Legal issues in Japan

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Japan’s Population Decline

Topic Overview: Population decrease has been a serious issue in Japan, and although the government has made some efforts, no measures have been effective enough to stop the trend. As of January 1, 2025, the total population was 124,330 , including foreign nationals. The number has dropped by approximately 554,485 people , or 0.44 percent , marking one of the largest declines on record. Some of the reasons are the low birth rate, low wages, shortage of living space, harsher employment conditions, and the heavy responsibility placed on women. However, the research explains that the population is rising in Chiba and Tokyo because immigrants and workers from overseas are increasing, which the government is struggling to handle due to the rapid growth of the foreign population. Furthermore, experts emphasize that Japan needs stronger nationwide measures and protections to address the demographic challenges. From a worldwide perspective, the records show that Japan is not the only count...

Japan’s Growing Cyber Threats

Topic Overview: In 2024, the government in Japan has seriously taken the cyber issues and established the Active Cyber Defense Law. The government would monitor online activity, and if the attacks are shown, they handle the political defense. Cyberattacks have frequently occurred in large companies such as Asahi and Askul Corporation. A Russian hacker group called Qilin has been sharing the ways or giving the programs on how to cyber attack to others. Thus, a major issue is that many people could access it and people could hack more often. Furthermore, hacking is becoming worse; double, triple, or quadruple extortion means encrypting the data so the company can’t use it, threatening to leak the data, and adding pressure. Moreover, even if the company pays for the ransom, there is no guarantee that the data would be restored like before, and crimes would happen more often, so experts advise not to pay the ransom. My person...

Government Measures Against Increasing Bear Encounters

Topic Overview: Japan has been facing a serious issue of wild bears coming down into towns where people live, and 13 people have become victims, marking the highest number on record. Since April 2025, bears have appeared in supermarkets, schools, and even inside houses on a daily basis....

Workplace harassment

Topic overview: In 2019, Japan built the workplace harassment law. This law applies when there is bullying, an excessive workload, or when the work environment causes harmful conditions inside the community. Until this law was established in Japan, many workers had experienced harassment, with about 70% being affected. However, people in Japan often do not report harassment to their workplace because many workers feel that the workplace would not help or listen to their voices. Because the workplace harassment law has been established, when a workplace does not take action or does not support workers, some kind of damage or legal consequences may occur. In order to avoid a lawsuit or not be sued by employees, experts advise employers not to raise their voices or scold workers in front of others, to give clear examples or guidance when mistakes happen, to recognize the personality of each worker, not to show hatred toward them, and to interact with them as they would with business ...

Overtourism and Waste: A Growing Issue in Japan

Topic Overview: Japan has become one of the most touristy countries in the world. Since then, overtourism has also led to today’s topic, tourists violating local Japanese etiquette. The issue has recently become more serious, as tourists have started dumping their luggage at the places where they stay or even at airports. Therefore, hotels have to manage and pay the disposal fees themselves, which increases their operational costs. Some hotels report spending thousands of yen every month just to handle abandoned suitcases. In addition, these leftover items create storage problems and inconvenience both the staff and other guests. However, the government does not provide a tourist friendly waste management system, which is also one of the concerns mentioned in the article. A possible solution for both hotels and tourists is to raise awareness and set up suitcase drop off counters, but more work still needs to be done to make this system effective. My personal view: I have pe...

Japan’s Surname Debate

Description of the issue: The article discusses whether married couples in Japan should be allowed to have separate surnames or continue sharing the same family name after marriage. Unfortunately, progress toward introducing a dual surname system has taken a major step backward since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and the Japan Innovation Party opposed the idea. They believe that allowing separate surnames would destroy traditional family values. However, they support the use of maiden names for business or official purposes, but not as legal surnames. On the other hand, some argue that simply allowing the use of maiden names does not solve the problem. Keidanren points out that many women face difficulties when their legal and business names are different. Moreover, women’s and civil rights groups, along with Makiko Terahara and the Komeito Party, strongly argue that gender equality and personal freedom should be respected. ...