Country Studies: Japan 2018. The Global Slavery Index
2018 Trafficking in Persons Report – Japan UNHCR
2018 Trafficking in Persons Report from the US State Department. See the Country Narratives: J-M (PDF) for Japan, especially the last section on Trafficking People
U.S. slams Japan over sex trafficking, forced labor The United States has censured Japan for failing to halt the trafficking of women and children for sex, and for ongoing “conditions of forced labor” within a government-run training program for non-Japanese. Japan Times, 28 Jul, 2015.
Human Trafficking and the Sex Trade in Japan Japan has been a major country of destination for human trafficking, especially into its notorious sex industry. Women and children are trafficked to Japan for commercial sexual exploitation from China, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Russia, and Latin America. The majority of identified trafficking victims are foreign women who migrate to Japan with hopes of working and sending remittances to their families back home. This is report from a Christian organisation that focuses partly on the work of Christian groups in Japan on this issue. Global Ministries, May 28, 2014.
Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation in Japan A report by the International Labour Organisation, 1 Jan 2005.
Measures to Combat Trafficking in Persons (Annual Report), May 18, 2018. Council for the Promotion of Measures to Combat Trafficking in Persons, Prime Minster's Office of Japan.
Japanese police took action against 40 human traffickers in Japan in 2018; cases decline by 10 from previous year Japan Times, 28 Feb 2019.
Japan curbs 'entertainment visas' Japan has started applying stricter regulations on the tens of thousands of Filipinos who come to Japan on so-called entertainment visas....the Japanese government is trying to clean up the country's image after criticism by the US state department last year over its failure to control human trafficking. BBC News, 15 March, 2005.
Tougher restrictions on foreign entertainers to be enforced in March. Japan Times, Jan. 24, 2005.
“The Trafficking of Filipino Women in Japan and the Development Action for Women Network (DAWN)” A report from an Filipino NGO on the trafficking of Filipino women to Japan.
Traffickers target Filipino-Japanese kids This articles looks at how brokers (or traffickers) target Filipino women who have gad children with Japanese men want to get Japanese nationality for their children. "This has given rise to an increasing number of brokers seeking to profit from women seeking a better life for their children. For many it turns into nothing more than a nightmare." Nikkei Asian Review, November 02, 2016.
Issue of Trafficking in Women & Children in Japan and the Challenges aimed to Eliminate the Trafficking Hurights, Osaka
Japan’s fight against modern-day sex slavery hurt by backward attitude This is an article by Cynthia Rubie that argues that the Japanese government is not doing enough to prevent the trafficking of persons into Japan, including women for the sex industry, although it has started to take action against the forced prostitution of women and children. The Japan Daily Press, 3 September, 2012.
Legislation to rescue, protect and support victims of human trafficking is vital A message from the Japan Network Against Trafficking in Persons (JNATIP) and the International Movement Against all forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR) to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Human Rights NGOs in Japan, 8 Nov 2004.
Actions taken by the Japanese Government regarding Trafficking in Persons. Women's Asia 21, Voices from Japan, Summer 2005.
Issue of Trafficking in Women & Children in Japan and the Challenges aimed to Eliminate the Trafficking, Hurights Osaka, 2005.
Volunteer offers consultation to women trafficked to Japan A volunteer probation officer and court interpreter in Kobe has begun a telephone consultation service for foreign women trafficked to Japan and forced into prostitution. Yukiko Oishi will lend both a sympathetic ear and practical advice to such women, mainly Asian women in western Japan, up to and including assisting them with finding legal representation. Japan Times, April 8, 2004.
Running the sex trade gantlet: Voracious sex market and lax laws encourage abuse Despite the recession, Japan still has Asia's largest and most voracious sex market, one that has sucked in as many as 150,000 non-Japanese women, mainly from the Philippines and Thailand, according to the International Organization for Migration. Japan Times, Nov. 11, 2003.
The trafficking scourge: Japan has tackled sex trafficking, but challenges remain Thailand is one of the primary source countries of women trafficked as sex workers in Japan, along with the Philippines, Columbia, and increasingly China, South Korea and Indonesia. For years, there was resistance by the Japanese government in taking significant steps to reduce human trafficking. Japan Times, Aug. 15, 2006.
Report on Japan of the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, to the 14th UN Human Rights Council, 12 May 2010. This is the report of Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the UN representative who came to investigate human trafficking in Japan on 2009.
Japan's New Rules Provoke Differing Views from NGOs A discussion of responses from NGOs and supporters of Filipino overseas performing artists to the Japanese government policy of reducing entertainment visa for Filipino migrants to Japan. OFW Journalism Consortium, 15 March, 2005.
Philippines makes last-ditch request to delay visa changes. Japan Times, Feb. 2, 2005.
Japanese Government Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Japan's Action Plan of Measures to Combat Trafficking in Persons. Dec 2004. This is the plan that the Japanese government developed after being put on the US State Department's Watch List over human trafficking.
Japan Network Against Trafficking in Persons (in Japanese)
Japan Network Against Trafficking in Persons (JNATIP) / 人身売買禁止ネットワーク Read here about the launch of JNATIP
Citizen's Network for Japanese Filipino Children
Lighthouse: Center for Human Trafficking Victims | NPO法人ライトハウス
(Formely Polaris Japan) This organisation works mainly on the trafficking of Japanese young women into the sex industry in Japan.
ECPAT/STOP Japan was formed in 1992 as an official organization affiliated with ECPAT International, and works to end child prostitution, child pornography and the trafficking of children for sexual purposes under the ECPAT policy guideline.
Website of the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
Development Action for Women Network (DAWN) An NGO in the Philippines, supporting Filipino women who work in Japan.
Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation in Japan is the title of an International Labour Organisation report that focus on the serious problems of sexual exploitation in Japan as a destination country for human trafficking.
"Trafficking of Filipino Women to Japan: Examining the Experiences and Perspectives of Victims and Government Experts" is the title of a report carried out by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute in Turin, Italy as part of a project on trafficking in human beings from the Philippines.