depending on the state. Ultimately, white people discriminate against people of colour I guess, they look down on us.

暇人の偏屈男:

The white man looks down upon people of colour, and why are they talking so high and mighty when they’ve murdered people up to now.

野洲:

I thought I’d been fooled, but I want people to look at the comments on this article that I’ve linked to. It seems that the low level of Japanese consciousness of human rights is apparent here. What’s more, it’s being trivialized into just an issue with the death sentence.

yuki（脱原発に一票：

I don’t really understand the EU’s real intentions here, but this proposal will definitely not be a negative for Japan.We should take this as a good chance for us to recognise again that Japan is a backward nation when it comes to human rights. It’s not the time for a hate battle with China and Korea.

影沼佳春:

Right now there really are a lot of human rights violations going on. I’m embarrassed to say it, but I guess that’s just how Japan is now with it’s crazy representatives.

びふぼ:

Trade and human rights clauses are essentially on two different dimensions, but when the EU sets up these kinds of tricky negotiations, it’s a chance for us to lay something that is also from a different dimension out on the table. If we erase enemy nation clause that has yet to be deleted from the UN Charter, then it might be useful when we have negotiations with China and Russia.

献血は1週間前に行ってきた:

These are the ones who declare that whaling is a violation of human rights, we should just say right back at them that Christianity, which doesn’t accept any other religions, is a human rights violation.

たばっちょ:

Those idiots on the left-wing are just the height of hypocrisy. This is in fact discrimination by Europe.

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firebert5

I would be curious to find out if the EU has instituted such a clause with every nation it starts an economic partnership with (does it do so with the U.S.?), or if it only does so for a select few. If the former, then it’s being consistent and I see no problem with it. If the latter, then it is clearly not about human rights, and is instead about leverage to get a particular nation to bend to their will.
- wnsk
  
  Didn’t you read the article? There’s no such clause with the US. The EU includes such clauses in partnerships with third-world countries. Japan is not a third-world country. Ergo, the EU is trying to be funny.
  - etiennes
    
    Japan is in many ways still very primitive, and not ahead of so-called third world countries. The only first world aspect about Japan is technology, but all other areas have never been modernised.
- EU member
  
  I guess it does have that clause in the trade agreements with the US, since European drug pharmacies are legally forbidden from giving drugs that could be used for capital punishment. Hence why the US legal justice system has some problems executing people in a way that would be judged within the appropriate framework of the law. (Which is in itself a fucking joke IMHO.)
- concerned
  
  Why shouldn’t the Europeans treat these agreements on a case by case basis? If it’s in their interest to include/exclude certain clauses with certain countries, then they have every right to draft it however they please. if everything is uniform, then there wouldn’t be any need for trade ‘negotiations’
  And japan has already gotten away with too much due to their economic power, its time somebody stood up and say enough is enough.
  - etiennes
    
    Well, the EU policy makers aren’t blind. Did Japan really think that electing a fascist and descendant of a war criminal, and doing absolutely nothing against Neo-fascist demonstrations and the inherent racism and xenophobia in Japan would go unnoticed and unpunished?
  - firebert5
    
    Fair point.
- FUSA
  
  America has more power and significance in the world – yes, we do more violence in the world than any other country, but we contribute more than Japan does.
  
  So, when the EU deals with the US, they know that they can talk to us, and deal with us more as equals. Japan, though? Japan throws a fit over every little thing, and refuses to play ball.
  
  Japan being a “first world nation” isn’t really the issue. America and Japan are arguably both equal levels of f-ed up. America may have higher crime rates, but Japan has insane levels of corruption, not to mention the “trainee” program that is essentially government-endorsed slavery.
  
  You can go on and on comparing the US to Japan – both are awful nations run by awful people, but 1) America contributes more to the world than Japan could ever hope to and 2) America plays ball when Japan just gets up on a really high horse.
Zappa Frank

it was just up to japan accept it or not. why complain than? and it is mutual so japan too can use it.
i do agree that is unfair that was not done with US too, but i really don’t think the issue would be the death penalty.
Some comments are absurd.. people want to see the racism everywhere and blame it in the other while is proud of it if is in themselves…
- etiennes
  
  Exactly. Sign it or not. It was only a friendly gesture from the EU, like you throw a little bit of bread to a duck in a pond.
  There’s not need to go on the internet and whine like spoiled little children.
The FRED FONG

Pressuring Japan to stop the tradition of BUKKAKE is wrong….its none of their business.The Japanese should not change a historically significant part of their society to please foreign nations
- Relivash
  
  This guy wins the internet.
bigmamat

Isn’t this more about preventing a country from sending workers off to work at the point of gun than their domestic criminal justice system? I think this is more about the EU and their more worker friendly policies than it is about pressuring countries to abolish the death penalty. I could be wrong but it seems more logical to me.
- Zappa Frank
  
  i think is more something did in order to can do the same with china eventually, i don’t think there are any real issue or cencern about humans rights in japan, just a point to make in order to use it later in an agreement with china..
  - wnsk
    
    You mean to say they view Japan as nothing but a potential bargaining chip in hypothetical future negotiations with China? Seems hardly likely. I don’t know if that’s a smart (or at least, cunning) move or a dumb one.
    - bigmamat
      
      I’m fairly certain it isn’t the first time the west has thought about Japan and China in the same sentence. Both had imperial ambitions, both have had horrendous human rights violations, and the occasional war crime makes sense to me. Doesn’t help matters that Japan likes to poke at China and Korea occasionally about their shared history.
      - wnsk
        
        So the EU is willing to jeopardise millions (billions?) of dollars’ worth of trade on a minor clause it admitted it can’t even imagine a situation in which the clause would be invoked? …The EU is run by which idiot(s)?
      - Citizen of EU
        
        EU doesn’t need Japan, as much as Japan needs EU for trade. It’s Japan, take it or leave it.
      - wnsk
        
        Point taken.
      - David
        
        I think your understanding of EU economics is on par with your understanding of Japanese society. Yes. Japan could certainly use economic stimulation, but this treaty will not actually provide much of that and the Japanese know that. So I disagree with you and think there are no circumstances where the EU will say ‘take it or leave it’, they will withdraw the clause.
      - bigmamat
        
        Whatever…so what’s your theory why they’re doing it? If you think it’s so stupid why would they do it? White racist pigs? Economic suicide? Dumb as dirt? I have no idea why they wouldn’t want to make a deal with Japan. If they’re holding out for human rights then can’t that be their motive?
      - wnsk
        
        …I don’t know either. The China angle just doesn’t seem plausible/smart to me. Yeah, maybe their motive really is to uphold human rights…I’m skeptical though (who isn’t?)
    - Zappa Frank
      
      just an idea, and i admit more and more than i think about it, unlikely.. but i see no other reasons
- Citizen of EU
  
  Japan has a fairly good record of human rights for Japanese, but not for foreign workers. For instance, Japan has a very poor record of labor riots violations against 150,000 guest worker “Industrial Trainees” mostly from developing countries in China and South East Asia. The U.S. State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report issued in June 2013 criticized the program by citing allegations of “extortionate contracts” and attempts to keep trainees under strict control, most notably by confiscating their passports. The report also criticized Japan for breeding violation of the rights of foreign worker trainees, who are often underpaid, abused and harassed, yet very little has been done to remedy the situation. Also, many foreigners in Japan have trouble finding housing due to Japanese not wanting to rent to foreigners, as well as foreigners being randomly stopped by the Japanese police on streets, demanding ID’s.
  - bigmamat
    
    I see. So maybe they do need a human rights clause in the agreement.
  - Butsu
    
    >Also, many foreigners in Japan have trouble finding housing due to Japanese not wanting to rent to foreigners.
    
    There’s actually a very good reason for this. First of all, there’s a bunch of foreigners who can’t take care of an apartment for some reason. I’ve had chinese friends smoking and just throwing their ciggarettes on the ground leaving burn marks. Furthermore, before you move out you need to call and turn of your gas supply, water and eletricity and of course also pay for the amount you used prior to moving, a lot of foreigners skip this the month they will move home, and just go back home. Leaving the landlord to clean out the apartment and pay all the bills. This isn’t all too uncommon still.
    
    Switching to the Japanese side, a lot of landlords are old retired men and women who can’t speak one ounce of English and probably due to laziness will not make any effort in getting rules and papers translated to English, then it’s easier to just skip hiring to foreigners at all (and this isn’t that good). Also, a lot of times you need a japanese person to sign your contract to be some kind of protector, helping you cover costs if something would break in the apartment due to your neglience. And I guess this is tricky for people without any Japanese friends that has a stable income. However, if you come here to work (then you usually already have a work visa) and the company that hired you will set up an apartment for you. If you’re a student the school will usually help you find housing. There’s also companies which sole purpouse is to help foreigners find a place to live. There’s also a shitloads of apartments owned buy foreigners from other parts of Asia that will rent to a person from the same country before they will rent to a Japanese. If you’re here on the short term, let’s say, two months, you can now even set up and hire an apartment on the internet without ever having to meet any japanese person at all. So what I’m trying to say is that if you are a foreigner and actually having trouble finding an apartment then you’re just not trying hard enough, there’s an abundance of empty apartments here in a Japan, ranging from all different kind of sizes and prices. It is easier for me as a Swedish person to find an apartment here than it is in Sweden. Furthermore, everything is privately owned, so the owners has every right to turn away whoever they want. Japanese people with criminal records might also find it “hard” to find an apartment.
    
    >foreigners being randomly stopped by the Japanese police on streets, demanding ID’s.
    
    This is extremely uncommon (it hasn’t happen to me in 2 years and of the 80 or so foreigners I know of varying etnicities only 2 has been stopped and ID:d). But not wrong nontheless, overstaying your VISA terms is a crime under Japanese law, this being actually enforced shouldn’t be something weird. If everything is in order, they usually also apoligise for the inconvenience.
lonetrey / Dan

I feel like Japanese netizens just turned into South Korean netizens for a second.

Much sad, very whine, so embarrass,

It’s not racism if it’s not on basis of your skin color or ethnicity. This is just an (admittedly slightly underhanded) attempt to push EU definition of human rights onto Japanese legislation, but te focus was not to look down on Japan!

NOW some people may look down on Japan due to their response…
- AKorean
  
  I don’t understand your comment. What do you mean Japan just turned into South Korea? South Korea had FTA with the EU since July 2012, and there’s no such clause between the two parties. Maybe the EU officials saw all the Japanese protestors with Nazi flags marching against foreigners, and got offended.
  - lonetrey / Dan
    
    Fixed to be more clear, cellphone typig at work so it was rushed
  - oppa
    
    go rape something, kimchi
    - GUEST
      
      go eat some whale meat you nip fuck
      - Joe
        
        your ignorance is showing
    - johnny law
      
      morrer
    - Guest
      
      a whale eating japanese should go make a bukkake porn.
      - etiennes
        
        If he can find a woman who doesn’t think he’s a repulsive little child.
  - Boris
    
    Are you sure there is no such clause? I read it is usually included when they make such deals.
    - Chucky3176
      
      Here’s the Korea-EU FTA document, it does not have a human rights clause.
      
      http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2011/october/tradoc_148303.pdf
      
      If Japan is so bothered by this clause, then they can insist on dropping the clause or else they won’t sign. If the EU thinks free trade with Japan is too important to lose, then they’ll drop their demand. I don’t see what the problem is other than the fact that I’m skeptical enough to predict that Japan, try hard as they may, will never be able to sign any meaningful trade agreements with any major nations, because of Japan’s unwilling/unable to change any of their inflexible stances.
      - Boris
        
        Thanks for clarifying.
      - etiennes
        
        The EU doesn’t need this agreement. Japan is a dying nation, a process that can’t be reversed anymore. The EU thinks of this more as humanitarian effort because not all Japanese are Neonazis, there are still a couple of normal people in Japan who deserve help.
        
        China and Korea have long taken the place of Japan as trade partners for the EU, and after that it will be India and South East Asia. Never Japan.
        
        The only business for the Japanese to do in the next decades is leather – anything that has do with slaughtering animals and producing leather goods. That’s their place.
- smallsignal
  
  “I feel like Japan just turned into South Korea for a second.”
  
  What does that even mean? Can you explain? Afaik, there was no issue like this when the FTA between Korea and the EU was signed.
  - lonetrey / Dan
    
    Ah, i sorry i fixed my post to beore clear. Typing at work on my phone >_<
    - smallsignal
      
      That also doesn’t make sense because you imply that Japanese netizens haven’t been whiny or whatever. Where have you been all this time?
      - lonetrey / Dan
        
        🙁 i guess i’ve seen mostly the politer ones translated by japancrush
        
        I know they’re a bit more radical when talking about other topics (korans, acertain shrine, etc), but i get the general image of politeness from japanese netizens… Not sure why.
      - smallsignal
        
        Maybe your preconceived bias is affecting what you actually see and remember? Ofc, there are some topics that attract radicals and some other topics that receive mundane responses.
      - wnsk
        
        Because they do a lot of bowing and make a big fuss over decorum and engage in complicated social rites and what else have you? False modesty — it’s a thing they “inherited” from the ancient Chinese.
        
        P.S. Just kidding, by the way.
      - lonetrey / Dan
        
        I’m not sure what my opinions are on that subject.
        
        It could go either way, really. “False modesty” is not all that terrible.
      - whuddyasack
        
        It’s a good think you added the disclaimer. Most would’ve taken offense to your “Sinocentric, Han-supremacy”. And even then, a few nuts would still find a reason to get angry over your joke.
      - wnsk
        
        Too often people use “just kidding” (or similar remarks) as a convenient excuse for making insensitive and/or offensive statements.
        
        *pause for irony to sink in*
        
        Just kidding! But even if I wasn’t kidding (about my earlier remark), personally I think it’s pretty mild and would hardly constitute as “Sinocentric, Han-supremacy.” It’s arguable, really, and you can be sure I’d argue it. :]
      - whuddyasack
        
        Unfortunately, the prevalence of the hypersensitive ahem _____(fill in the blanks) is staggering. Some people just can’t take sarcasm and jokes no matter how obvious they are. 😉
      - wnsk
        
        Frankly, I cannot return your wink (it will make me look snide. Or smug. Or something.)
        
        But here’s a fresh new wink, out of friendship and goodwill, completely unrelated and definitely NOT in direct response to yours: 😉
      - whuddyasack
        
        I understand lol. Your friendship and goodwill is accepted 😉
      - Trey
        
        It goes to show how insecure and a keen sense of false pride that these Asian countries have. Koreans are probably even worse in this regard. like it’s somehow shameful if they didn’t invent every single things under the sun and that their culture just popped out of nowhere
        Europeans don’t take offence to the fact that they have inherited most of their cultural/political structures from the Greco-Roman world.
      - whuddyasack
        
        My comment above was made in jest haha. But I get what you mean and I agree with you if we’re talking about a limited sample from China, Japan and Korea. There are insecure and over zealous patriotic ones of course, but most readily admit the shared components of their heritage, politics, ideas, culture and history wherever it is shared.
      - besudesu
        
        Might just be that our translations are polite…we’re all very polite people (^ 0 ^)
ILoveGoldStandard

As if the EU ever care about human rights!
- Thor
  
  As if any country in the world ever cared about human rights !
- etiennes
  
  They do, but only for humans. The Japanese don’t think of themselves as human, but superior to humans, so they don’t need human rights. That’s how you get your asses nuked by “inferior” humans LOLK!!!!!
Mighty曹

I wonder what the prison conditions are like in Japan?
- CItizen of EU
  
  Very sparse and very harsh. Not just extremely tough prison conditions, but also prisoners are summarily executed in secrecy, then the related families of the prisoners are let known after the fact. There are no prisoner rights and the presumption of innocent until proven guilty is out the window. It’s a high price paid for public order.
  
  In many ways, in terms of human rights record, Japan is a third world, yet very few Japanese are either aware or care. However, even if these practices are acceptable in Japan, it doesn’t mean it’s acceptable in EU. If Japan wants to engage in tariff free trade with the EU, Japan has to meet the tough EU criteria. Otherwise, Japan should just go on their own.
  - David
    
    I don’t know where you have read this. Have you been to a Japanese prison or talked to the families of people executed in secret? I have lived in Japan and am familiar with their legal system. to say innocent until proven guilty is not used is crazy (as opposed to the Napoleonic code used in some EU countries like Italy, where you are guilty until proven innocent and criminal investigations depends on who your friends are) I have never heard of ‘secret executions’ in Japan, that would be China. Yes prisons are sparse. So what. why don’t you just admit this is a way for the EU to foster its own beliefs on other countries. Japan has the right as an independent country to have and run its own judicial system and the EU is way out of line with this. This condition will be dropped by the EU.
    - Boris
      
      He is right in that prisoners are executed in and then the related families of the prisoners are let known after the fact. But his post is anti-Japan.
      
      Japan’s system isn’t right especially when there is a 99% conviction rate. That is usually high. The accused doesn’t have the same rights or not told their rights and pretty much, once you are charged, you’re as good as guilty regardless of proof or evidence. You can go down on he said she said base evidence. I believe there was even a film maker in Japan who made a film to point this out.
      - Butsu
        
        I think this problem stems from the fact that so many people confess right on the spot here in Japan. Which makes it easy for the police to actually force it out sometimes, or as in the bomb-threat case (were the culprit took over peoples computers and made bomb threaths) the police made 4 men confess to a crime that they didn’t do.
      - Boris
        
        A lot of ‘conffessions’ happen in Japan. Which should have rung alarm bells but doesn’t.
        
        From my understanding, the police apply pressure to get confession. You end up getting people who didn’t commit the crime confessing to it. You also have the issue with confession being the main evidence in most trials.
      - firebert5
        
        The authors of Freakonomics claim that the crime rate in Japan is officially low because if a case does not appear solvable it often is not recorded. That way they can inflate the percentage of solved cases. I’m not sure whether that is actually true, but it would seem to lend credence to your other assertions.
      - Butsu
        
        That might also be true to some extent. If one spends longer time here though, it does become clear that less people actually commit crime here compared to a lot of other countries. It’s extremely safe.
      - Mighty曹
        
        99% IS ridiculously high. Do you have the name/link regarding that film?
      - Boris
        
        Forgot the name. The story line is basically a guy is on his way to work. When he leaves the train someone grabs him and accuese him of molesting her on the train. After the police ask him to confess and they will let him go, he says he didn’t do it. And then it shows the whole process in how the cops get people to sign documents that basically is the opposite of what they said, there is no recording of the cops interviewing the suspects, no lawyers, no rights read out, etc.
      - Marie
        
        99% conviction rate is true, because they don’t allow lawyers into interrogation rooms where the suspects are brow beated (intimidated and deprived) for days on end without any type of supervision. Suspects just end up “confessing” to escape the mental torture. And that’s what the UN has a problem with.
      - Mighty曹
        
        Somehow I got this misconception that Japanese are very professional at all levels, including the justice system.
    - Butsu
      
      I think it’s people on death row that gets this treatment sometimes. They don’t randomly pick prisoners and off them secretly. Afterwards they will till the family, and this is kind of a dick move. But it’s not like they hand out death sentences like candy either.
      - Mighty曹
        
        I hope they don’t bill the family for the cost of execution (like China does for bullets).
      - Butsu
        
        No. But if you jump in front of a train the train company sometimes sue the family (because of the massive loss of money when they can’t run the trains for a couple of hours).
    - Mighty曹
      
      I know I’m off but somehow I always see Japan’s police and court systems as very professional and not overly zealous in closing/convicting cases at any cost.
      - David
        
        I agree. I am not saying there are not individuals who make mistakes or are rogue or even that mistakes are not made, but the system for the most part has always seemed pretty good to me.
    - whuddyasack
      
      Very good points and I know for a fact that the legal system in Japan is actually quite robust especially when compared to its Asian peers. I don’t think it’s much different from much of Europe and in terms of human rights, it’s definitely better than what I’ve seen in Greece, Estonia and Cyprus where police participate in assaults and brutalities on foreigners.
      
      If I might add something, it’s that EU Citizen is conveniently and intentionally dumping China’s ‘secret executions’ on Japan. It’s a very common tactic, the convenient guilt by association.
      - Claude
        
        I agree with your comment but don’t compare Japan to it’s neighbors, compare Japan to the developed west because remember – “Japan is very advanced.” The Japanese can’t emphasize enough how much more advanced it is compared to it’s neighbors.
      - whuddyasack
        
        Yes, I did compare Japan to the developed West and in terms of human rights, it is comparable and arguably better than many countries in the EU, e.g. Greece, UK, Cyprus, Estonia where violent riots are aplenty. It should be the ONLY country with a brand and deserving of one. In other areas, such as infrastructure, technology, science aptitude, education and civic conscience, I’d rate Japan above every country in the EU and most experts would agree with me.
        
        http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2012/02/16/reader-mail/japan-remains-the-best-choice/#.U2yX4KLm4Vg
        
        To top it off, it’s the undisputed champion when it comes to the best place to raise your child due to superior health care, education and child support:
        http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/07/24/the-worlds-top-10-kid-friendly-nations/
        
        There are more immigrants/migrants to Japan from France and the UK than there are Japanese immigrants to all the EU countries combined. People vote with their feet and it is clear that “Japan is very advanced” even when compared to the developed west.
      - FUSA
        
        ” it’s the undisputed champion when it comes to the best place to raise your child ”
        
        What. The fuck. Are you smoking?!
        
        Oh, I see. The Time article explains that they only covered nutrition – physical health – of children around five years old. Oh, cuz, see, you know what? In Japan? After you turn five, your life goes down hill. Fast.
        
        Did they measure the rates of sleep deprivation among children in Japan? Or bullying? Psychological torment? Did they look at how much children are forced to play sports without breaks? Did they look at fucking SPORTS DAY, the day of endless torture, where children are forced to stand in broad sunlight on a sandy field for hours upon hours? I had never even heard of a child having sunstroke until I came to Japan!
        
        Undisputed champion as best place to raise a child? Are you fucking HIGH?!
      - whuddyasack
        
        You make it seem like bullying, stress and “torment” aren’t happening anywhere else. What about violence? I don’t recall there being any school shootings there for instance. Japan has a very low youth mortality rate, even lower if we rule out suicide: http://www.economist.com/node/21553409
        
        Sunstroke/heatstroke happens everywhere, what are you talking about? A child’s likelihood of getting heatstroke increases as his/her waist increases. We all know where childhood (and adult) obesity is rife, don’t we? Certainly not Japan, which happens to have the highest life expectancy in the world.
        
        Now when it comes to education, Japan leads the world in numeracy and literacy:
        http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/08/why-do-japanese-children-lead-world-numeracy-literacy
        The results are evident in PISA scores.
        
        There are of course plenty of areas for improvement, such as mental health and lifestyle balances but for now Japan is doing most things right and serves as a great example for the world.
      - Claude
        
        You must know Japan has a long tradition of sucking it up and how much of it’s issues are swept under the rug as opposed to airing of these things out in public. Hence the highest suicide rates in the developed world at roughly 30.000 a year. The Japanese aren’t a people to run to the media or a therapist like the west. What people see is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the nations issues.
        
        Have you lived in Japan? Then you would realize when you read the stats on Japan they just don’t jive with the realities of Japan today. I love that country and I complain because I care. I’ve spent years there and I left because it was breaking my heart.
      - whuddyasack
        
        To answer your question, I haven’t lived in Japan for an extended period though I’ve visited often and always with native friends. The longest time was 2 weeks in Yokohama so I can’t say I’ve had your experience. Much of what I know are based on conversations with native and ethnic Japanese, TV, news, blogs, etc. and based on that, I don’t think they are doing too bad in relation to the global situation.
        
        The question I’d like to ask is how long must one live in a country before understanding it well? I’d wager that it took me less than a week to get a good grasp of Australian norms, people, culture and intricacies. I don’t even have to live in the US to know what it is all about.
        
        I love that country and I complain because I care. I’ve spent years there and I left because it was breaking my heart.
        
        I know you’re a person criticizing out of love. Like you, I know how terrible it is to witness hopelessness in a country and people you love. My only advice for you is never to lose hope.
      - Claude
        
        This is a coincidence because I have a French friend in Japan from Normandy and his wife is a mixed race black Peruvian woman and it not so wonderful for their brown children. Those kids have been bullied and ostracized by Japanese kids. They have no Japanese friends with the exception of the kids in their ex-pat circle.
        
        Do a little research and you will find that there are now more people on welfare than there was in post-war Japan. Because a people are not a nation of rioters doesn’t mean there aren’t people rotting in little run-down flats and flop-houses all over that nation.
        
        As for the Japanese kids who I’ve taught. They’re under a tremendous amount of pressure, to the point where a few had there hair turning gray. 1 in 12 Japanese children are suffering from depression. A study found some thinking of suicide much like the study in China, recently.
        
        My point was that the Japanese have a bit of a superiority complex when it comes to the neighboring nations.
        
        I by know means want to see Japan fall on hard times but that’s exactly where they’re heading if they’re trajectory isn’t altered soon. How they do that has been discussed since I arrived in the 90’s so I have had my fill of that discussion, let me tell you.
      - whuddyasack
        
        Kids have been bullying kids since forever. It happens anywhere, and I don’t think Japan is any worse when it comes to bullying. If you read the link I provided, you can see that external factors play a very small part in Japan’s youth mortality. Anyone can be bullied so it’s not always due to color whereas color motivates bullying in America (an example). We can thank the more backwater, race-driven elements in American society where everything is racialized.
        
        There are more people on welfare in modern Japan because the post-war population was smaller and back then everyone was working to rebuild the country. A characteristic of an advanced nation is the ability to provide adequate social security, e.g. Japan can, China cannot. Instead, it is more relevant to compare how other developed nations are doing when it comes to the welfare population and unemployment. Here, Japan is holding on well.
        
        Education-related stress is one thing I completely agree with you on though. It’s a common theme in all 3 EA countries and like you it kills me to see lost childhood in an avalanche of textbooks. So many lives never reach their full potential. IMO, change is needed here and much more support services made available.
        
        Don’t worry, I know that deep down you wish the best for Japan. I just wanted to reassure you that things aren’t always as dreary as they seem. Japan will survive!
        http://www.forbes.com/sites/eamonnfingleton/2013/08/11/now-for-the-truth-the-story-of-japans-lost-decades-is-the-worlds-most-absurd-media-myth/
    - kinella
      
      well, as an italian citizen, let me correct you: in italy you are innocent ’till the prosecutor proves you guilty.
      
      that’s why we have a lot of criminals roaming freely the country ^^
    - NoDavid.
      
      oh look, another weeaboo who is now an expert on everything Japanese because he ‘lived in japan’. BTW, Have you been to a Chinese prison or talked to the families of people executed in secret?
      It’s funny that you can make use such statements as the basis of your entire argument and then turn right around and make an offhand remark on another country doing the exact same thing.
      - David
        
        LMAO I think your mother is calling you. Do you hear her shouting down into the basement? I really can not help but laugh when I read comments like yours. Was that suppose to be impressive?
    - DefenceAttorney
      
      a prosecution success rate of something like 92%… yea definitely a fantastic, fair, objective and non-biases justice system right there
      - David
        
        Well, what can I say, I am never going to convince a defense attorney that any conviction is fair. I won’t even try : ) OK, all joking aside one of the reasons they have such a high conviction rate (aside from bad cops forcing confessions) is they will often simply drop a case or never bring charges if they do not think they can win. Now we can certainly argue about the ethics of this or the commitment to public safety when you let guys go who you know are guilty, so they can commit more crimes. However, my impression had always been many less innocent guys were locked away than bad guys were put away (which I think is a good thing).
    - etiennes
      
      What did Western woman do to you David?
      - David
        
        What a weird and inappropriate question to ask a person you know nothing about on a Japanese modern culture website. Would you like to explain why you are talking about western women in a format about a Japanese-EU trade pact?
      - etiennes
        
        Well, what did they do to you? It’s the one question you need to answer for yourself. Otherwise you will never know yourself.
      - David
        
        Western women have done everything from birth me, to wash me to argue with me to love to have snowball fights with me to making me proud. Are you on some kind of medication that you are missing? Are you confusing me for somebody? I know myself just fine and no weirdo on a ex-pat website needs to concern himself with it. So go stalk somebody else.
      - etiennes
        
        Well, I see your picture and I immediately know why you fled to Japan and disdain the West.
      - David
        
        That is it? You had a month to think and THAT was the best your little troll mind could come up with? Aren’t you a sad little thing. Here is a hint on how to improve your life. Just because you call it your “command center” it is still just your mother’s basement. Try going out and meeting people in real life sometimes, maybe even get a place of your own. Don’t worry, mom will still visit you.
    - Zappa Frank
      
      Actually in Italy you are innocent until proven guilty, and the same goes for every eu country. For the rest I agree more or less.
  - Mighty曹
    
    That’s somewhat of a shock to me. I was really curious as I never heard of human rights abuse stemming out of Japan the way it does in China.
    - whuddyasack
      
      There’s definitely a huge difference in human rights abuses between the two countries. One is a developing country and suffers the same corruption and horrors of any country with the same socio-economic conditions, the other a developed country. Japan’s third world human rights record is a huge exaggeration especially if you compare how human rights are actually handled in third world countries. I don’t think it’s logical to treat the EU as a single polity here. Different nations make up the EU and not all of them have an astonishing human rights record superior to Japan. To be honest, if pressed, I’d rather live in Japan than any country in the EU and I know for a fact that human rights in Japan is far superior to certain EU countries like Greece.
    - etiennes
      
      Japan does a much better job of hiding it’s dark reality behind a democratic facade. With the help of its American friends, unfortunately.
  - Relivash
    
    That’s cute considering that the EU has an FTA with US, yet the US isn’t exactly the pinnacle of protection of human rights as well. You’re only proving the point of those mad japs.
    - FUSA
      
      America at last has it on paper. We have things like habeas corpus in our Constitution. We aren’t perfect, but we have pioneered a lot of human rights that lots of other nations still haven’t caught up with. Japan hasn’t even bothered to do half the shit we’re doing in the US now. Gay marriage? In Japan? Please. The point of comparing Japan to the US isn’t to show how advanced the US is. We all know how f-ed up the US is. The point of comparing Japan to the US is to demonstrate how utterly butt-fucking behind the times Japan is. They haven’t even caught up with AMERICA for Christ’s sake.
- Claude
  
  There’s a National Geographic video on the subject and several others on YouTube. As Citizen of EU said it’s ‘sparse and harsh’. Amnesty International has cited Japan for abuse of inmates and the ‘physiological conditions’ of Japans penal system. Back in the 90’s and early 2000’s justice ministry found that 1/3 of prisoner deaths were ‘suspicious’. Pretty ugly.
  - Mighty曹
    
    Somehow I got it all wrong about Japan’s penal system.
- Relivash
  
  Irrelevant, since the EU has an FTA with the US. The US has one of the worst prisons as well as Japan.
  - Mighty曹
    
    How is that ‘irrelevant’ to my question about Japan’s prison condition?
Chucky3176

This just about sums up Japan’s human rights, and what the EU is really thinking, in just one video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYfHWsWJhtg
- Butsu
  
  It’s handled poorly on both sides here. His reaction is extremly pathetic, but on the flipside, if you’re in a UN human rights meeting why would you burst out laughing? This is like a throwback to fifth grade when you can’t hold it in when someone pronounces a word wrong or have booger hanging from the nose. These people are adults, but sure doesn’t seem like it.
  - etiennes
    
    They were laughing about something completely unrelated to him that happened in the room (watch the video and check they eye movements of the attendees).
    Because of his inner turmoil and cognitive dissonances that a Jap. person has outside of Japan, he related the laughing to him (narcissist as Jap. men are…)
    He embarrassed himself and his country. But as long as Japan picks its representatives not by skill but by heritage, it will never be taken seriously on the world stage.
- Claude
  
  That’s a gem. Japanese officials have a tendency to stick their foot in it. Politicians who say nasty things about single moms or old people protesting cut backs in pensions are “Just crazy people”.
  
  This is pretty minor but it one of my favorites. The typical lazy Japanese cop sleepwalking through his day.
  
  Typical day for a J-cop, trying to find stolen bikes. He stops a guy to see if he is the owner, calling in the registration number. At 21 seconds a car accident takes place. Tires screech then impact. The guy on the bike says “That was an accident!” Cop: “No, I don’t think so.” And continues asking the dispatcher about the bike.
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGFY2EXvYoQ
nojap

these monkies complain about racism while being the most racist nation on earth.
- angelfire534
  
  Is this comment supposed to be ironic?
- Relivash
  
  They’re not American.
- guest
  
  You are racist too.
  - etiennes
    
    Not as racist as the average Japanese. It’s simply not possible for a Western person in 2014.
- Rational
  
  Your comment is simply pathetic and shows well the outstanding level of idiocy of yours. There are no other words that shall describe it further.
  - etiennes
    
    Uhm, no…he’s right.
- Xio Gen
  
  You’ve never been to mainland China or Korea, have you? At least Japan knows what racism is and that it’s bad.
  - etiennes
    
    I doubt it. They only cry when they are being treated wrong.
Relivash

For once the outrage is genuine. I mean, the EU has an FTA with Korea and the US which didn’t include such a clause. Not to mention that the US is a violator of human rights in certain cases. It’s not weird for Japan to think that they’re being held to different standards than the US, whose errors are being overlooked by the EU.

Not to mention that imposing the clause is pretty self-righteous (saying that it works in both ways is false modesty put in place to show goodwill) considering the EU’s violation of human rights currently happening Greece and Eastern Europe.
- FUSA
  
  I think the thing is that the US has movements in place already to fix their problems. Case in point, my own home state (extremely conservative and just…ugh, disgusting place) is making some positive moves on recognizing regular marriage – between two women.
  
  In the US, we have the mechanisms in place – both legal and social – to make positive change. We are doing it already. We don’t need a clause in our EU treaties, because we are already working on it.
  
  In short, for whatever problems the US has, we have shown a good faith effort to fix it.
  
  Japan? 99% conviction rate where it’s legal for the cops to basically berate you into confessing to crimes you didn’t commit. Almost no social movements at all to end things like endemic child prostitution, human trafficking, or exploitation of unpaid foreign workers.
  
  In other words, Japan has no good faith efforts in place to fix a single god damn thing that’s wrong with the country – and in fact, they have a leader who has promised pretty much the opposite.
  
  There is no reason to trust Japan’s government, ever. America? Well, there’s a few people, and they’ve proven themselves already.
  
  I think the EU’s human rights clause with Japan is absolutely necessary, but not with the US. The EU can use other methods to pressure the US (by, maybe, talking to us? Cuz we actually listen sometimes), whereas Japan has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt (whaling?) that they have their ears plugged and ain’t gonna do shit anyone asks them to.
Miniluv101

*Read article and Japanese comments*
Haha those sure are some crazy people, I’m sure glad they are just a vocal minority, right guys?
*Entire discussion filled with people calling each other slurs or nazis*
O..okay then…
commander

Possible difference over what constitutes human rights violations between Japan and EU remains a bone of contention for the conclusion of the EPA.

Linking an economic pact to human rights issues in a country can be seen as an unjustifiable for Japan, while the EU perceive human rights no longer fall into the scope of internal matters as long as it is concerned with grave, systematic breaches of human rights.

One of intriguing issues in this controversy is whether Japan’s incomplete handling of its colonial legacy is a violation of human rights.
Falken

Loved the comment about European colonialism. Good thing Japan never did any of that stuff!
- etiennes
  
  They didn’t really, they just went to China and Korea for or a while to murder people in the most horrible ways imaginable. And those pesky subhuman Asians are still mad about it today, how dare they. The only thing comparable would be Spanish inquisition in South America or the Third Reich. But never the European colonisation.
  - FUSA
    
    Well, they were certainly trying their best to mimic Europeans.
    
    Maybe that’s what went so wrong? After all, to the Japanese, all foreigners are the same. They don’t differentiate. Do you think maybe, when they purposefully set out to mimic European colonialism, they got mixed up with what to do, and just took all the worst parts of each colonial power? Slavery of the US, inquisitions of Spain, pedohpilia of Rome, the genocide of Germany?
    
    Huh. Maybe.
    - etiennes
      
      I don’t think there’s any kind of innocent confusion involved. The Japanese, for lack of contact to the outside world, developed an unfounded sense of racial superiority over their immediate neighbours. This is because they are not able to understand their place in the world, and refused to acknowledge it (meaning that the Japanese themselves were still living very primitively before the Western world forced them to modernise).
      From that feeling of “yellow supremacy” stems a disdain for fellow Asians who they deemed uncivilised and “subhuman”, and therefore saw no moral-ethical problem in slaughtering them.
      This same attitude towards other Asians is still prevalent in the Japanese society, and that’s why the rise of Korea and China hurts them so much – it disproves their fucked up racial theories of Japan being the “best” Asian country.
Guest

Maybe they’re aware that the LDP wishes to delete any references to human rights from the Japanese constitution?
I don’t believe the death penalty is considered to be a human rights violation.
guest

at least Europeans are less racist than Americans.
- Matt
  
  http://www.pewglobal.org/files/2009/11/2009-communism-49.png
  http://www.pewglobal.org/files/2009/11/2009-communism-42.png
Sayanee48

The comments about the european colonialism made me laugh… especially coming from Japan.
etiennes

Without “white people”, the Japanese would still be shitting into holes and eating mostly grass.
No Japanese can explain what the Japanese pride is supposed to be based on. Without outside help and ideas, they’d achieved exactly nothing.
- guest
  
  Are you okay?
  Sakoku(no whiteman) era’s Japan was most peaceful and beautiful era of Japan…
  - etiennes
    
    Haha, what a lie. It was a feudal system where common people didn’t even have names and lived in miserable, poor circumstances. They lived in fear of the upper classes who could kill them with no consequences.
    Also, Japan was poor and had no real food, that’s why the Japanese people have developed to be so small and frail – because all they were eating was grass.
    The white people were the first to bring civilisation to Japan.
  - etiennes
    
    What does that even mean, you primitive moron? Scared to elaborate? Scared like all the little Japanese men were when I walked through Tokyo? Avoiding my stares, making way wherever I go?
Xio Gen

They’re overreacting. The EU isn’t going to make them stop capital punishment. Otherwise we would have been forced to long ago. They’re probably more focused on the rights of zainichi and Ainu and women’s rights.

But it’s kind of quaint that they think they’re so backwards when it comes to human rights.