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Japan Adopts Action Plan Against Human Trafficking

December 2004

On 8 December 2004, Japan announced that it will crack down on sham marriages as part of its plan to eradicate the human trafficking of foreign women. A comprehensive plan of action has been adopted, to be finalized by the end of December 2004.

Another main goal for the Japanese government is to help human trafficking victims return to their home countries, but there will be no provisions to set up new shelters for victims of trafficking.

The government has already asked the Legislative Council, an advisory panel, to examine revisions to the Criminal Code. In addition to the measures to crack down on sham marriages, the government will include in the plan stricter standards for the issuance of entertainment visas for singers and dancers.

Tokyo's plan, due to take effect next year, will mostly affect Filipinos who obtain the visas based on being certified as entertainers by Manila. Last year, about 80,000 people from the Philippines arrived on entertainer visas. Officials plan to revise Justice Ministry ordinances early next year to end issuing visas based on another government's approval. Under the ordinances, entertainer visas are issued to those that a foreign government certifies as meeting certain standards or entertainers with at least two years of experience or training. Only Filipinos get visas based on their government's certification. Of 133,000 people who entered Japan on entertainment visas in 2003, Philippine nationals accounted for about 60 percent. More than half of them are estimated to work as bar hostesses, a service not allowed under the visa category.¹

The government wants to enlist the help of the victims to arrest members of international crime syndicates engaged in the sex trade. To make the victims more willing, the government plans to offer them support for their return to their home countries by referring the victims to international aid organizations.²

The US Government has been in dialogue with the Japanese government since early 2004. The US Government has recommended changes to Japanese laws which would reflect a greater recognition of the problem of trafficking in Japan and strengthen the criminal code in order to prosecute traffickers.³

The Japanese government hopes to be removed from the Tier 2 – Watch List of the US Department of State’s 2004 Trafficking in Persons Report.

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¹ The Asahi Shimbun. December 15, 2004.
² "Anti-trafficking Plan Targets Fake Nuptials." The Asahi Shimbun. December 7, 2004.
³ Adelstein, Jake. Yomiuri Shimbun. November 24, 2004.