lifestyle

Ministry of Justice offering free counseling services to foreigners

11 Comments

With the aim of giving proper respect to the human rights of foreigners, the Ministry of Justice has set up human rights counseling services accessible by phone (foreign-language human rights hotline), online (human rights counseling services in foreign languages on the internet), and in person (human rights counseling centers for foreigners), through 50 Legal Affairs Bureaus and District Legal Affairs Bureaus throughout Japan, to support foreigners who are not fluent Japanese speakers.

In your daily life, do you ever feel that you have a human rights problem because you were not allowed to rent an apartment, a hairdresser refused to cut your hair or your child is bullied at school, due to the fact that you are foreigner?

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The Ministry of Justice's Human Rights Bodies provide human rights consultation and, when necessary, conduct fact-finding investigations and take appropriate measures in order to provide relief and prevention of damage. Don't worry alone. Consult with them first. A staff member will be on hand to discuss your problem and they will find the best solution to your problem.

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  • As the bureau is a governmental body, all advice is neutral and impartial.
  • Advice is offered free of charge, and no paperwork is required.
  • Referrals, legal advice, mediations (1) between the relevant parties and interventions (2) demanding an improvement in behavior from human rights offenders are offered, as considered appropriate.

*(1), (2) These measures will only be taken with the understanding and agreement of the relevant parties, and cannot be forced if either party is unwilling.

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Counseling services available by phone, online and face-to-face.

Online:

Human rights counseling services in foreign languages on the internet

English: https://www.jinken.go.jp/soudan/PC_AD/0101_en.html

Phone:

Foreign Language Human Rights Hotline

0570-090911 Weekdays (closed on New Year holidays), 9:00-17:00

*Consultations are free of charge, except for telephone charges.

Face-to-face:

Legal Affairs Bureaus and District Legal Affairs Bureaus throughout Japan,

Weekdays (closed on New Year holidays), 9:00-17:00

 http://www.moj.go.jp/MINJI/minji10.html (Japanese only)

Counseling on the phone and face-to-face is available in 10 languages: English, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Nepali, Spanish, Indonesian and Thai.

Please see the following URL for details: http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001281977.pdf

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11 Comments
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A staff member will be on hand to discuss your problem and they will find the best solution to your problem.

A: They won't rent their apartment to me because I'm a gaijin.

B: Find another apartment.

12 ( +12 / -0 )

100% of the time the foreigner will be told, "See it was just cultural misunderstanding. You do not understand Japan ways. Now we can all Happy Japan."

10 ( +11 / -1 )

How about outlawing racism by law, as most developed countries have done.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

In my 1/4 of a century here the most common complaint I have heard relates to being denied an opportunity to find a place to live because one is a foreigner. The guidance says,

*(1), (2) These measures will only be taken with the understanding and agreement of the relevant parties, and cannot be forced if either party is unwilling.

So they will try to rectify the situatoin where somone will not rent to a foreigner but there is nothing they can do about it. Maybe there will be one or two cases where a landlord is convinced to rent to a foreigner but it may not be a comfortable situation afterwards.

At least they are trying something but much more is needed if Japan truly wants to become a "financial hub" or attract "talented foreign workers"

7 ( +7 / -0 )

I was refused service by a hairdresser just before Christmas. They said they didn’t know how to cut my type of hair, which may be true, but considering their website boasts one of it’s stylists trained in Paris I found it a bit hard to believe. To be honest, I think it’s because I was too old for their salon, no one over thirty there, but I do not wish to have a granny cut in some salon that has never cut my type of hair but will have a go anyway. Too many disastrous cuts here in the past, usually I only get it cut at home, but that hasn’t been an option for over year now.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Please add Human Rights in to the title. I thought I was going to read an article about Japanese psychology and other human thinking.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

One place refused to cut my hair but otherwise I've only experienced racism from American teachers in Japan. I teach English but I'm not American, and I was told I wasn't allowed to speak in my native accent, she even monitored me for a month. Then my husband and I worked with an American teacher who wouldn't talk to us for some reason, and then we were told he said, "I'm not a zookeeper, why should I have to talk to those animals?" Our company wouldn't do anything about it, so we had to quit.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Never been refused a haircut. That's just plain weird ! Perhaps it's because I always go to those cheap barber shops and get a quick buzz.

Housing: yep

Hotel: nope

Onsen: yep (no tatts)

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The Ministry of Justice seeking justice for foreigners without any recourse to any tangible laws-how ironic!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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