The Ministry of Justice offers multilingual human rights counseling services for international residents who may be experiencing violations of their human rights. The services are available by phone (Foreign-Language Human Rights Hotline), online (Foreign-Language Human Rights Counseling on the Internet), and in-person (Human Rights Counseling Centers for Foreigners). They are set up through 50 Legal Affairs Bureaus and District Legal Affairs Bureaus throughout Japan and were created to support foreigners who do not speak fluent Japanese.
Know your rights
If you have ever felt discriminated against for your ethnicity, or have experienced an issue that concerns your birth background, that could be a human rights issue. Perhaps you were rejected from renting an apartment or refused a service like a haircut at a salon. Maybe your child was bullied at school for being a foreigner, or you or a family member have been excluded from an event due to cultural differences and customs. These are exactly the types of issues you can discuss with professional representatives at the Ministry of Justice in several foreign languages.
Consult professionals in your language
The human rights bodies of the Ministry of Justice provide counseling on human rights issues. Where necessary, they will conduct fact-finding investigations and take appropriate measures to provide relief and prevent further issues.
These services are intended to support foreign residents in knowing that they do not have to face or address any potential violations of their human rights alone. If you ever feel you have experienced a human rights violation, contact the human rights counseling services first, in the language you feel most comfortable conversing in. With their help, you can find the best solution to your problem.
Counseling on the phone and online is available in 10 languages: English, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Nepali, Spanish, Indonesian and Thai. Face-to-face counseling is available in approximately 80 languages.
All advice is neutral and impartial, and no paperwork is required. The service is available free of charge.
Counseling services are available by phone, online, and face-to-face.
Online:
Foreign-language Human Rights Counseling Services on the internet
https://www.jinken.go.jp/soudan/PC_AD/0101_en.html
Phone:
Foreign Language Human Rights Hotline
0570-090911 Weekdays (closed on New Year holidays), 9:00-17:00
Note: Counseling is free of charge, except for telephone charges.
Face-to-face:
Legal Affairs Bureaus and District Legal Affairs Bureaus throughout Japan
Weekdays (closed on New Year holidays), 9:00-17:00
List of Legal Affairs Bureaus and District Legal Affairs Bureaus:
https://www.moj.go.jp/ENGLISH/HB/counseling/centers.html (in English)
https://www.moj.go.jp/JINKEN/jinken03_00223.html (in Japanese)
Please see the following URL for details: https://www.moj.go.jp/JINKEN/jinken21.html
7 Comments
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wallace
Very good for those needing it.
Wexlr8
this is a copy of Japan’s constitution:
Article 14. All of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.
Now read the case of
“A decision last year by the Justice Ministry's Kyoto bureau not to pursue a complaint against a landlord's no-foreigners policy showed Japan was "utterly unprepared" to move on instances of discrimination, according to an expert.”, - BY TOMOHIRO OSAKI , Apr 9, 2015, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/04/09/national/social-issues/anti-discrimination-laws-sub-par-expert/
I do not have a paid subscription for the above link but if my memory serves me correctly, this did go to court and was ruled not discriminatory.
Good luck with consultations with Ministry of Justice!
robert maes
on several times I was confronted with discrimination by police ( stealing of my 2 dogs was ignored and I was hardest by police instead of them acting to apprehend the known thieves. The same by the court.
my business visa was not extended correctly and timely nearly every year.
I was asked once a deposit of 178 months on a 2 year rental
at no point did I ever get any useful help from these organisations except to send me from phone to phone.
Seesaw7
Will it make the difference?
Mark
Living in Japan for more than 15 years, I found Japanese government agencies to be time-sucking, cold and ineffective, so I avoided them as much as possible except to renew my visa, which I no longer need since I married a local. Yay.
Elvis is here
I have heard of a married foreigner who is getting some bother about becoming a beneficiary on their Japanese spouse's private Japanese pension. Something to do with their Japanese ability. I wonder if that is a violation of their human rights?
FireyRei
Holy mother of God… Japan acknowledges human rights abuses in their country?! Miracles can happen…