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human rights

Nintendo Japan officially provides spousal benefits to same-sex partnerships

Equality gets the Nintendo Seal of Quality.

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Japanese Twitter in an uproar about Tokyo ward that banned homeless from evacuation shelters

Many and much was said about the policy by Japanese netizens.

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Historic Kyoto temple first in Japan to offer gay weddings

Gay marriage is still not legal in Japan, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t options for LGBT couples dreaming of tying the knot in Nippon. Joining big venues like Tokyo Disneyland, an ancient Zen temple in the picturesque city of Kyoto is offering gay weddings in traditional Japanese style.

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North Korea calls US the ‘World’s Worst Human Rights Abuser’

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) guides the multiple-rocket launching drill of women’s sub-units under KPA Unit 851, in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)

North Korea called the United States “a living hell” while offering a comprehensive listing of criticisms against the country it called “the world’s worst human rights abuser” in a news report from state-run media Wednesday.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

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Members of the Korean media have come under fire this week after they filmed a man who warned via his Twitter account that he would jump from Mapo Bridge-a known suicide spot-and made good on his promise.

There staff on the scene made no effort to intervene and have been arrested as accomplices to the man’s suicide.

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The Sayama Incident: Kazuo Ishikawa’s half-century struggle against a wrongful murder conviction and Japan’s backward legal system

In 1963, Kazuo Ishikawa was convicted of the murder of a high school girl in Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture. A member of the Buraku, Japan’s historical untouchable caste, Ishikawa grew up poor and uneducated, and the police built the case against him by taking advantage of his naivety, by capitalizing on social prejudices, and by manipulating an already unfair legal system to their advantage. Now 74, he is still fighting to clear his name and to make sure others have access to a fair trial.

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On 20-21 May in Geneva, Switzerland, a report by the Japanese government was presented for the UN Committee Against Torture.

At the end of the two-day session, Mr Hideaki Ueda, Ambassador in charge of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, suddenly lost his temper, shouting at committee members and demanding that they “Shut up!!!” What on earth could have caused the ambassador to raise his voice?

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According to Hong Kong dailies dated May 11, university officials in Beijing and Shanghai were reported as saying authorities had directed them to refrain from teaching seven subjects in their classes including “freedom of the press,” “human rights” and “universal values.”
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