Beijing+25 Regional CSO Forum Workshop: Minority Women – 25 Years as Agents of Change Together (26 November)

A rally calling for a retrial of the Sayama Case was held in Tokyo on May 23, the day Kazuo Ishikawa, then 24 years old, was falsely convicted of the murder of a high school girl in 1963. This Case underscores fundamental flaws in the Japanese criminal justice system and the discriminatory stereotyping against Buraku people. At the rally, many people, including his wife, defence team, lawyers, supporters and other victims of false accusations, gathered to call for the realisation of retrial and revision of retrial law as well as to express their condolences for Kazuo Ishikawa, who passed away on the 11th March 2025. With his death, the third […]

A new article, written by Kenzo Tomonaga, has been published! It is about the Buraku Liberation Movement and international solidarity. “In the present world, where everything is internationalized, it is impossible to discuss the solution of the Buraku issue without an international perspective. That is why it is clear that the activities for international solidarity by the Buraku liberation movement, which is the main actor for achieving the solution of the Buraku issue, play the most significant role. The Buraku liberation movement marked its 100th anniversary in March 2022. The movement has expanded its international solidarity ever since the establishment of the National Suiheisha (Levelers’ Association). In that sense, its […]

The Voices to Fight against Intersecting Forms of Discrimination  －Women’s Suiheisha－ 8th March is the international women’s day to celebrate the achievements of women and to take actions for advancing women’s equality. Although the word, gender equality, is heard more frequently than ever, true gender equality will be realised solely when it is for ‘ALL’ women because women cannot be summed up to one as people have multiple identities. It is minority women whose voices are more silenced and whose rights are more restricted.    102 years before, on 3rd March 1922 national Suiheisha was founded declaring the emancipation of Burakumin whose dignity had been deprived of. In the following […]

Concerning EU-Japan relations, the Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted the report by Reinhard  Bütikofer with the aim to consider the status quo of its relations, including strategic partnership agreement, cooperation between people, mutual social interests, and connectivity. Section 10 of its report underscores the importance of cooperation to address issues around gender equality, women’s rights, health policies, and the rest. Also, it touches upon human rights issues existed in Japan as follows:   “…. emphasises the human rights dialogue, where the EU and Japan can discuss, for example, the death penalty, which still exists in Japan and which the EU opposes fundamentally, and other human rights issues of mutual interest; […]