Further Developments in Fukushima and Other New Movements for Implementing International Human Rights Law in Japan

This note describes the notable improvements in human rights practices in Japan in 2015 (including early 2016). One is related to personal rights: the court judgements which ordered the suspension of two nuclear reactors based on personal rights. It is the first time for a Japanese court to suspend nuclear reactors which passed the new safety standards designated after the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident. The others are related to improvements of the status of children and women. In 2015, Japan revised the law to lower the voting age from 20 to 18, considering Article 1 of