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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TOKYO 000782 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PHUM KFRD PREF SMIG JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN SUBMISSION FOR TIP REPORT 
 
REF: STATE 02731 
 
TOKYO 00000782  001.2 OF 010 
 
 
¶1.  Embassy's point of contact on TIP issues is Political 
Officer Scott Hansen, Office Phone:  81 (3) 3224-5558, Fax: 
 81 (3) 3224-5322, Email: hansensw@state.gov. 
 
¶2.  Embassy Tokyo has spent a total of 608 hours researching 
trafficking issues, conducting awareness-raising campaigns, 
drafting policy proposals, and coordinating with contacts 
over the past year, in support of this report. 
This total includes: 
 
Ambassador, 20 hours 
DCM, 8 hours 
MC/POL 20 hours 
01-level POL 10 hours 
03-level POL 300 hours 
FSN 08-level POL 250 hours 
 
Total Embassy Tokyo on TIP, 608 hours 
 
¶3.  OVERVIEW OF JAPAN'S EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE TIP 
 
Note: This report is keyed to Reftel and includes information 
from the Japanese government, international organizations 
(IOs), and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). 
 
¶A.  Japan was a destination country for women and children 
trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. According to 
National Police Agency (NPA) statistics, there were 43 
trafficking victims reported in 2007: 22 were from the 
Philippines, 11 from Indonesia, 5 from South Korea, and 4 
from Thailand.  The remaining victim was a Japanese national, 
the first Japanese citizen to be classified as a TIP victim 
by government authorities. Labor activists and victim 
shelters also reported labor exploitation cases tantamount to 
trafficking in persons.  Commercial sexual exploitation of 
Japanese children remained a problem.  According to NPA 
statistics, 773 Japanese children were either prostituted or 
exploited in child pornography during the first half of 2007. 
 
 
It is possible that government data understates the magnitude 
of human trafficking in Japan.  Call logs from NGO-operated 
hotlines suggest that the number of victims being exploited 
was probably higher than the number of victims who 
self-identified or were identified by law enforcement 
officials.  The fact that police and immigration officials 
did not have formal victim identification procedures casts 
further doubt on government statistics.  Officials from a 
number of third-country embassies reportedly repatriated 
women otherwise classifiable as victims of human trafficking 
without Japanese government support because police and 
immigration officers did not recognize the women as victims. 
NGOs also reported cases of foreign laborers being forced to 
work under exploitative conditions, but government officials 
did not recognize any victims of labor trafficking, so 
trafficking statistics did not include any of these cases. 
Post was unable to verify any of these reports. 
 
Trends in the sex industry also contributed to the difficulty 
in obtaining reliable statistics. In urban areas, police 
crackdowns on red-light businesses eliminated visible 
prostitution, making it extremely difficult to estimate the 
extent of exploitation. NGOs reported that the number of 
escort services increased, but there was no reliable evidence 
indicating whether these services exploited victims of 
trafficking. 
 
¶B.  Although NGOs reported isolated cases of possible labor 
trafficking, human trafficking in Japan was most widely 
perceived as the employment of women as prostitutes under 
coercive conditions. Japan's large sex industry is comprised 
of a wide variety of businesses in which victims could 
potentially be exploited, including strip clubs, sex shops, 
massage parlors, hostess bars, private video rooms, escort 
services, and mail order video services. 
 
 
TOKYO 00000782  002.2 OF 010 
 
 
Brokers in the countries of origin recruited women and sold 
them to intermediaries or employers, who in turn subjected 
them to debt bondage and coercion. Traffickers strictly 
controlled the movements of victims, and threatened to punish 
them with violence if they tried to escape. Traffickers also 
maintained contact with brokers in the victims' home 
countries, using threats of violence against victims' 
families as further leverage. Traffickers that directly 
manage victims tend to be foreign nationals, often former 
victims themselves. Although the owners of bars were 
sometimes members of organized crime groups, and independent 
owners usually paid fees to these organizations, there was no 
evidence of systematic involvement in human trafficking by 
organized crime syndicates. 
 
Traffickers consistently used debt bondage to control 
trafficking victims. According to shelter operators, before 
arriving in Japan trafficking victims rarely understood the 
size of the debts they would owe, the amount of time it would 
take them to repay the debts, or the conditions of employment 
to which they would be subjected.  Women typically faced 
debts upon commencement of their contracts from $29,000 to 
$49,000 (three million to five million yen).  In addition, 
they had to pay their employer for their living expenses, 
medical care (when provided by the employer), and other 
necessities.  "Fines" for misbehavior added to the original 
debt over time and the process that the employers used to 
calculate these debts was not transparent. Employers also 
sometimes "resold," or threatened to resell, troublesome 
women or women found to be HIV positive, thereby increasing 
the victims' debts and often leading to even worse working 
conditions. 
 
Brokers also used coercive psychological methods to control 
women. Traffickers who once relied on confiscating travel 
documents were forced by more sophisticated police 
investigation techniques to rely on less physically obvious 
methods of control. For example, brokers told victims that if 
they went to the police, they would be arrested, beaten, and 
deported.  Victims unfamiliar with Japan had no way of 
knowing that the stories were fabricated.  According to one 
TIP researcher, some clubs waited three months before 
informing the women that they would have to sell sex to 
continue their employment.  Because they wouldn't receive 
their wages until the end of the six-month stay, most women 
chose to "stick-it-out" and prostitute themselves rather than 
lose three months of investment.  Even in hostess clubs that 
do not provide sexual services, punishing women who do not 
meet quotas compelled them psychologically to sleep with 
clients in order to persuade them to become regular customers. 
 
Many foreign embassy officials and NGO representatives 
believe that human rights conditions improved for trafficking 
victims in Japan. International pressure, increased law 
enforcement activity, and the changing dynamics of Japan's 
sex industry may have led to an improvement in the treatment 
of trafficked sex workers. In past years, traffickers kept 
victims locked up in the brothels where they worked, but 
police pressure has closed the vast majority of brothels in 
urban areas. Without a brothel to house victims, traffickers 
must look for another location for victims to stay. The 
difficulty of concealing lock-down dormitory facilities 
within close-knit Japanese communities might have forced 
traffickers to increasingly require the cooperation of 
sex-workers, obliging an improvement in the conditions of sex 
work.  In addition, restrictions on visas made workers more 
valuable and their escape more costly, forcing some business 
owners to provide better working conditions and salary.  The 
increased presence in the industry of women holding spouse 
visas, who tend to be familiar with Japan as well as know 
their rights and some Japanese language, also may have put 
upward pressure on hostess-club salaries and conditions. 
 
The number of identified victims declined for the second year 
in a row.  Foreign embassy officials reported large decreases 
in the number of women seeking their assistance, pointing to 
improvements in working conditions as the reason why fewer 
women run away from their employers.  Not all activists 
 
TOKYO 00000782  003.2 OF 010 
 
 
believe that conditions are improving.  Some NGO 
representatives reported that conditions in many commercial 
sex businesses had become more restrictive than ever, and 
that conditions in rural areas are still abusive.  Post was 
unable to verify these reports.  NPA officials believe that 
there are fewer persons committing trafficking crimes in 
Japan. 
 
Human trafficking in Japan is not limited to foreigners. 
According to one NGO, the domestic trafficking industry 
targeting Japanese girls and women is highly organized and 
lucrative for the criminal networks.  Recruiters were active 
in subways, popular hangout spots for youth, and at schools. 
Victim-support groups reported that children were recruited 
for exploitation in child pornography or prostituted by 
"compensated dating" businesses. 
 
Child Pornography remained a serious problem.  Japanese law 
did not criminalize the possession of child pornography.  The 
absence of a statutory basis made it difficult for police to 
obtain search warrants, preventing them from effectively 
enforcing existing child pornography laws or participating in 
international child pornography investigations.  Internet 
service providers acknowledged that Japan was a hub for child 
pornography trade, leading to greater victimization of 
children both domestically and abroad.  The Prime Minister 
and the Minister of Justice both made remarks in the Diet 
calling for Japan to criminalize child pornography 
possession, and all three major parties established project 
teams to review the law. 
 
Labor trafficking remains relatively unknown in Japan.  The 
media and NGOs reported continued abuses of the Industrial 
Trainee and Technical Internship Program ("foreign trainee 
program") including debt bondage, restriction of movement, 
unpaid overtime, and fraud.  The vast majority of companies 
employed foreign trainees appropriately, but the fact that 
participants in the first year of this three-year program 
were not protected by labor laws made them vulnerable to 
abuse.  In December the Ministry of Justice released 
revisions to the guidelines governing the foreign trainee 
program that defined a broad list of prohibited acts.  Any 
company found in violation of these regulations is barred 
from employing foreign trainees for three years, but does not 
face criminal penalties. 
 
Japan continued to be proactive in addressing 
trafficking-in-persons.  The Inter-Ministerial Liaison 
Committee (Task Force) on trafficking and its working level 
sub-committee met regularly in 2007 to monitor the 
implementation of "Japan's Action Plan of Measures to Combat 
Trafficking in Persons."  The Diet provisionally approved the 
ratification of the UN Protocol on TIP in 2002, but some 
legislators continued block an anti-conspiracy law over 
concerns about the right to privacy, preventing approval of 
the umbrella document, the UN Convention on Transnational 
Organized Crime. 
 
¶C.  In April 2004, the Japanese government established the 
Inter-Ministerial Liaison Committee (Task Force) on TIP. 
Headed by the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office, this task 
force coordinates the TIP-related activities of governmental 
agencies including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), 
Ministry of Justice (MOJ), National Police Agency (NPA), and 
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW). 
 
¶D.  Restrictions on long-term undercover work, wiretapping, 
and the use of plea-bargaining significantly limit the 
ability of police to investigate TIP cases.  Without the 
information that could be gained using these techniques, 
police are unable to assemble evidence that would prove the 
complicity of business owners.  The vast majority of 
convicted traffickers have been foreign nationals that 
directly managed victims. 
 
¶E.  The government monitors its efforts to combat trafficking 
both domestically and in the international community, and has 
made this information available in private meetings with U.S. 
 
TOKYO 00000782  004.2 OF 010 
 
 
and other foreign officials.  The government also shared 
these assessments during international conferences and 
exchanges. 
 
¶4. INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
 
¶A.  Japan does not have a comprehensive anti-trafficking law. 
 Traffickers in Japan are punished under the Penal Code, the 
Prostitution Prevention Law, the Labor Standards Law, and the 
Employment Security Law.  These laws cover both internal and 
external trafficking. 
 
Under Japan's civil law system, Articles 226-2 and 227 
effectively prohibit harboring, transportation, provision, or 
obtaining a person through force or fraud, for any purpose 
including a commercial sex act, involuntary servitude, 
peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.  Specifically, the law 
prohibits "buying or selling" a person for any purpose.  As 
part of Chapter XXXIII of the Penal Code (Crimes of 
Kidnapping and Buying or Selling of Human Beings), Article 
226-2 applies to victims of "force or enticement."  Courts 
interpret buying and selling to include paying or receiving 
any payment for taking or transferring custody of a victim. 
Article 227 specifically punishes a person who "delivers, 
receives, transports, or hides" any person who has been a 
victim of "force" or "enticement" for any purpose. 
 
Although Articles 226-2 and 227 do not use the same 
terminology as the TVPA, in effect they criminalize all 
severe forms of trafficking except crimes involving coercion 
and recruiting.  Any crime involving coercion is criminalized 
by Article 223, below.  Recruiting by force, fraud, or 
coercion for sex trafficking is criminalized by Article 7 of 
the Prostitution Prevention Law, below.  Recruiting by force, 
coercion, and possibly fraud, for any purpose, is 
criminalized by Article 63 of the Employment Security Law, 
below. 
 
Article 223 of the Penal Code prohibits any act involving 
force or coercion for any purpose.  Specifically, it 
prescribes punishment for a person who, "by intimidating 
another through a threat to another's life, body, freedom, 
reputation, or property or by use of assault" or "through a 
threat to the life, body, freedom, reputation, or property of 
the relatives of another," "causes the other to perform an 
act which the other person has no obligation to perform, or 
hinders the other from exercising his or her rights." 
 
Sex traffickers are almost always also prosecuted under 
Articles 7 and 12 of the Prostitution Prevention Law, which 
both describe punishment for any act that forces, defrauds, 
or coerces a person into providing commercial sex.  This 
includes recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, 
or obtaining that person.  Specifically, Article 7 prescribes 
punishment for a person "who induced or caused another person 
to conduct prostitution by deceiving or confusing that 
person," or by "intimidating or assaulting that person." 
 
Article 63 of the Employment Security Law prohibits 
recruiting, providing, or obtaining a person through force, 
coercion, and possibly fraud, for work including commercial 
sex acts, involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or 
slavery.  Specifically, it prescribes punishment for a person 
"who exchanged labor, recruited or provided workers, or 
engaged in these by means of physical violence, intimidation, 
confinement, or any other unfair restraint on the mental or 
physical freedom of the workers."  The application of this 
law to recruitment through fraud is based on the 
interpretation that fraud is an unfair restraint on a 
person's mental freedom. 
 
Article 5 of the Labor Standards Law prohibits any act that 
forces or coerces a person to work, including commercial sex 
acts, involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or 
slavery.  This law is generally limited to acts by the 
employer.  Specifically, the law stipulates that "An employer 
shall not force workers to work against their will by means 
of physical violence, intimidation, confinement, or any other 
 
TOKYO 00000782  005.2 OF 010 
 
 
unfair restraint on the mental or physical freedom of the 
workers." 
 
The following laws are also available to prosecute 
traffickers: 
 
Article 220 of the Penal Code prohibits the confinement of 
another person. 
 
Article 225 prohibits any kidnapping act involving force or 
fraud for profit, marriage, etc. 
 
Article 15 of the Labor Standards Law requires employers to 
clearly indicate working conditions, wages, and working hours 
in contracts.  When the wages, working hours, or working 
conditions are not in compliance with the contract, the 
worker may return home at the employer's expense. 
 
The Child Welfare Law, Articles 34 and 60, prescribe 
punishments for a person who keeps a child under his/her 
control for the purpose of harming the child in mind or body. 
 
The Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, Article 
73-2, prescribes punishment for a person who places an alien 
under his control for the purpose of having the alien engage 
in illegal work. 
 
The Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and 
Child Pornography, and for Protecting Children, Article 8, 
prescribes punishment for a person who buys or sells a child 
for the purpose of prostituting the child or producing child 
pornography. 
 
¶B.  The following sentencing guidelines apply to human 
trafficking for both sexual and non-sexual purposes: 
 
--Acts of trafficking carry a punishment of imprisonment with 
labor between one and ten years. 
--When the purpose cannot be established, acts of trafficking 
carry a penalty of imprisonment with labor from three months 
to five years for an adult victim, or from three months to 
seven years for a child victim. 
--Any person convicted of trafficking a victim to a foreign 
country (including transportation from an overseas country to 
Japan) can also be sentenced to imprisonment with labor for a 
minimum of two years. 
--Employers convicted of exploiting forced labor (including 
sex work) are punishable by imprisonment with labor from one 
to ten years, plus a 200,000-3,000,000 yen fine (Approx. USD 
2,000-30,000). 
 
Out of 12 convictions for sex trafficking in 2007, courts 
sentenced seven offenders to two to four years imprisonment 
with labor, and five offenders received suspended sentences. 
Criminals sentenced to imprisonment generally serve more of 
their sentences in Japan than they do in the United States. 
 
¶C.  Labor trafficking offenses are punished under the Penal 
Code, the Labor Standards Law, and the Employment Security 
Law, as described in paragraph 'A' above.  The punishments 
for these offenses are described in paragraph 'B'. 
 
Japanese law does not appear to provide punishment for labor 
recruiters using knowingly fraudulent or deceptive offers 
that result in workers being trafficked.  See also 'A'. 
According to the inter-agency task force, "a labor recruiter 
in other countries who is engaged in recruitment using 
knowingly fraudulent or deceptive offers that result in 
workers being exploited in Japan shall be punished if he/she 
traffics in persons or is an accomplice of the labor 
exploitation committed in Japan."  Japanese law does punish 
employers or labor agents who confiscate passports, switch 
contracts without the worker's consent, or withhold payment 
of salaries. 
 
The two labor exploitation cases that were pending last year 
resulted in convictions.  Both offenders were sentenced to 
two years imprisonment with labor.  Criminals sentenced to 
 
TOKYO 00000782  006.2 OF 010 
 
 
imprisonment generally serve more of their sentences in Japan 
than they do in the United States.  Although there are 
currently investigations of possible labor exploitation 
pending, there are no cases pending in courts. 
 
¶D.  The minimum sentence for trafficking-in-persons is 
generally shorter than the minimum sentence for rape. The 
punishment for rape in Japan is imprisonment for at least 
three years and up to fifteen years.  The punishment for 
sexual assault is six months to seven years imprisonment. 
 
¶E.  Prostitution is illegal in Japan, but narrowly defined. 
Many sexual acts for payment that are considered to be 
prostitution in the U.S. are legal in Japan, regulated as 
"restricted sex-related businesses." Under the Prostitution 
Prevention Law, both soliciting the services of a prostitute 
and working as a prostitute are prohibited, but not criminal. 
Activities facilitating prostitution, including those of 
brothel owner, operator, pimp and enforcer, are criminalized 
and carry punishments including incarceration and fines. 
 
¶F.  The Ministry of Justice provided the following 
prosecution statistics for 2007 trafficking cases: 
 
Persons charged               41 
Cases sent to the Prosecutor:       12 
Cases actually prosecuted:          11 
 
Please see paragraphs 'B' and 'C' for information about 
sentencing.  The government criminally prosecutes employers 
who switch contracts or terms of employment without a 
worker's consent, use abuse or threats of abuse to keep 
workers in a state of service, or withhold payment of 
salaries to keep workers in a state of service. 
 
¶G.  The National Police Agency, Immigration Bureaus, and 
Public Prosecutor's Offices conduct regular training for 
their officers on the recognition, investigation, and 
prosecution of trafficking crimes. Representatives from 
international organizations and NGOs occasionally participate 
in the training. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also 
includes human trafficking in its consular officer training 
curriculum, emphasizing the role of careful visa adjudication 
as a preventive measure. 
 
¶H.  Japanese law enforcement authorities actively cooperate 
with foreign governments on investigations. Cooperation with 
Thai authorities led to the deportation and subsequent arrest 
of a Japanese broker living in Thailand, and Indonesian 
authorities were able to use information provided by Japanese 
police to arrest a broker that had been sending victims to 
Japan. Japan participates in a number of trafficking-related 
international exchanges, including frequent information 
exchanges via the International Criminal Police Organization. 
 
¶I.  The government can extradite trafficking offenders in 
accordance with the Law of Extradition and bilateral 
extradition treaties. To date, there has never been a request 
from a foreign country to extradite a suspected human 
trafficker. Article 2, item 9 of the Law of Extradition 
prohibits the extradition of Japanese nationals unless a 
specific extradition treaty exists. Japan has concluded 
extradition treaties with the United States and Korea. If an 
extradition treaty does not exist, under Japanese law 
Japanese nationals may still be prosecuted in Japan for 
crimes committed in a foreign country, including 
trafficking-in-persons. 
 
¶J.  There was no conclusive evidence of direct government 
involvement in human trafficking. 
 
¶K.  N/A 
 
¶L.  There were no known cases of Japanese personnel involved 
in international peacekeeping efforts committing trafficking 
crimes or exploiting victims of trafficking. 
 
¶M.  Japan is a source country for child sex tourism. 
 
TOKYO 00000782  007.2 OF 010 
 
 
Japanese courts have extraterritorial jurisdiction over a 
Japanese national who has sexual intercourse with a minor in 
a foreign country in violation of the Act on Punishment of 
Activities Relating to Child Prostitution and Child 
Pornography and the Protection of Children. There were no 
Japanese nationals prosecuted or convicted under this 
extraterritorial provision in 2007. 
 
¶5.  PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS 
 
¶A.  Article 50 of the Immigration Control and Refugee 
Recognition Act provides that the Minister of Justice may 
grant "special permission to stay" to persons "under the 
control of another due to trafficking in persons."  This 
status is granted only to persons recognized as trafficking 
victims by immigration authorities, and prohibits victims 
from operating businesses or earning income.  Victims can 
apply for a change in status to one that permits employment 
and longer-term residence.  According to NGO reports, it is 
unlikely that victims were aware of this right. 
 
¶B.  The Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare's 
prefecture-level network of Women's Consulting Center (WCC) 
shelters were accessible to trafficking victims of any 
nationality.  Originally established by the Anti-Prostitution 
Law as facilities to provide services and care to 
Japanese-nationality prostitutes, the shelters are now used 
primarily to protect victims of domestic violence.  The 
central government pays half the cost of a trafficking 
victim's stay in a WCC, the rest is borne by the shelter 
and/or local government.  Forty victims were protected in 
WCCs from January to December, 2007.  These victims had 
access to subsidized medical care.  They also had access to 
legal counsel in principle, but the government made little 
effort to inform victims of this right.  The government pays 
for psychological care, but psychotherapists rarely had 
foreign language ability.  Although funding is also provided 
for interpretation services, WCC staff confirmed that these 
interpreters did not have training in victim counseling, and 
private shelter operators questioned the effectiveness of 
victim counseling via interpretation. 
 
¶C.  The Japanese government earmarks approximately USD 
100,000 each year for subsidizing victims' care in private 
NGO shelters that specialize in assisting victims of human 
trafficking.  Japan also gave USD 300,000 to IOM in 2007 for 
repatriation and reintegration assistance, and USD 79,000 to 
a Thai NGO to construct a dormitory for hill tribe students 
that are vulnerable to trafficking. 
 
¶D.  Although police and immigration authorities all have 
regular trafficking-related training programs in place, the 
government did not have a formal system for identifying 
victims of trafficking.  According to a non-paper received 
from the interagency task force, victim identification is 
conducted by police and immigration officers "through 
thoughtful interviews," using questions that meet the same 
standard as U.S. or IOM victim identification questionnaires. 
 The Japanese government intends to distribute 1,000 copies 
of "The IOM handbook on Direct Assistance to Victims of 
Trafficking" to "relevant ministries and agencies" in March 
¶2008.  The government officially recognized 43 victims in 
¶2007.  Awareness of the procedures for transferring a victim 
from law enforcement custody into the protection of a shelter 
seemed to be widespread.  Forty victims were protected in 
WCCs in 2007. 
 
¶E.  When raiding sex-industry businesses, law enforcement 
officials interviewed workers to determine whether any were 
victims of trafficking.  Because the government did not have 
formal victim identification procedures, it was difficult to 
evaluate the efficacy of these interviews.  See also 'D'. 
 
¶F.  The government respected the rights of recognized 
victims.  The Embassy did not receive any reports of women 
who were not recognized by the government as victims but were 
otherwise classifiable as such being detained, jailed, fined, 
or otherwise prosecuted. 
 
TOKYO 00000782  008.2 OF 010 
 
 
 
¶G.  The government encouraged victims to assist in the 
investigation and prosecution of trafficking, but did not 
provide victims with an environment conducive to cooperation. 
 "Japan's Action Plan of Measures to Combat Trafficking in 
Persons" does not mention encouraging TIP victims to assist 
in investigations or prosecutions.  The MHLW-distributed 
"Manual for Assisting Trafficking Victims in Women's 
Consulting Centers" directs WCCs to "coordinate with police 
and other agencies" but does not give any clear procedures 
for assisting victims in filing civil or criminal complaints 
against their alleged traffickers.  The guidelines only apply 
"if a victim wants to prosecute," but do not give any 
instructions for encouraging victims to do so.  According to 
a survey of WCC operators, neither WCC staff members nor 
victims were aware that free legal assistance was available. 
To date there have been no cases where legal assistance was 
provided to a victim by the government.  Police frequently 
sought victims' cooperation to build cases, but the lack of 
native-language counseling, the relative confinement of the 
WCCs, and the inability of victims to generate income led 
most victims to want to repatriate as quickly as possible. 
 
¶H.  WCCs and NGO shelters employed security guards, took 
steps to conceal the location of their facilities, and worked 
with local police to ensure the protection of victims.  The 
central government shared the cost of providing security at 
WCCs.  If the police perceive a possible threat to a victim, 
they may send the victim to another city or prefecture for 
shelter.  There are a number of provisions in Japanese law to 
protect the anonymity of a victim during courtroom 
proceedings when there is a threat to his or her safety.  If 
the victim is under 18 years old, the WCC will work with a 
local Child Guidance Center to provide shelter and services 
to the victim.  See also 'B'. 
 
¶I.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided training for 
Consular Officers on trafficking in persons, including victim 
recognition and the preventative role of careful visa 
adjudication.  There were no reported cases of Japanese 
nationals being trafficked outside of Japan.  The Japanese 
government maintained relationships with local NGOs in 
foreign countries to coordinate prevention efforts.  See also 
'C'.  Japan worked with IOM to provide repatriation and 
reintegration assistance.  IOM received USD 300,000 form the 
Japanese government in 2007 for this purpose. 
 
¶J.  There were no reported cases of Japanese nationals being 
repatriated to Japan as victims of trafficking. 
 
¶K.  Following are some of the NGOs and IOs that work with 
trafficking victims in Japan: 
 
In addition to providing repatriation and reintegration 
assistance through a grant by Japan, IOM provides victim 
interview services on a voluntary basis on request, conducts 
case-worker training, and runs awareness-raising campaigns. 
 
The U.S.-based NGO Polaris Project operates a telephone 
helpline and provides victim services at limited temporary 
shelter facilities.  Polaris also conducts regular 
awareness-raising campaigns. 
 
HELP and Saalaa both operate shelters and hotlines. 
 
Friendship Asia House Cosmos operates a shelter. 
 
The Japan Network Against Trafficking in Persons (JNATIP) is 
an umbrella organization for NGO representatives, academics, 
and lawyers that conduct research on trafficking in persons, 
as well as awareness-raising and advocacy campaigns. 
 
Amnesty International Japan conducts awareness-raising and 
advocacy campaigns in support of potential victims of labor 
trafficking. 
 
¶6.  PREVENTION 
 
 
TOKYO 00000782  009.2 OF 010 
 
 
¶A.  The government recognizes that trafficking is a problem 
in Japan and understands that human trafficking is an 
egregious infringement of human rights. 
 
¶B.  To raise awareness about human trafficking inside Japan, 
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Police 
Agency distributed more than 500,000 leaflets, brochures, and 
pamphlets in 2007 that describe the trauma of 
trafficking-in-persons, report what the government is doing 
to combat trafficking, and explain how a victim can find 
assistance.  These materials have been distributed to 
immigration offices and police stations throughout Japan. 
The pamphlets also urge Japanese nationals to help victims 
and gives telephone numbers for the police, immigration 
bureau offices, embassies, and NGO shelters.  In addition, 
the Cabinet Office distributed 25,000 posters stating that 
"Trafficking-in-persons is a grave violation of human rights" 
and "Prostitution is a root cause of trafficking-in-persons." 
 These posters were circulated nationwide to local 
governments, police stations, and immigration bureau offices. 
 The Japanese government also hosted three 
information-sharing conferences including trafficking in 
persons discussions that involved participation from all 
relevant agencies, NGOs, IOs, and the diplomatic community. 
 
¶C.  The relationship between the government and NGOs improved 
during the last year.  At NPA-organized conferences, NGO 
representatives were given wide latitude in making 
presentations to the diplomatic, NGO, and law enforcement 
community.  NPA, MOFA, and MHLW officials also regularly 
attended meetings and conferences on human trafficking 
organized by NGOs or IOM, and invite representatives from 
those organizations to attend government trainings and 
conferences.  The government also sponsored a JNATIP member 
to attend the UN Global Initiative to Fight Trafficking 
conference in Vienna.  Unlike in 2006, NGOs were once again 
utilized to provide services or shelter to victims in 2007. 
The MHLW also surveyed the NGO community this year to 
identify interpreters with experience or training in 
providing counseling and psychological care to victims of 
trafficking.  The MHLW has not yet established a system for 
making this resource available to WCCs nation-wide.  Although 
IOM reported that the Tokyo Immigration Bureau 
occasionally asked IOM case-workers to conduct victim 
identification interviews, the standard continued to be that 
victim identification was conducted by government officials. 
 
¶D.  Immigration officials screen for victims of trafficking 
via Pre-Clearance Systems at some airports in Taiwan and 
Korea, and a Secondary Examination System at the main 
airports in Japan.  In addition, Japan stations document 
experts to airports in Thailand as liaison officers where 
they train Thai officials to recognize fraudulent Japanese 
travel documents.  MOFA Consular Affairs Bureau officials 
examine visa application, issuance, and refusal patterns from 
source countries such as Indonesia and Thailand to enact 
safeguards to prevent potential victims of trafficking from 
getting entry visas.  The number of Entertainer Visas issued 
to Filipinas fell from 85,000 in 2004 to 5,700 in 2007. 
Entertainer Visas issued to Indonesians fell from 4,000 in 
2005 to 600 in 2007.  Issuances of Spouse Visas to Filipinas, 
which had been increasing annually until last year, fell from 
7,300 in 2006 to 6,100 in 2007. 
 
¶E.  As noted in paragraph 3, Japan established the Prime 
Minister's Inter-Ministerial Liaison Committee (Task Force) 
on Trafficking in Persons in April 2004 under the guidance of 
the Prime Minister's Office, which coordinates TIP-related 
activities among the four relevant governmental agencies: 
MOFA, MOJ, NPA, and MHLW.  The National Personnel Authority 
and the National Public Service Ethics Board are charged with 
preventing and investigating corruption among government 
officials in Japan. 
 
¶F.  Japan's "Action Plan of Measures to Combat Trafficking in 
Persons" was released in December 2004.  The Action Plan 
established measures to prevent and "eradicate" (prosecute) 
trafficking in persons, as well as protect victims.  Civil 
 
TOKYO 00000782  010.2 OF 010 
 
 
society representatives served as advisors to the 
Inter-Ministerial TIP task force, which formulated the 
National Action Plan.  The Government posted the NAP on the 
Internet and engages in numerous public activities both 
domestically and internationally to publicize the plan. 
Specific venues used to disseminate information on the NAP 
are listed above in 'B'. 
 
¶G.  Measures to reduce demand for commercial sex focused on 
prosecution.  Police continued the wide-spread crackdowns on 
red-light districts under the Anti-Prostitution Law and the 
Law on Control and Improvement of Amusement Businesses.  The 
increase in police enforcement has made a visible impact on 
the sex industry, driving the majority of traditional 
brothels in major metropolitan areas out of business.  The 
Cabinet Office's poster campaign described above in 'B' is 
aimed at reducing demand, unequivocally linking prostitution 
with trafficking in persons. 
 
¶H.  To warn potential child sex tourists about the 
prosecution they will face in Japan, MOFA revised the 
government's handbook for international travelers to contain 
an advisory that persons who break laws can be prosecuted 
domestically.  The warning specifically mentions 
prostitution, child prostitution, and child pornography.  In 
addition, the Japan Association of Travel Agents, the 
Overseas Tour Operators Association of Japan, and 60 of 
Japan's biggest tour companies are signatory to the Code of 
Conduct to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation in 
Travel and Tourism.  The Ministry of Justice prepared a 
poster warning potential sex tourism offenders of prosecution 
for display in airport departure lounges, but they had not 
yet been posted as of this writing. 
 
¶I.  Japan implements the same measures to prevent its 
nationals who are deployed abroad from engaging in or 
facilitating trafficking as it does for private citizens. 
See also 'G' and 'H'.  There were no reports of Japanese 
nationals deployed as a part of a peacekeeping or other 
similar mission engaging in or facilitating severe forms of 
trafficking or exploiting victims of such trafficking. 
 
¶7.  TIP HERO 
 
Embassy Tokyo nominates Kaori Mutoh as a TIP Hero.  Mutoh is 
the director of Saalaa, a shelter that provides housing as 
well as a wide range of other services to trafficking 
victims.  After joining Saalaa in 1997, Ms. Mutoh became the 
Secretary General a year later.  Saalaa also operates a 
 
SIPDIS 
victim hotline and conducts a variety of awareness-raising 
campaigns targeting government officials, care providers, and 
potential victims.  Ms. Mutoh is a polished public speaker - 
she receives regular invitations to give presentations about 
victim care, from NGOs, IOs, and the Japanese government.  In 
an environment where the government focuses heavily on 
government shelters to provide victim care, the fact that 
many of these shelters automatically refer victims to Saalaa 
is a testament to the confidence that the anti-trafficking 
community has in the organization that she manages.  Embassy 
officers are consistently impressed with her unsurpassed 
understanding of the physical, emotional, and psychological 
needs of victims, and her ability to effectively articulate 
those needs to government officials.  Ms. Mutoh's thorough 
knowledge of victim care, her dedicated advocacy on behalf of 
victims, and her skilled management of Saalaa make her a true 
hero in the fight against trafficking in persons. 
SCHIEFFER