Source: http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human/child/report2/index.html

Japanese

The child shall be respected as a human being.
The child shall be esteemed as a member of society.
The child shall be raised in a good environment.

1. As of October 1999, the population of children (those below the age of 18 years) stands at 23,261,000, accounting for 18.4% of the total population. Families with children total 13,172,000, 29.3% of the total households. When the National Action Program for Year 2000 was worked out in December 1991, children's population accounted for 23.06 percent of the total population and the families with children, accounted for 38.5 percent of the total households. The number of children has been decreasing since then, which is a serious problem for Japan. In an effort to put on brakes on declining birthrate, the Japanese government has been taking measures and will continue to do so.

2. Japan has been expanding its welfare and educational programs particularly since the end of World War II. Every program has attained high-level achievement. By continuing these programs, the government of Japan intends to improve children and home welfare programs and improve universal access to basic education.

3. As the Japanese society gets more and more complicated, social environment involving children, including home environment, is undergoing great changes. Such new social problems as child prostitution, child pornography, bullying, juvenile delinquency, suicide, drug abuse and child abuse have emerged and deteriorated. The Japanese government faces these problems which have to be addressed urgently and effectively.

4. In addition to the Government, the society as a whole including individuals and NGOs, plays an important role in dealing with the human rights issues of children. In order for Japan to carry out its major responsibilities in the field of human rights, it is necessary for the Government and community to constructively cooperate with each other and fulfill their own responsibilities based on the relationship of mutual trust.

5. On April 22, 1994, Japan ratified the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child. In May 1996, the Japanese government submitted the Initial Report to the United Nations in accordance with Paragraph 1, Article 44 of the Convention. Seven years have passed since our ratification of the Convention, and the Japanese government is submitting this report as the Second Report. The report covers explanation of government measures introduced to solve recent social problems concerning children as well as plans and opinions of the government in response to the finalized view issued by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in June 1998.

1. The Japanese government received Observations by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its finalized view issued in response to the Initial Report of Japan submitted in May 1996, that in light of Vienna Declaration and Program of Action of 1993, the Committee encourages the State its reservation to article 37 (c) and its declarations with a view to their withdrawal.

2. About a year after the World Conference on Human Rights in June 1993, Japan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in April 1994. Upon ratification, Japan has made a reservation to paragraph (c) of Article 37 as well as declarations to paragraph 1 of Article 9 and paragraph 1 of Article 10 of the Convention. At this moment of our submitting the Second Report, based on Paragraph 13 of the Initial Report and Answer 1 to the question from the Committee on the Rights of the Child for Reviewing the Initial Report, we have no plans to withdraw our reservation and declared interpretation.

3. See Paragraph 12 of the Initial Report of Japan.

4. In drafting the Law amending a part of the Child Welfare Law and other relevant laws enacted in June 1997, full consideration was given to ensure consistency of these national laws with the Convention and to reflect more effectively the objectives of the Convention, such as the best interests of the child and his/her right to express views.
Japan also established the Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and for Protecting Children on May 18, 1999, and this law took effect on November 1 of the same year. Through the introduction of this law together with the Child Abuse Prevention Law, which was established on May 17, 2000 and was effected on November 20 of the same year, we have been making sincere efforts to protect children against any commercial sexual exploitation as well as all abusive acts and secure the sound growth of children, while further aiming at the effective implementation of the Convention.
Moreover, in February 2001, we have developed the "Japan's Action Plan against Commercial and Sexual Exploitation of Children" which compiles the measures for the prevention of and law enforcement for the commercial sexual exploitation of children (e.g. child prostitution or child pornography) as well as measures for the rehabilitation of child victim of these acts.

5. In addition, in order to contribute to effectively realizing the Convention both domestically and internationally, we are planning to hold "the Second World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children" in December 2001 in Yokohama, Japan. We assume that we will have a large number of attendants to this Congress, presumably 1300 to 2000 persons from national governments, relevant international organizations and non-governmental organizations. The main topics will be child pornography including that on the Internet, prevention and protection of children against sexual exploitation and recovery for victimized children, child trafficking and others. We believe this Congress will surely contribute to the effective implementation of the Convention.

(Respect of rights provided for by the Constitution and other national laws)

6. See Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Initial Report of Japan.

(Relationship between treaties and national laws)

7. See the Answer 2 to the question from The Child Right Committee for Reviewing the Initial Report

(Direct application of the Convention to judicial decisions)

8. As for the manner of how provisions of treaties should be applied to solution of domestic cases, we have no precedent of a court decision explicitly showing whether or not the direct application of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is possible. The Japanese government considers that the manner of application should be determined case by case, while taking into account the purpose, content and descriptions of the provisions of the Convention.

9. See Paragraphs 4-8 of the Initial Report of Japan.
See Paragraph 4 for the law concerning a partial amendment of the Child Welfare Law.

10. There are several precedents where a claim was brought to the court in Japan by a person who allegedly suffered from a violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by a national law/ordinance. However, no court judgement has been ever made in our country to determine that application of a national law or ordinance led to violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

11. Here is one of those precedents concerning the Convention.
The case concerns a regulation which stipulates that the governor is to designate some floppy disks as harmful materials if they contain computer software showing sexually obscene pictures and that those designated disks are prohibited from being sold to juveniles. A claim was brought to the court insisting that the regulation violates the provisions of the Constitution of Japan and the Convention on the Rights of the Child as well. (The court judgment was that the regulation in question cannot be regarded as violating the Convention on the Rights of the Child, for the reasons that (i) it is obvious that the Convention does not stipulate the guarantee of children's right to access any information, while disregarding such materials as are harmful to the sound growth of juveniles and children, (ii) it is also obvious that the Convention cannot be interpreted in a way that it prohibits States Parties from regulating children's free access to harmful information and materials regardless of presumable results thereof, while it leaves the decision on whether to allow children access to such harmful information/materials to their parents or legal guardians alone, and (iii) the regulation in question can be considered to be a "law" as described in Paragraph 2, Article 13 of the Convention, based on the interpretation that this "law" includes not only national laws established by the Diet but also regulations established by an assembly of a local government.) (Miyazaki Branch, Fukuoka High Court, 1995)

(a) Volunteers for Children's Rights Protection

12. As mentioned in Paragraph 15 of the Initial Report of Japan and the Answer 7 to the question from the Committee on the rights of the child for Reviewing the Initial Report, we have organized the Volunteers for Children's Rights Protection, as part of administrative measures to secure children's rights. Major activities of the Volunteers include; (i) collecting and arranging information about children's rights, (ii) investigating and dealing with cases of infringement of children's rights and providing counseling services for children, (iii) drafting plans of educational programs to raise people's awareness of the significance of protecting children's rights. Specifically, the Volunteers receive inquiries on children's rights in children's rights counseling rooms and through the "Children's Rights Dial 110." Furthermore, the Volunteers hold meetings for discussion on children's rights in cooperation with activity groups for children, and conduct surveys on people's awareness of and attitudes toward children's rights. When infringement of the rights of any child is suspected to have occurred, the Volunteers takes appropriate measures in cooperation with the Legal Affairs Bureau and the District Legal Affairs Bureaus.

13. The fiscal year 2001 budget for the activities of the Volunteers for Children's Rights Protection is 14.449 million yen, which can be broken down into 12.605 million yen for the traveling expenses to participate in children's rights counseling rooms activities or training sessions, and 1.844 million yen for the expenses of buying books and materials to provide practical information.
Currently, there are a total number of 688 Volunteers nationwide.

14. The Volunteers for Children's Rights Protection are selected and appointed by the Director-General of the Human Rights Bureau of the Ministry of Justice from among Human Rights Volunteers, who have been selected through the following democratic, careful procedure.

(1) First, mayors of municipal governments select candidates for Volunteers taking into consideration the opinions of their assemblies, and recommend them to the Minister of Justice. Mayors should select such candidates from among residents in their municipal community who have suffrage for the community's assembly members. Also, those candidates should have a high-level of knowledge about human rights as well as other social issues in various fields, and have a deep understanding of the significance of the protection of human rights.

(2) Then, the Minister of Justice appoints Human Rights Volunteers from among the candidates, after hearing the opinion of the Bar Associations and the prefectural association of Human Rights Volunteers.

15. Some of the performances fulfilled so far by the Volunteers for Children's Rights Protection include the above-mentioned counseling services through the counseling rooms or Children's Rights Dial 110, surveillance activities about any infringement of children's rights through distribution of the so-called "no bullying" cards, investigation and relief activities upon occurrence of infringement of the rights of the child, and public awareness raising activities through bulletins and mass media as well as in cooperation with the board of education and other relevant organizations.

(b) Human Rights Volunteers

16. See Paragraph 16 of the Initial Report of Japan.

17. Japan established the national action plan in December 1991 in accordance with Paragraph 34 (a) of the Plan of Action for Implementing the World Declaration adopted during the World Summit for Children held in September 1990. In July 1996, we made an interim review on the action plan upon the request of then-Secretary-General of the United Nations Boutros-Ghali, and made another interim review in October 1998 when the Fourth East Asia and Pacific Ministerial Consultation on Goals for Children and Development Toward the Year 2000 was held.
Moreover, in preparation for the Special Session of the General Assembly in September 2001 for follow-up to the World Summit for Children, we prepared the national report in order to review the actions taken after the World Summit for Children.

18. As mentioned Paragraph 5 of this report, in this coming December, Japan is holding the Second World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. The first Congress, which was held in August 1996 in Stockholm, Sweden, adopted the Declaration and the Agenda for Action for eradication of commercial sexual exploitation of children, such as child pornography, child prostitution and sale of children for these purposes. The Agenda for Action calls upon all States to develop national agenda for action to set the measures against commercial sexual exploitation of children. Based on this Agenda for Action the Japanese Government developed the Japan's Action Plan against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.

(a) Authorities responsible for respective parts of the Convention, coordination of activities proceeded with by each authority, and monitoring of the progress of all such activities

19. As mentioned in Paragraph 26-29 of the Initial Report, the measures related to children cover wide-ranging fields, including welfare and education, and many relevant administrative agencies are involved.
In our former administrative system before the recent reorganization, the then-Management and Coordination Agency conducted coordination of youth-related measures as enforced by relevant authorities, with the help of the Committee for the Promotion of Youth Policy composed of bureau chiefs of relevant ministries and agencies, in order to ensure the comprehensive and effective implementation of measures undertaken by relevant authorities when these measures were seen as part of government-wide efforts as a whole. On July 24, 1998, the Committee for the Promotion of Youth Policy welcomed its new members, who included chiefs of relevant bureaus of the then-Prime Minister's Office, then-Economic Planning Agency, then-Ministry of Finance, then-National Tax Administration Agency and then-Ministry of International Trade and Industry. At the same time, members of the liaison conference organized under the Committee have also been increased. Furthermore, the Committee's guideline which sets forth fundamental policy and priorities for the promotion of youth policy was revised during its meeting, explicitly indicate of how the Convention on the Rights of the Child should relate to the fundamental policy. Thus, efforts have been made to establish a government-wide system for the comprehensive implementation of youth policy. Since January 2001, when the administrative reorganization took place, the Cabinet Office has been in charge of making general coordination of all measures in close contact with relevant ministries and agencies and also with the help of various organizations including the Committee for the Promotion of Youth Policy.
In this way, we have been implementing measures for children comprehensively and effectively while developing various measures. So far, we have no plans to establish a new system for coordinating these measures within the Government. However, we will continue to make further efforts to comprehensively promote the measures for children under the existing system in close contact with the relevant administrative agencies.

20. In pursuit of the sound growth of young people and prevention of juvenile delinquency, we, for comprehensively promote children-related measures, paying close attention to the aims of the Convention as well as recently-issued finalized view of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

21. Concerning our mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the Convention, see the Answer 6 to the question from The Child Right Committee for Reviewing the Initial Report.

(b) Coordination between the central and local governments

22. As mentioned in Paragraph 27 of the Initial Report of Japan, the Cabinet Office, taking over the duties of the former Management and Coordination Agency, has been making efforts to comprehensively promote youth-related measures while maintaining coordination between the national government and local governments. Specifically, the Cabinet Office holds liaison conferences with departments and bureaus responsible for promoting youth policy at prefectural governments and governments of designated cities, and promotes exchange of information between the national and local governments.

23. We recognize our local governments' active commitment to implementing measures to promote protection and respect of children's rights, in response to the conclusion of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. For example, they make efforts to raise people's awareness of the Convention through public relations activities, conduct various child welfare measures, and hold the "Children's Assembly" with the aim of promoting children's participation in the society in accordance with the aim of the Convention.

24. We are informed that each local government conducts means aimed at the implementation of the Convention on Rights of the Child in due consideration of the actual conditions in the region. Thus it cannot be denied that the degree of implementation and attained performance varies among regions. We continue to make efforts to reduce the regional disparity, as considered necessary, among measures undertaken by respective local governments which are equally tasked with implementing these measures. For this purpose, we would give advice to relevant departments and bureaus of local governments, give instruction and advice to other organizations under the central administrative bodies, and hold liaison conferences with local governments.

(c) Relationship between the governmental organizations responsible for children's rights and NGOs.

25. In Japan, protection of children's rights is ensured through the implementation of measures implemented by each ministry and agency respectively. Each ministry and agency is responsible for implementing such measures and evaluating the performance and progress of its measures.

26. See Paragraph 28 of the Initial Report of Japan for the government's counseling services and organizations concerning youth issues.

27. We consider it important that not only the government but the whole society for the effective implementation of the Convention. In this light, the government fully respects activities initiated by private organizations to promote protection and facilitation of children's rights, and understands the significance of such activities and their contribution to the implementation of the Convention.
Therefore, the government pays much attention to the effective utilization of expertise of private organizations in implementing the Convention. Some of the successful examples of the government's cooperation with a private organization follow.

(1) In implementing the Convention of the Rights of the Child, the government actively tries to create opportunities to hold discussions with non-governmental organizations. In fact, this report reflects opinions of NGOs which show an interest in the government's measures related to the Convention. In the process of preparing this report, two meetings were held, under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, between the government and NGOs, with the aim of hearing their opinions and having those opinions contribute to the report when considered necessary and appropriate.

(2) The Volunteers for Children's Rights Protection are maintaining a liaison with schools, Child Guidance Centers, local communities, parent-teacher associations, local welfare volunteers etc. in view of the area's situation, since such liaison is helpful for the Volunteers in pursuing their duties to collect and arrange information about children's rights, and make and implement plans of public awareness raising activities to educate people about the protection of children's rights.

(3) We have Child Guidance Centers as public organizations working to detect an occurrence of child abuse without delay and take appropriate action against it. The national government has sent a notice to each governor, suggesting that the governor should encourage Child Guidance Centers to maintain a liaison with local private organizations engaged in the prevention of child abuse.
In order to detect an occurrence of child abuse without delay and make a prompt action against it, it is essential that relevant organizations, including welfare, healthcare, police, educational, and legal organizations cooperate effectively, under this policy, we have organized the Conference against Child Abuse, consisting of relevant ministries and twenty regional private organizations nationwide.
We also have a network against child abuse in each prefecture and designated cities. In addition, the national government has been encouraging the establishment of municipal conferences against child abuse with the aim of promoting cooperation at the municipal level close to the public.

(4) We have been pursuing educational activities for elimination of child prostitution in cooperation with the Japan Committee for UNICEF, for the purpose of protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. We maintain a close liaison with the Committee and other relevant organizations in preparing for the Second World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children to be held in December 2001.

(5) We also financially support private organizations engaged in the projects to improve child welfare including education and maternal/child healthcare in developing countries, through the gratuitous financial support system designed for grass roots activities and the subsidy system for the NGO's projects.

(d) Independent organizations including ombudsmen for the protection of children's rights

28. As mentioned above, protection of children's rights is ensured in Japan through the implementation of measures initiated respectively by each ministry and agency, where the responsibility for each measure is taken by the ministry or agency who has implemented it, and each ministry and agency is supposed to make an evaluation of the performance and progress of its measures. We consider it very important to involve the whole society in the efforts being made by the government for the effective implementation of the Convention. In this light, the government fully respects activities initiated by private organizations to promote protection and facilitation of children's rights, and understands the significance of such activities and their contribution to the implementation of the Convention.
Based on this policy, though we have no plans to introduce an ombudsman for children, we intend to keep promoting the implementation of the Convention under the existing system, while maintaining a close liaison among the relevant administrative bodies and in cooperation with private organizations.

(e) Collecting statistics and promoting the effective utilization of the collected statistics

29. See the Answer 5 to the question from The Child Right Committee for Reviewing the Initial Report of Japan.

(f) Regular evaluation on the implementation of the Convention

30. We do not have any nationally-controlled system to evaluate the implementation of the Convention on a regular basis. However, as mentioned above, protection of children's rights is ensured in Japan through the implementation of measures initiated respectively by each ministry and agency, where the responsibility for each measure is taken by the ministry or agency who has implemented it, and each ministry and agency is supposed to make an evaluation of the performance and progress of its measures.
The national government has been making efforts to guarantee the protection of children's rights through the implementation of various measures aiming to promote the sound growth of children, and continues to work under the current scheme on the comprehensive promotion of those measures in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and in cooperation with relevant administrative organizations.

31. For implementation of the Convention, the government actively cooperates with civil society as mentioned in Paragraph 27 of this report.

(Budget allocated for social benefits of children)

32. The general account budget of the Japanese national government for fiscal year 2000 was 63.218 trillion yen (the initially settled budget excluding the expense for government bonds), of which approximately 5.2688 trillion yen or 8.4% was allocated for youth policy. We are confident that our budget for youth policy is sufficient for promoting the protection of children's rights in accordance with the provision of the Convention providing that States Parties shall undertake youth measures to the maximum extent of their available resources.
Of the budget for youth policy, approximately 17.5 billion yen was set aside for healthcare measures such as promotion of health, sports and maternal/child healthcare, about 3.4983 trillion yen was allocated for education-related measures such as promotion of study programs, the promotion of home education, improvement of school education and occupational training programs for young people, and approximately 728.3 billion yen was to be used for social services such as child-rearing support services, maternal and child welfare services, measures for mentally/physically-handicapped children, Child Allowance and measures to improve child welfare institutions.
We would like to note that the above-mentioned budgets are the total of budgets presumably related, directly or indirectly, to the sound growth of juveniles including children. Some of them include those allocated for social services for the general public where it is difficult to calculate the exact amount used for children only, since such budgets benefit all generations including children.
As for the budget of prefectures, the national government does not have breakdown details of all budgets, but is sure that every prefectures allocate sufficient budget for youth policy, just as central ministries and agencies do, to the maximum extent of each organization's available resources, as set forth in Article 4 of the Convention.

(Trend of budget allocation for youth policy)

33. The following table shows the recent trend of the above-mentioned budget for youth policy, as compiled by the Cabinet Office.

Data on the budget for youth policy

Fiscal year	Total budget (initially allocated) (thousand yen)	Budget allocated for youth policy (thousand yen)	Ratio of the youth policy budget (%)
1996	58,729,726,369	5,155,480,507	8.8
1997	60,587,675,115	5,218,009,563	8.6
1998	60,406,363,032	5,177,290,727	8.6
1999	62,028,199,364	5,216,162,314	8.4
2000	63,021,711,948	5,268,780,743	8.4

Notes:
* The above-mentioned budgets are exclusive of the expense for government bonds.
* The budget allocated for youth policy for fiscal year 1996 includes the special account budget.

(Respect of the best interests of the child in the process of the government's budget settlement)

34. In view of possible ill effects on the sound growth of children from the falling birth rates in recent years, a New Angel Plan was devised for the 5 years starting from fiscal year 2000.
The New Angel Plan is devised as a concrete plan for implementing measures against the falling birth rates, including enhancement in supporting services for child-rearing such as day-care services, and preparation of the working environment which allows work and child-rearing compatible. Based on this plan, budgets are appropriated selectively on items related to the child and family such as the improvement of nursery care services and the promotion of After-school Children's Clubs.

(Efforts to eliminate the disparity among regions/groups in opportunity to receive social services)

35. Under the New Angel Plan, the government has been working on the improvement of day-care services and other services to assist child-rearing in a manner to improve both quality and quantity of such services all over the country. Specifically, the Plan aims to expand the capacity for low age children at Day-care Centers, promote the introduction of an extended nursery care and holiday nursery care, and promote After-school Children's Clubs to support working parents.

(Protection of children from being subject to an undesired influence from the government's economic measures)

36. (1) In Japan, we have Child Allowance and Child-Rearing Allowance as the social benefit system for the support of child rearing.
The Child Allowance scheme, which was introduced in 1972, aims to stabilize family life by relieving the household's economic burden arising from child rearing and support the sound growth of children upon whom rests the next generation's society. An amendment was introduced to this scheme in 2000, to extend the age band of beneficiaries, where the term of allowance expires upon child's entering the stage of compulsory education under the amended scheme (in other words, the term of allowance expired on the first day of the fiscal year coming after a child reaches the age of six). This amendment has been introduced to respond to the recent accelerated decline of birth rate and changes of social environment around children and families in this country and aims to enhance the economic support for families engaged in child rearing.
The Child-Rearing Allowance scheme aims to enhance the economic stability and independence of families which are fatherless due to divorce or separation of parents, and the allowance is provided for qualified children under the policy to facilitate their welfare.
Both Child Allowances and Child-Rearing Allowances are provided in accordance with the income limit which is stipulated in the government ordinance for an eligible beneficiary (such as a child's guardian), stipulated upper limit varying according to the number of the beneficiary's dependents.

(2) We also have the scheme under the Public Assistance Law to provide welfare benefits for those in poverty who are unable to maintain the minimum standards of living guaranteed under the Constitution of Japan. Under this scheme the allowances are provided for eligible households to the extent that such households' income do not cover the minimum demands, which are estimated in accordance with the standard set by the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare. Living aid allowances are provided in the form of money or, where appropriate, in kind in order to satisfy the need for food and clothes and as well as other daily necessities, and housing aid allowances are provided in the form of money or, where appropriate, in kind in order to satisfy the need for housing, house repair work and other maintenance works for housing.

Outline of Child Allowance

Eligibility for receiving allowance	Any child
Term of allowance	Expires on the first day of the fiscal year coming after a child reaches the age of six.
Amount	First or second child: 5,000 yen per month Any child born after the second child: 10,000 yen per month
Requisite regarding household income	Annual income should not exceed 4,150,000 yen (per 4-person (This requisite has taken effect since June 2001.)
Special allowance	Out of employees or public employees regarded as ineligible for Child Allowance due to the above-mentioned requisite, those whose annual income is below 5,740,000 yen (per 4-person household) are eligible for a benefit equivalent to the amount of Child Allowance paid by the their employers or public offices to which they belong. (This special allowance system was introduced in June 2001.)
Number of children qualifying for Child Allowance	2,407,489 (as of the end of February 2000)

Outline of Child-Rearing Allowance

Eligibility for receiving Allowance	A mother or legal guardian of a child, whose father is alive but is in a separate household thus not responsible for supporting the child, with such mother or legal guardian being eligible for this Allowance until the first end of March after the child's 18th birthday. (In the case of handicapped children, the Allowance is good until the child's 20th birthday.)
Amount (monthly)	When the number of children taken care of by a beneficiary is one: 42,370 yen is granted in case of full allowance and 28,350 yen in case of partial allowance (good since April 1999), and when the number of children is two, 5,000 yen is added to the above-mentioned amount, and when the number of children is three, 3,000 yen is added per child.
Number of children qualifying for Child-Rearing Allowance	approximately 1.02 million (as of the end of March 2000)

(Bilateral cooperation)

37. Japan has been actively providing its official development assistance to the social development sector. In 1999, about 20 percent of the bilateral official development assistance was allocated to this sector. Since 1991, Japan has been the world's top donor for nine consecutive years.
Assistance in education, public health and population sectors, which is helpful in ensuring maternal and child health, increasing welfare, and popularizing child education, has been provided mainly under the grant aid and technical cooperation. In 1999, it amounted to 1,572.57 million dollars (on a commitment basis) or 11.4 percent of the bilateral ODA. In particular, the grant aid in health and medical care projects amounted to about 15 percent of the grant aids provided for general projects from 1994 to 1998 on an average, the number of experts dispatched for technical transfer and human resource development in this sector amounted to about 16 percent of the total of such experts, and the number of trainees accepted amounted to about 17 percent of the total of such trainees. In the field of health and medical care, population, family planning, and primary and secondary education, project-type technical cooperation which consists of dispatching experts, receiving trainees and providing equipment, has been implemented and the Japan Overseas Cooperative Volunteers have been also dispatched. In the field of education, a grant aid of 194.51 million yen was provided to build elementary and secondary schools.
In April 2000, representatives from around the world met in Dakar for the World Education Forum on "Education for All," which ended with the adoption of the "Dakar Framework for Action," setting 6 goals, including ensuring by 2015 that all children have access to primary education of good quality. In addition, the Kyushu/Okinawa G8 Summit strongly supported the "Dakar Framework for Action." The summit has also set the goal for countries with sound education strategies of providing further assistance, focusing on education in their poverty reduction strategies in partnership with developing countries.
Based on these developments, the former Ministry of Education investigated future policies of cooperation at its Council of International Cooperation in Education, and prepared a report in November 2000. The report suggested the need to understand developing countries' needs in educational cooperation and develop a plan accordingly, as well as to promote cooperative activities by elementary and secondary school teachers as experts or volunteers and make an active use of universities' human resources in education cooperation, paying due regard to the share of educational cooperation in the total official development aid. Based on these suggestions, we are currently building up a cooperation system.
Japan is also making efforts to address the issues of children as part of its contribution to global issues. Under the Common Agenda between Japan and the United States (Common Agenda for Cooperation in Global Perspective) which was launched in 1993, Japan has been providing support for measures to combat infectious diseases, including AIDS, and measures to promote basic health and medical care such as maternal and child health, population and family planning, etc., and has been implementing cooperation to eradicate polio from the earth in accordance with the agenda of "population and health" which encompasses the fields of population, AIDS, and children's health.
In the field of "population and AIDS," Japan announced to make contribution with the target amount of three billion dollars by the fiscal year 2000 in the Global Issues Initiatives (GII) on Population and AIDS in February 1994. In five years up to 1998, the Japanese government disbursed about 3.7 billion dollars, more than the target amount.
In the field of "children's health," eradicating polio from the earth is the top priority issue. The initiative turned out to be successful in the Western Pacific area where Japan has taken initiatives as the priority area. The area was declared free of indigenous wild polio virus by WHO in October 2000. Working towards the global target to eradicate it from the earth by 2005, Japan is expanding its assistance to the efforts in south Asia and Africa, spending 3,791 million yen in fiscal year 1999.
The International Research Center for Medical Education was established at the University of Tokyo in 2000, which serves as a base for promoting international cooperation for medical education by universities, etc.
Of 1.3 billion people living under the poverty line in the world, 70 percent are women. Women are placed in vulnerable positions in education, employment and health. In order to maintain a balanced, sustainable development in developing countries, it is necessary to ensure for gender-balanced development projects and to draw some benefits from them. With such a perspective, Japan announced WID Initiative in 1995, declaring that Japan will put emphasis on education, health, and economic and social activities for women in implementing its development assistance.
When G8 Kyushu and Okinawa summit was held in July 2000, the leaders of the world leading countries agreed to start a battle against infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), and malaria that hamper social economic development in developing countries. They agreed to set goals and implement it under "New Partnership" of advanced and developing nations, international institutions and civil society. On the occasion of the summit, Japan announced as the chair and leading donor the "Okinawa Infectious Disease Initiative (IDI)" for enhancing its assistance, with the target of allocating a total of three billion dollars over the next 5 years, for measures against infectious and parasitic diseases including HIV/AIDS. In December 2000, as a follow-up to the G8 Kyushu-Okinawa Summit, "Okinawa International Conference on Initiatives Diseases" was held attended by representatives of G8 nations, developing countries, international organizations and NGOs. They discussed ways how to function and strengthen the "New Partnership."

(Cooperation through international organizations)

38. (1) Cooperation for implementing relief measures for children
Japan makes financial contribution to United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), a leading organization for the children's issues, since 1952. In fiscal year 1999, Japan's financial contribution to the UNICEF general budget was 64.778 million dollars (which was the third largest donation in the world). Besides, in order to support the dissemination of girls' education, Japan has also been making special contribution with the annual amount of 1 million dollars since fiscal year1995 specifically for the U NICEF project for education for female students. Japan has also extended financial contributions for the emergency program of UNICEF, such as humanitarian assistance to East Timor in 1999, and the program for rebuilding schools in Kosovo in 2000.
Moreover, Japan has been extending assistance under the multilateral-bilateral aid scheme with the UNICEF, whereby bilateral aid by Japan and multilateral aid by UNICEF complement each other's resources in order to improve aid efficiency. In fiscal year 1999, Japan contributed roughly 430 million yen of vaccines, equipment, etc. required by the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) to 14 countries in Africa and Asia Pacific regions.

(2) Cooperation in health and sanitary fields
Japan, collaborating with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and other donor countries and institutions, has been extending assistance for international health programs, including those on expanded immunization plans tuberculosis, and so on. In particular, Japan played a leading role to eradicate polio in the western Pacific region. Japan is also active in HIV/AIDS programs. About 600 million yen has annually been contributed to the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) since its establishment. In addition, Japan made financial contributions amounting to about 2.3 million dollars in total to 8 projects for the health of mothers and children, etc. implemented by such organizations as UNICEF or the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) through the Human Security Fund established by Japan in the U.N.

(3) Cooperation for women in development (WID) and gender field
Japan is making efforts to expand its development aid in light of WID concept through the United Nations Development Program and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). In 1995, Japan established the Japan WID Fund within the UNDP to support women in developing countries, and has contributed about 11,020 thousand dollars in total by 1999. The Fund supports programs for gender equality and the empowerment of women, giving priority to such fields as education, health and economic and social participation. For example, the Fund was used for implementing a poverty eradication project through micro financing with a view to elevating women's economic status in Cambodia. As a result, the school enrollment of children increased by about nine percent as women got stable income sources and the number of children who were forced to work decreased. The fund was also used for implementing a project of holding a seminar on education of girls with a view to supporting Guatemala's national efforts to improve primary education for girls.
IFAD attaches importance to roles of women in rural development. With the aim of actively supporting activities of IFAD in gender-related areas, Japan established "Special Contribution for Women in Development" in IFAD in 1995. Japan has so far contributed 4,450,000 dollars to this special fund and approved 27 projects. They include the implementation of studies to add gender concept to the IFAD-financed programs, the organization lot workshops and symposia, establishment of a data base to make the accumulated information and knowledge available to public, and the implementation of studies on micro-financing which is regarded by IFDA as an effective means to alleviate poverty. In July 1999, a symposium "Asian Crisis and Rural Poverty" was successfully held in Tokyo.

(4) Cooperation in education
Japan has been extending its cooperation in the area of education through the following trust funds at UNESCO: (1)the Funds-in-Trust for the Promotion of Literacy (44 million yen in fiscal year 2001) and the Funds-in-Trust of Community Literacy Centers (20 million yen in fiscal year 2001) under the Asia-Pacific Program of Education for All (APPEAL), which assists in extending education to illiterate people and making primary education available to all children in the Asia Pacific region, (2) the Funds-in-trust for Mobile Training Teams (9.2 million yen in fiscal year 200 1) under the Asia and the Pacific Program of Educational Innovation for Development (APEID) which aims at strengthening education cooperation among countries in the region and assisting developing countries in improving their education systems and contents and methods of education on their own, and (3) the Japanese Trust Fund for Preventive Education against HIV/AIDS (7.3 million yen in fiscal year 2001) as part of assistance to educational projects for preventing HIV/AIDS, etc. Japan has also provided financial assistance (19 million dollars in total) to the school rebuilding project in Kosovo which was implemented by UNICEF or UNDP through the Human Security Fund.

(Cooperation through NGOs)

39. Japan has been providing financial assistance to Japanese NGOs which are engaged in grass-roots activities in medical, health and educational fields that contribute to the improvement of maternal and child health, welfare and education. They are implemented under such programs as NGO subsidy framework and grant assistance for grassroots projects. Those programs help NGOs carry out fine-tuning of assistance in recipient countries. In fiscal year 1999, roughly 348.115 million yen was spent for NGO Subsidy framework and some 387.1 million yen as grant assistance for grass-roots projects.

Data on past performance of the Japanese government in aid projects in the field of healthcare and medical care

Fiscal year	Grant Aid (unit: 100 million yen)	Yen loan (unit: 100 million yen)	Technical assistance (unit: person)
			The number of participants in technical training programs	The number of experts dispatched to developing countries	The number of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) dispatched to developing countries
1995	150.45 (7.8)	9.69 (0.1)	1281 (12.2)	478 (15.2)	173 (16.4)
1996	195.37 (10.0)	197.92 (1.5)	1214 (11.1)	464 (15.4)	172 (14.4)
1997	221.28 (16.8)	55.64 (0.5)	1237 (10.9)	474 (15.5)	170 (14.7)
1998	253.99 (20.5)	420.98 (3.9)	2428 (12.3)	487 (14.2)	185 (15.8)
1999	240.28 (20.6)	0 (0)	3154 (17.6)	553 (13.8)	234 (18.1)

Notes:
* Figures in parentheses in the column of grant aid, indicate the ratio (%) of the value of projects in the fields of healthcare and medical care to that of the entire projects, but exclude relief of liabilities, non-project aid programs, grants for grass-roots aid projects and grants for students studying abroad and figures in parenthesis in the column of yen loan indicate the ratio of the value of projects in the fields of healthcare and medical care to that of the entire projects, except carried-over liability figures in parenthesis in the column of Technical assistance indicate the ratio the value of projects in the field of healthcare and medical care to that of the entire projects.
* Figures in the columns of spending for grant aid and yen loan are based on Exchange of Notes, and those in the column of technical assistance are based on data of the JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency).

Data on past performance of the Japanese government in aid projects in the field of1 education

Fiscal year	Grant Aid (unit: 100 million yen)	Yen loan (unit: 100 million yen)	Technical assistance (unit: person)
			The number of participants in technical training programs	The number of experts dispatched to developing countries	The number of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) dispatched to developing countries
1995	128.87 (6.7)	520.73 (4.6)	274 (3.2)	157 (4.7)	193 (16.0)
1996	193.29 (9.9)	183.58 (1.4)	274 (2.5)	157 (5.1)	234 (22.3)
1997	246.21 (12.3)	146.22 (1.4)	341 (3.0)	149 (4.9)	228 (19.8)
1998	182.60 (15.1)	351.48 (3.2)	396 (2.0)	193 (5.6)	205 (17.5)
1999	194.51 (16.7)	124.95 (1.2)	349 (1.9)	243 (6.1)	219 (17.0)

Notes:
* Figures in parentheses in the column of grant aid, indicate the ratio (%) of the value of projects in the fields of healthcare and medical care to that of the entire projects, but exclude relief of liabilities, non-project aid programs, grants for grass-roots aid projects and grants for students studying abroad and figures in parenthesis in the column of yen loan indicat e the ratio of the value of projects in the fields of healthcare and medical care to that of the entire projects, except carried-over liability figures in parenthesis in the column of Technical assistance indicate the ratio the value of projects in the field of healthcare and medical care to that of the entire projects.
* Figures in the columns of spending for grant aid and yen loan are based on Exchange of Notes, and those in the column of technical assistance are based on data of the JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency).

(Follow-up of the World Summit for Children)

40. See Paragraph 17 of this report.

(a) Public relations activities for the Convention

(Translation of the Convention into several foreign languages and translation into foreign languages used by many foreign residents in Japan)

41. We have published some informative booklets on the Convention both in Japanese and English. We can also provide the foreign residents upon their request with some foreign language editions of full text of the Convention, written in such languages as French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Portuguese, Korean, Thai, Tagalog and Vietnamese.
We understand that public relations activities to raise people's awareness of the Convention is important and necessary. We continue to make efforts to promote public awareness and correct understanding of the aims and content of the Convention, while taking into consideration people's response to our activities in the past and the degree of public understanding of the Convention.

(Utilization of online services such as the government's websites to raise people's awareness of the Convention)

42. The internet website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (both in Japanese and English) has a section on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, allowing the general public to easily access and download various information on the Convention including the complete text of the Convention, the Initial Report of Japan (issued by the government), a list of questions given by the Committee on the Rights of the Child to the Japanese government on the Initial Report of Japan, a list of Japan's answers to those questions, its final view on the Convention and information on relevant symposia. From April 2000 to March 2001, we have received a total of 167,884 accesses (page-view) to this particular section of the website (including 153,896 to the Japanese version of the MOFA's website).
Similar information as mentioned above is also provided through the facsimile service operated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (known as MOFAX). In addition, we actively make opportunities to introduce and explain about the Convention to the public through lectures, various Ministry of Foreign Affairs-edited (or co-edited) published materials and others.

(Introduction of lectures on human rights into curricula of school education)

43. At schools in Japan, students are supposed to learn the significance and role of international law relating to human rights, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the philosophy of respecting fundamental human rights, and the growth and development of children. The new "Courses of Study," or the government guidelines for teaching released by the government in 1998, are aimed at further promoting human rights education through school activities as a whole, noting the aims of the Convention. Also, the government strengthens training courses for schoolteachers by introducing in them contents related to human rights, including lectures on the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

(b) Educating public servants who have duties concerning children

(Teachers)

44. Local administration of each prefecture or city provides opportunity for newly-employed teachers as well as teachers to learn human rights and student guidance through various training sessions at each stage of teaching experience. Also the National Center for Teachers' Development, an independent administrative institution responsible for unified and comprehensive implementation of government-controlled training programs, introduces the training involving the lecture about human rights for teachers who are expected to play a leading role at the local level. It also provides practical training about the theory and practice of student guidance, educational counseling.

(Police officers)

45. With the aim of ensuring police personnel's appropriate attitude toward juvenile cases and observance of the Convention,police schools provide education on juvenile for new recruits and officers newly promoted to be a higher rank, and specialized education on human rights for officers in charge of juvenile delinquency and curlier personnel in charge of juvenile guidance.
Also, education on children's rights is given to police officers from time to time as part of their on-the-job training.

(Officials at correctional institutions)

46. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations adopted after reviewing the Initial Report of Japan (Paragraph 33), recommends to implement training programs for relevant officials on the rights of children. We provide officials at correctional institutions with necessary education on international rules related to human rights for those deprived of liberty, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child. For example, our training programs designed for senior-officials-to-be include training sessions on relevant UN documents including the Convention with the aim of deepening relevant officials' awareness and understanding of the aims and content of the Convention. Such training is conducted by experts not belonging to the Ministry of Justice or officials of the Correction Bureau of the ministry.

(Officials in charge of human rights protection and promotion)

47. Our training programs designed for public servants in charge of human rights protection and promotion include the Ministry of Justice-managed specialized training sessions on human rights to be given to personnel belonging to the Legal Affairs Bureaus and the District Legal Affairs Bureaus. During such training sessions, conducted annually at the central Ministry office, trainees are supposed to learn about children's rights through lectures by experts on the Convention and other programs, including moot lectures given by trainees themselves to discuss children's rights. Legal Affairs Bureaus and District Legal Affairs Bureaus also provide practical training sessions, in which lectures on the Convention and children's rights are given to local personnel in charge of human rights protection and promotion. In addition, the Ministry of Justice provides training sessions for local public service personnel working for sections in charge of public awareness raising activities with a view to fostering their aptitude as a leader engaged in such activities. These training sessions include lectures about children's rights as well as the Convention.

(Officials at the Immigration Bureau)

48. Through various training sessions for immigration officials, we have conducted lectures on treaties related to human rights including the Convention.

(Probation officers)

49. Article 2 of the Offenders Rehabilitation Law, which is a Japanese basic law ruling on rehabilitation-related administration, provides that rehabilitation measures shall be performed to the extent that it is considered necessary and appropriate for his/her correction and rehabilitation, and in the implementation, his/her age, personal history, mental and physical condition, family, relation with friends and other his/her circumstances shall fully be considered, and thus the most appropriate method shall be taken for each individual. The Japanese government makes efforts to ensure that officers in charge of probationary supervision of juvenile offenders will observe the above provision.
In the training course for the newly appointed probation officers, they are given chance to deepen their understanding of the significance of the Provision and learn juvenile protection and welfare through on-site training at Child Guidance Centers. We have also established a curriculum for probation officers to learn the mental/physical growth of children and the one for counseling, thereby provide the officers with the opportunity to learn the significance of encouraging juvenile probationers and juvenile training school parolees to express their own views and taking such their views seriously. In this curriculum, probation officers are supposed to take courses on the mental/physical growth of children totalling six hours.

(Judges and other law administrating officers)

50. At the time of Japan's ratification of the Convention, the Supreme Court sent a notification, titled "Promulgation and Effectuation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child," to High Courts, District Courts and Family Courts, with the aim of letting judges and other concerned officers know the content of the Convention. Furthermore, judges are supposed to deepen the understanding of children's rights, through curricula dedicated to various training programs, including joint research on juvenile delinquency cases, problems concerning child's custody, etc. and a lectures on media reports on juvenile cases and human rights.
In principle, any of those who will become a judge, prosecutor or lawyer needs to take judicial training conducted at the Judicial Research and Training Institute to obtain a license of legal profession. During this judicial training, lectures are given on children's rights, references are made to the implementation of the Convention as well as its contents and aims of the Convention (including the 1994 report issued by the Japanese government, the NGO report issued in 1994, and consideration and recommendation made in 1998 by the UN Committee), a curricula are implemented on precedents of juvenile delinquency cases or cases of disputes over child's custody. Thus trainees are given chance to learn about children's rights, protection and welfare of children.
In the above-mentioned training programs for judges and curricula for judicial training, judges and trainees learn the significance of fully considering the interests of children, encouraging children to express their own intention in cases, as well as taking into consideration their intention.

(Prosecutors)

51. We have provided prosecutors with training sessions to learn about the establishment of the Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and for Protecting Children and special consideration required for children and women.
Other training programs, designed respectively for each level of prosecutors having a different length of service, cover various human rights-related topics such as human rights secured by the Constitution of Japan and other treaties and children's rights.

(Officials in charge of child welfare duties)

52. With regard to Child Welfare Officers at the Child Guidance Centers, or a central administrative organ in the field of children's welfare, they are encouraged to deepen their understanding of the aims of the Convention and children's rights government-operated training programs designed for newly-positioned public servants.

(c) Professional training and service regulations

(Professional training)

53. See Paragraph 44-52 of this report.

(National Police Academy and other police schools)

54. Once in a year,the National Police Academy as part of it's special expert training course on juvenile delinquency gives a seminar on protection of children's rightsdesigned for executive officers from Prefectural police forces. Regional Police Schools also have a similar seminar twice a year (starting from 1998) for assistant police inspectors and police sergeants from Prefectural police as part of their special expert training course on juvenile delinquency.
Police also organize group study programs designed for juvenile guidance officials from the Juvenile Support Centers of Prefectural police In such programs professionals such as university professors and counselors give lectures on counseling techniques.

(Universities)

55. Each university decides its curricula independently and implements them at its own discretion in accordance with its policy and aims.
As of 1999, 110 universities were providing 174 courses on the rights of children (61 courses at 34 state-run universities, 9 courses at 8 public universities and 104 courses at 68 private universities).
Specifically, these universities offer courses such as "the rights of children," "juvenile problems and human rights," "theory of child problems," "theory of child welfare," "protection of children's rights and professional ethics," and "case study of child counseling" in order to conduct education on protection of the rights of children or creation of an environment where children can participate in society as an individual." Some universities require students to participate in field work where they actually communicate with children.

(d) Participation of NGOs in educational programs and campaigns on the Convention and the support of such NGO's activities

56. Non-government organizations (NGO) in our country actively hold educational events for local residents, children and teachers such as meetings for studying on the Convention, and publish informative booklets on the Convention.

(Preparation of this report)

57. Ministries and agencies which took part in the preparation of this report include the Cabinet Office, National Police Agency, Defense Agency, Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Ministry of the Environment.
As mentioned in Paragraph 27 of this report, two meetings were held between the government and NGOs in the process of preparing this report, for the purpose of exchanging information and having opinions of NGOs contribute to the preparation of this report when considered necessary and appropriate. Participants at each meeting consisted of about 10 Diet members, about 40 government officials and about 70 NGO members.

(Making reports widely available to the public)

58. See Paragraph 42 of this report.
We are going to make this report available to the public on the homepage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as we did with the Initial Report of Japan.

(Making the summary record and final view of the Committee on the Rights of the Child available to the public)

59. See Paragraph 42 of this report.

60. Article 4 of the Child Welfare Law of Japan defines "child" as "anyone below 18 years of age." Measures for promoting child welfare have been implemented in accordance with the fundamental policy of this Law as described in its paragraph 1 of Article 1 with "everyone shall strive to ensure the sound birth and growth of children, both in mind and body" and also in its paragraph 2 of Article 2 as "the livelihood of each and every child shall be equally guaranteed and protected."

61. Our efforts for child welfare promotion are also directed toward such aims as ensuring a full and well-balanced development of a child's personality and facilitating the child's development as a competent member of society. To this end, we have been expanding various measures, under the existing legal scheme of our country, to enhance protection and welfare of children.

(Minimum age required to legally make a contract or agreement on medical treatment independently without the consent of one's legal guardian)

62. The Civil Code of Japan provides that anyone who has attained the age of 20 may conduct juristic acts independently. Therefore, all contracts or agreements on medical treatment entered into by a person under 20 years of age without the consent of his/her legal representative may be canceled by the legal representative, though such contract or agreement remains effective retained if not canceled by the legal representative.

(Minimum age required to legally receive medical treatment or surgery independently without the consent of one's legal guardian)

63. The Civil Code of Japan provides that anyone who has attained the age of 20 may conduct juristic acts independently. All contracts on medical treatment or surgery entered into by a person under 20 years of age without the consent of his/her legal representative may be canceled by the legal representative, though such medical contract remains effective if not canceled by the legal representative.

(Minimum age at which children are legally released from compulsory education)

64. See Paragraph 40 of the Initial Report of Japan.

(Minimum ages required to legally engage in a job susceptible to injuries, part-time job or full-time job respectively)

65. With respect to a person under 18 full years of age, the Labor Standards Law provides for restrictions on working hours and work on rest days, prohibition of night work in principle, and restrictions on engaging in dangerous and harmful jobs. In addition, the same Law provides that children, for whom March 31 (the end of school year) has not passed since they reached the age of 15, shall not be employed as workers. However, children above 13 full years of age may, as an exception, be employed in occupations in non-industrial enterprises to perform light labor which is not injurious to the health and welfare of the children, with the permission of the administrative office. Children under 13 full years of age may be exceptionally employed in motion picture production and theatrical performance enterprises with the permission of the administrative office.
The provisions in the Labor Standard Law also apply to part-time employment.

(Marriage)

66. See Paragraph 39 of the Initial Report of Japan.

(Sexual crime)

67. See Paragraph 45 of the Initial Report of Japan.
The Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and for Protecting of Children, which took effect in November 1999, the law defines "child" as anyone under 18 years of age and punishes such acts as engaging in child prostitution, producing child pornography for the purpose of sale, etc.

(Voluntary enlistment in the army and conscription)

68. In Japan, there is no conscription system and the enlistment to the Self-Defense Forces is completely based on voluntary applications.
It is ruled (by the Enforcement Regulations of Law (Article 25) and Instructions for Assignment of Youth Cadets) that the Self-Defense Forces may accept applications only from those who are 18 years old or over, except for the application for its educational institutions (youth cadet program).

(Participation in a hostile act)

69. As mentioned above, those under 18 years of age are not legally eligible to enlist in the Self-Defense Forces, except for the enrollment in its educational institutions (youth cadet program). Even those who have been employed by such educational institutions are not supposed to participate in any hostile act in combat. Therefore, there is no possibility that those under 18 years of age could directly take part in a battle action.

(Criminal liability)

70. The Penal Code of Japan provides that anyone below 14 years of age shall not be subject to penal punishment. The minimum age at which a person shall be subject to criminal liability is fourteen.

(Detention during the process of investigation)

71. In Japan, it is ruled that those who shall be subject to criminal procedure are 14 years of age or older. The minimum age at which a person shall be subject to detention during the process of investigation is also fourteen.However, it is also ruled that detained juveniles over 14 years of age shall be treated differently from adult counterparts, taking into consideration juvenile-specific mentality.

(Transfer to correctional institutions)

72. In Japan, we have Juvenile Classification Homes as a national institution for the classification of juvenile delinquents, and also Juvenile Training Schools and Juvenile Prisons as national institutions for juvenile correction. We also have Detention Houses at which accused and suspected law offenders are kept in custody. Juvenile Classification Homes accommodate those who have been committed thereto by a Family Court. The primary duty of the Homes is (as provided under Articles 3 and 17 of the Juvenile Law and Article 16 of the Juvenile Training School Law) to classify the personality and disposition of the juvenile on the basis of medical science, psychology, pedagogy, sociology, and other expert knowledge. This classification is to contribute to the Family Courts' investigation, hearings and decisions of proper protective measures for the juvenile, and also to decisions of proper treatment for children who are 14 or 15 years old who have been sentenced to imprisonment with or without labor.
Juvenile Training Schools are institutions which accommodate juvenile delinquents who have been committed thereto by a Family Court as a protective measure and have been committed thereto in order to serve one's sentence of imprisonment as ruled by the Juvenile Law. The Schools provide correctional education to the juvenile delinquents. It is ruled (under Article 2 of the Juvenile Training School Law) that the Schools accommodate only those who are fourteen years old or older.
Detention Houses accommodate suspected or accused juvenile law offenders and Juvenile Prisons accommodate the juveniles who have been sentenced to imprisonment through a criminal trial. Under the Penal Code of Japan (Article 41), it is ruled that an act of a person under 14 years of age is not punishable. Therefore, the penal institutions such as Detention Houses and Juvenile Prisons accommodate only those who are 14 years of age or older.

(Capital punishment and imprisonment for life)

73. The Juvenile Law of Japan provides that punishment that is given to juvenile criminals who have not reached 18 years of age at the time that the crime was committed shall be made lighter than punishment that would be given to criminals who are 18 years of age or older. For instance, Article 51 of the Law rules that a life sentence shall be given to a juvenile criminal (under 18 years of age at the time the crime was committed) when his/her crime would otherwise deserve capital punishment under the Penal Code, and that sentence of limited-term imprisonment may be given to a juvenile criminal even when his/her crime would otherwise deserve life imprisonment under the Penal Code. In the latter case the term of imprisonment shall last between 10 and 15 years. Thus, the minimum age at which a person shall be subject to capital punishment is 18 years at the time of the crime. In Japan, we have no provision prescribing the minimum age to be subject at which a person shall a life sentence, thus it is actually 14 years at the time of the crime, as from this age, people shall be subject to criminal liability under our national laws.
Before the recent partial amendment made in November 2000 to the Juvenile Law of Japan, its Article 51 used to rule that a sentence of limited-term imprisonment, between 10 and 15 years, shall be given to a juvenile criminal who did not reach 18 years of age at the time of the crime though the crime would otherwise deserve life imprisonment for those who have reached 18 years of age. However, the amended law, which established in November 2000, allows the court to make a decision on whether the sentence should be life imprisonment or limited-term imprisonment.

(Witness at a civil trial)

74. In Japan, there is no rule as to the legal qualification of a witness to testify at a civil trial, including his/her age and competence.

(Witness at a criminal trial)

75. There is no provision in the Criminal Procedure Code of Japan prescribing the conditions of legal competence of a juvenile or child witness to testify at a criminal trial. However, we have a court ruling which admitted the competence of a 44-month-old child, or a victim of indecent assault at the time of 42 months old, to testify in court, after making clear that the witnesses competence to testify is decided not by his/her age, but by the circumstances of individual cases and that the matter requiring a witness to testify is a significant element in making such judgement. (Judgement of Tokyo District Court on November 14, 1973 on page 24, No. 723 of Hanrei-Zihou (Judicial Magazine))
In an effort to mitigate psychological and mental effects that witnesses could suffer in the course of testifying in courts, the Criminal Procedure Code of Japan was partially amended in 2000 to introduce protective measures for witnesses where they may testify without being seen by the defendant or by the method of video links in which the witness in a separate room is examined through a TV monitor.

(Minimum age required to be legally competent to file a lawsuit or bring a claim to the court for indemnification)

76. It is provided that anyone who has attained the age of 20 may file a civil suit and proceed in the suit independently. However, for a criminal suit, any private citizens including anyone who has attained the age of 20 is not allowed to prosecute.

(Minimum age required to be legally competent to participate in an administrative or judicial litigation)

77. In Japan, there is no age restriction on suing or being sued in his/her own name in administrative or civil litigation.

(Minimum age to be charged with a criminal act)

78. The minimum age to be charged with a criminal act is fourteen years. The victim of a criminal act has the right to express his/her opinion during the procedure of criminal suit or juvenile judgement, and there is no age restriction for a juvenile/child victim allowed to express his/her opinion.

(Minimum age required to be legally competent to make a change to one's status in the family register)

79. The Civil Code of Japan provides that anyone who has attained the age of 15 may change his/her family name or agree to be adopted and dissolve the adoptive relation by himself/herself. It is also provided that all married persons, even if they are under 20 years of age, may effect divorce by agreement.

(Minimum age required to be legally competent to access the family register)

80. We have no rule prescribing the minimum age of legal competence to apply for a copy of the family register. Under Article 13 of the Census Registration Law, the family register shall include such information as one's own family name, given name, date of birth, names of his/her natural parents, relation with his/her natural mother and father among others.

(Legal competence for inheritance and assets disposal)

81. In Japan, those who are under 20 years of age are not legally capable of conducting juristic acts independently. However, there is no age requirement for inheritance.

(Foundation of an organization and enrollment in an organization)

82. The Civil Code of Japan provides that anyone who has attained the age of 20 may conduct juristic acts independently. Therefore, all juristic acts taken by those under 20 years of age without the consent of their legal representative, including acts to establish an organization and enroll in an organization, remains effective if not withdrawn by the legal representative.

(Freedom of choice of religion and enrollment in a religious school)

83. See Paragraph 100 of the Initial Report of Japan.

(Consumption of alcohol and other restricted substances)

84. See Paragraph 47 of the Initial Report of Japan.
In Japan, the Law for Prohibiting Liquor to Minors and the Law for Prohibiting Smoking to Minors respectively prescribe punishments for such acts as selling alcoholic drinks or cigarettes to juveniles under the age of 20 years.

(Relationship between the age at which children become legally released from compulsory education and the starting at which they become ages legally competent for various styles of labor. Impact of such relationship on children's rights to education. Consideration of relevant treaties)

85. The Labor Standards Law provides for restrictions on working hours and work on rest days, prohibition of night work in principle, and restrictions on dangerous and harmful jobs. In addition, the same Law provides that children, for whom March 31 has not passed since they reached the age of 15, shall not be employed as workers. However, children above 13 full years of age may, as an exception, be employed in occupations in non-industrial enterprises to perform light labor which is not injurious to the health and welfare of the children, with the permission of the administrative office. Children under 13 full years of age may be exceptionally employed in motion picture production and theatrical performance enterprises.

(Gender difference in marriage-related restriction)

86. Under Article 731 of the Civil Code of Japan, a male may not marry until he has reached 18 years of age, nor may a female until she has reached 16 years of age.
We believe that such gender distinction in terms of marriageable age does not violate Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Marriage is an act of people to form a new family to function as a fundamental unit of society, and therefore permission for marriage should not be given to citizens who have not reached maturity. Thus, the law does not allow any children to marry, since they are regarded as immature to do so. We also consider that there is a general difference between males and females with regard to the age at which they become marriageable physically and mentally. We believe that the difference employed by our national law between males and females in the prescribed minimum age of legal competence for marriage is reasonable, since it reflects the above-mentioned difference in the degree of physical and mental development between males and females. Therefore, we believe that such difference does not violate Article 2 of the Convention.

(Gender difference in judicial treatments applied to those involved in a sexual crime)

87. Under the Penal Code of Japan, we allow gender difference in judicial treatments applied to those involved in a sexual crime. We consider that such difference, introduced in consideration of inherent physiological differences between males and females, does not fall under "discrimination" as mentioned in Article 2 of the Convention. Some examples of such difference follow:
In the Penal Code of Japan, Article 117 (rape), Article 181 (rape resulting in death/bodily injury), Article 214 (rape on the occasion of robbery resulting in death) and Article 182 (inducement to sexual intercourse) all limit the object of the crime to females. This limitation is regarded as a mere distinction, considering that there is no gender difference with regard to the subject of the crime and that criminologically such indecent acts are usually committed by a male person against a female person, and that protective measures for rape victims should be designed specifically for the benefit of female persons, taking into account physical and physiological difference between females and males. Article 176 of the Penal Code (forcible indecency) and Article 181 of the same code (forcible indecency resulting in death/bodily injury) do not have any gender limitations on the object of the crime, thereby all assailants shall be punished regardless of whether a victim is female or male.
In the Penal Code, Article 213 (abortion with consent), Article 214 (abortion in the conduct of business), Article 215 (abortion without consent) and Article 216 (abortion with consent resulting in death/bodily injury) all limit the object of the crime to female, while there is no gender difference with regard to the subject of the crime. Such limitation is based on the physical and physiological difference between femalesand m ales, or that only females are capable of becoming pregnant, and is also aimed at protecting the life and body of unborn babies and mothers. Thus it is regarded as a mare distinction.
Article 212 of the Penal Code (abortion) limits the subject of the crime to females, but here again, this article aims to protect the life and body of unborn babies and mothers. Also, male persons who have been involved in this crime committed by females are subject to penal punishment as an accomplice of this Article, and above mentioned Articles 214-216 are applicable to male persons. Thus, we believe that this provision dose not fall under an unfair treatment females.

(Definition of adolescence)

88. The Penal Code of Japan has no definition of adolescence.

(a) Measures taken to indiscriminately guarantee the rights stipulated in the principles of the Constitution or the child-related domestic laws and the international agreements against discrimination

89. See the Answer 14 to the question from the Committee on the Rights of Child for Reviewing the Initial Report of Japan.
To be specific, the following examples can be cited:

(1) In compliance with the spirit of the Constitution, the Child Welfare Law stipulates in paragraph 2 of Article 1 that "the life of every child shall equally be guaranteed and protected."

(2) There are no nationality requirements in the provisions of the Child Welfare Law, the Child Allowance Law, the Child Rearing Allowance Law or the Special Child Rearing Allowance Law. Thus these laws assume no difference in treatments of children according to nationality.

(3) The Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and for Protecting Children punishes those who were involved in acts related to the prostitution and pornography, etc., of the child of all nationality.

(4) As stated in paragraph 48 of the Initial Report of Japan, all forms of discrimination against children by public authorities are prohibited, and in any of Juvenile Classification Homes, Juvenile Training Schools, and penal institutions, the basic principle is the equal treatment of juveniles sent there, with consideration to elimination of discriminative treatment.

(5) In December 2000, the Law on Promoting Human Rights Education and Human Right Edification was promulgated and enforced. It stipulates, as a basic idea that human rights education and edification conducted by national and prefectures must be conducted, with efforts to provide various opportunities and to adopt effective methods, so that people can deepen and acquire the understanding of the respects for human rights according to the development stage of each individual through activities carried out in schools, communities, homes, workplaces, and various other places. Along with the promulgation and enforcement of this law, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has recently made an announcement to the relevant agencies, etc., to the effect that human rights education in school education and social education should be conducted more appropriately according to the basic principle of the law.

(b) Measures to cope with cases of discrimination

90. See paragraphs 51 to 53 in the First Government Report.

(c) Prevention of discrimination against children in the most disadvantageous positions

91. See the Answer 15 to the question from the Committee on the Rights of Child for Reviewing the Initial Report of Japan

92. Article 3 of the Disabled Persons Fundamental Law provides that the individual dignity of every handicapped person shall be respected; he/she shall have the right to be treated in a manner appropriate for his/her inherent dignity; and he/she shall be afforded the opportunity to participate in activities of every field.

93. In order to make the general public aware of the importance of respecting human rights including children's rights and propagate and promot e the respect for human rights, the human rights organs of the Ministry of Justice are conducting positive promotion activities, e.g., holding lectures and discussions, broadcasting on TV and the radio, and distributing leaflets, which contribute to the prevention of the human rights problems of children. In addition to the daily promotional activities to eliminate prejudice and discrimination against the Ainu people, persons with disabilities and foreigners, including children, nationwide educational activities are carried out through campaigns and lectures during Human Rights Week (every year, one week that ends on the Human Rights Day, December 10 is designated as Human Rights Week, and educational activities are run on a grand scale) and on the Human Rights Volunteers Day (June 1).
Should an incident of discrimination actually occur against illegitimates, Ainus, and disabled persons, including children, it is coped with as a case of human rights infringement by taking proper measures to eliminate the infringement.

94. As for refugees (Convention on Refugees) and applicants for refugee status defined by the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951 (Refugee Convention) and the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees of 1967 (Refugee Protocol), the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for recognition of the refugee status, has never disclosed any personal identification data such as nationality and name in view of protecting privacy and ensuring safety of individuals. The fact of being a Convention Refugee, or an applicant for the refugee status, or a child of either does not directly mean that he/she has to suffer social discrimination.
When joining the Refugee Convention of 1981 and the Refugee Protocol of 1982, Japan adjusted the domestic laws in order to ensure the bona fide implementation of the Convention by removing the nationality requirement for the allowance from the provisions of the National Pension Law, the Child Allowance Law, the Child Rearing Allowance Law and the Special Child Rearing Allowance Law, so that they can, in principle, obtain the entitlement in the same way as Japanese nationals or ordinary foreigners.

(d) Measures to eliminate the discrimination against the girl child, Measures to be taken as the follow up of the 4th World Conference on Women)

95. In response to the request of "the Beijing Platform for Action" adopted at the 4th World Conference on Women, Japan established "the Plan for Gender Equality 2000" in December 1996, incorporating new international norms and standards presented in "the Beijing Platform for Action" into relevant domestic matters and implementing various measures.
In June 1999 Japan enacted "the Basic Law for a Gender-equal Society" which promulgates as one of its basic ideas respect for the human rights of women and men, for instance, respect for the dignity of men and women as individuals; no gender-based discriminatory treatment of women or men; the securing of opportunities for men and women to exercise their abilities as individuals. In December 2000, the Government of Japan established the Basic Plan for Gender Equality based on the above Law, and is promoting the measures comprehensively in accordance with the Plan.
The Plan also stipulates objectives such as awareness reform. One of the biggest obstacles in realizing gender-equality is the stereotyped division of roles on the basis of gender that has been formed over years in people's perception. While such division of roles is changing with the times, it still remains rooted in the people's life. In order for the concepts of gender equality and respect for human rights to take root throughout the people, Japan actively conducts public relation and educational activities are vigorously pursued through various media.

96. Japan sent a delegation composed of about 40 people to the 23rd special session of the United Nations General Assembly "Women 2000" which was held as a follow up to the 4th World Conference on Women. The delegation was headed by Ms. Sumiko Iwao, the chairperson of the Council for Gender Equality, representatives from NGOs (4 persons including Ms. Iwao), members of parliamentarians as advisers (5 persons), and representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Personnel Authority, the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Ministry of Labor.
Japan also joined the negotiation as a member of JUSCANZ (Japan, the US, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Republic of Korea, and San Marino), and made efforts to include in the outcome document such items as collection of sex-disaggregated data, improvement of education, advancement of women, status in agricultural, forestry and fishing villages.

(e) Collecting data on discriminated groups

97. See Paragraph 29.

(f) Prevention and elimination of attitudes and prejudices to children that contribute to social and ethnic tension, racism and xenophobia

98. Paragraph 91-94.

(g) Protection of children from discrimination and punishment

99. See Paragraph 89.
When a human rights violation against a child of a foreigner is suspected to have occurred, the responsible authority, in cooperation with relevant authorities, is actively engaged in solving the problem by providing remedy for the child victim and educating the persons concerned about the idea of respecting human rights.

(h) Major problems in implementing Article 2, the plan for solving those problems, and the evaluation of progress in discrimination prevention

100. Japan enacted a fundamental plan for disabled persons based on paragraph 2, Article 7 of the Disabled Persons Fundamental Law, checks the status of implementation accordingly so that the plan can be steadily implemented.

101. Cases of human rights violation against foreigners handled by human rights organs of the Ministry of Justice include ones of "refusing foreigners entry to a public bath" and of "spreading rumors that slander foreigners." There have also been cases of discriminatory language used against foreigners who are permanent residents, and those of discriminatory graffiti.
In order to provide consultation for foreigners living in Japan, the human rights organs of the Ministry of Justice have established "human rights counseling centers for foreigners" with interpreters of English, Chinese and other languages, at the Legal Affairs Bureaus in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Takamatsu, and at the District Legal Affairs Bureaus of in Kobe and Matsuyama. These Centers give consultation on a wide range of matters: work conditions, marriage, divorce, relationship of married couples, naturalization, nationality acquisition, compensation for damage and criminal cases.
The human rights organs of the Ministry of Justice actively engaged in solving problems by investigating and handling human rights violation cases, and by educating the persons concerned about the idea of respecting human rights through human rights counseling.
The Council for the Human Rights Promotion established in the Ministry of Justice submitted a report on the ideal framework of the human rights remedy system in May 2001.
The report proposed to establish the new human rights remedy system led by the Human Rights Committee (tentative name) which is independent from the Government, so that positive remedy is made by putting into practice more effective investigatory procedures and remedial methods regarding certain human rights violations including discriminatory treatment in the social life on the basis of race, creed, sex, social status, family origin, disability, disease, sexual orientation, etc.
The Government is of the opinion that it will pay the maximum respect to the recommendations of the Council, and will make every effort to establish the recommended new human rights remedy system.

(a) Reflecting the principle of "the best interests of the child" in the constitution, related domestic laws and regulations

102. Article 1 of the Child Welfare Law prescribes that "all people shall strive to ensure the sound birth and growth of children, both in mind and body." Other than that, Articles 2 and 3 of the Child Welfare Law, Article 3 of the Maternal and Child Health Law, etc., assume that a child's best interest is to be considered in each individual case.
In addition, in the Amendments of the Child Welfare Law of 1997, the following amendments were made so that the Administration will give further consideration to a child's best interests:

(1) For the increased specialization and objectivity in the case when a Child Guidance Center takes such action as placing a child in an institution, it is explicitly stipulated stated that the Center shall hear the child's own intention.

(2) When the intention of the child or the guardian (s) dose not coincide with the policy of the Child Guidance Center, or when the Child Guidance Center deems it necessary, the Center shall hear the opinion of a sub-group of a council composed of experts in medicine and law.

(3) The system has been changed so that guardians can choose desirable Day-care Centers based on the provided information about day care.
Furthermore, the Child Welfare Law prescribes that prefectural administrations can place a child in a Children's Home, etc., with the approval of a Family Court in order to ensure the child's best interests, and that the superintendent of the Child Guidance Center can request a Family Court to approve forfeit of parental authority from its holder.

103. Article 1 of the Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and for Protecting Children stipulates that "This law aims at defending the rights of children by punishing the acts involved in child prostitution and child pornography, and by establishing measures to protect children who have suffered mental and physical harm from those acts." This law also has provisions on consideration for the rights and characteristics of children while conducting investigations and trials, prohibition of the publication of information from which victimized children could be identified on news stories and protection for children who have suffered mental and physical harm, and so on.

(b) Consideration for the principle of "best interests of the child"

(Child Welfare Facilities)

104. Standards for equipment and management of child welfare facilities are stipulated in the Minimum Standards for Child Welfare Facilities (Ministerial Ordinance) provided by the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare. Pursuant to the Child Welfare Law, founders of these facilities are obliged to abide by the standards.
The Minimum Standards for Child Welfare Facilities stipulate general rules for the construction and equipment for child welfare facilities, emergency/disasters, general requirements for personnel, sanitation control, meal, medical examination for residents and employees, etc. (in Chapter 1, General Provisions); and equipment standards for respective child welfare facilities and criteria for the number and competence (qualification) of personnel, etc. (from Chapters 2 to 11 inclusive).
Moreover, to maintain the Minimum Standards, governors may request the heads of child welfare facilities to submit reports, enter the facilities periodically, examine equipment and management; recommend and order necessary improvements; and order the suspension of operation.

(New Angel Plan)

105. See Paragraph 34.

(Family Trials)

106. Article 1 of the Law for Determination of Family Affairs and Article 1 of the Rules for Determination of Family Affairs assume that the best interests of each child are to be considered. Determination of Family Affairs proceedings are conducted according to these provisions, thus it can be said that the child's best interests are taken into consideration.

(Juvenile Trials)

107. Article 1 of the Juvenile Law and Article 1 of the Rules of Juvenile Proceeding assume that the best interests of each child are to be considered. Juvenile proceeding are conducted according to these provisions , thus it can be said that the child's best interests are taken into consideration.

(Correctional institutions)

108. As stated above, Article 1 of the Juvenile Law assumes that the child's best interests are to be considered. Details of treatment in correctional institutions are as follows:
In Juvenile Classification Homes, it is prescribed that juveniles shall be placed in a lively and quiet environment so that they can attend their hearings, feeling secured (Article 2 of the Juvenile Classification Homes Treatment Regulations). In Juvenile Training Schools, it is stated that they shall be treated, with due consideration for the state of their mental and physical development, in a lively environment, aiming at their sound growth in both mind and body (Article 1 of the Juvenile Training School Treatment Regulations). In Juvenile Prisons, school education, vocational training, etc., are provided according to the state of their mental and physical development, paying consideration to their sound growth. Juveniles are treated with due consideration for their best interests in view of the purposes of the treatment for those sent to the respective facilities.

(Adoption)

109. In Japan, there are two types of adoption where minors are adopted under the Civil Code: ordinary adoption and special adoption.
Ordinary adoption creates a legal parental relation between the adoptive parents and the adoptive child who acquires the status of a legitimate child. If the child to be adopted is a minor, a permission of the Family Court is necessary in principle for the adoption to be effective. If the minor who is to be adopted is aged 15 or older, the minor himself/herself is the concerned party; if he/she is under 15 years of age, a legal representative is the concerned party, though the Family Court may hear opinions of the minor upon its own authority. In granting a permission, the Family Court determines the case on the basis of whether the adoption is consistent with the welfare of the minor.
Special adoption is effected not by the agreement between the adoptive parents and the adoptive child, but by the Family Courts' determination upon the request from the adoptive parents when the adoptive child is, in principle under 6 years of age at the time of request. In special adoption, the existing family relationship of the adopted child with his/her natural parents and his/her blood relatives is terminated. Therefore, the special adoption is effected only if the placing of the child in the custody of his/her natural parents is extremely difficult or inappropriate and there is an extraordinary need for the interests of the child. In addition, consent of the child's natural parents is also required for the special adoption, unless the parents cannot express their opinions or the interests of the adoptive child are extremely infringed by such acts as abused by his/her parents.
As can be seen from the above, in adoption, maximum consideration is paid to the interest of the minor to be adopted.

(Survey in planning and deciding policies)

110. In planning and deciding various domestic policies, inherent characteristics of the field for measures on child fosterage do not allow surveys such as random sampling control experiments in most cases. Nevertheless, researches and studies are constantly being conducted on the awareness and trends in the lives of the children, parents, teachers and other parties concerned. Furthermore, statistics and indices on population, household, social infrastructure, etc., that are closely connected to children have been prepared. Thus we understand that these are actively utilized in planning and deciding various policies.
In most cases of planning and deciding various domestic policies, experts other than administrative officials in diverse areas hold consultations and seminars to give multidirectional consideration to abundant statistics and research data beforehand. We believe that the best interests of the children who are subject to these measures are given preliminary consideration through these processes.

(c) Ensuring protection and care of children

111. See Paragraph 55 of the First Government Report.

112. Under the Child Welfare Law, a person who has found a child whose guardian is unfit for care and custody of the child must report to a Child Guidance Center and such. Child Guidance Centers may, pursuant to the Child Welfare Law, take actions such as placing the said child in a Home for Infant or a Children's Home in cases where the care and custody by the guardian significantly harm the welfare of the child, e.g. a person with parental authority or a guardian who is responsible for the child neglects care and custody substantially. If the actions such as placing the child in an institution are contrary to the will of his/her guardian, such actions shall be allowed after obtaining the Family Court's approval.

113. In response to a sharp increase in the number of cases at Child Guidance Centers for consultation on child abuse, which shows that problems of child abuse are becoming increasingly serious, the Child Abuse Prevention Law was enforced in November 2000. Under said law, further measures are being undertaken to promote early detection and early coping, and the protection of abused children.

(d) Measures taken based on Article 3, Paragraph 3

114. See Paragraph 56 of the Initial Report of Japan.
See Paragraph 104.

(e) Experts training concerning the principle of "the best interests of the child"

115. See Paragraph 44-52.

(Creation of an environment where the right of a child to life is guaranteed, and survival and development of a child is ensured)

116. Article 1, Paragraph 2 of the Child Welfare Law provides that "the life of each child shall equally be guaranteed and protected." Furthermore, Article 3 of the Maternity and Child Health Law prescribes that "in order to ensure the sound growth of infants and toddlers, both in mind and body, their health shall be maintained and enhanced," based on which, the Government is improving the health maintenance of small children by providing perinatal and pediatric medical systems.

(Prevention of suicide by child and its monitoring)

117. Persons in the juvenescence tend to have worries and anxieties. In some cases, they cannot find any solution to their problems with low grades or friendships, not being able to talk to anyone, and they may eventually kill themselves. The Police are striving to prevent suicides by early detection of juveniles intending to commit suicide through all sorts of police activities such as juvenile guidance on the street and juvenile advisory activities, and, when such juveniles are found, by providing expert counseling through juvenile counseling specialists and guidance officials along with supporting activities in cooperation with guardians.
Moreover, Juvenile Support Centers at the Prefectural Police offer counseling services such as Young Telephone Corner, responding to requested for counseling from juveniles who have the problems of juvenile delinquency, school problems, and family problems, as well as requests for counseling on suicide, at all times.

118. A childs ending his/her own life, whatever the reason may be, must not happen. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, with a focus on kokoro no kyouiku (education of the heart) is endeavoring through the boards of education to implement guidance so that schools will foster in students the attitude of being considerate to and respecting each other, as well as valuing life and human rights, and will guide children properly on the beauty and joy of living through activities in school education.
In addition, aiming at the enhancement of systems in which a child with a worry ca