Distant glitter of Polaris keeps guiding Japan's anti-slavery activists
In early May, a person who identified herself as Ms. Fujiwara contacted me over my November 25, 2004 article titled "Compliance with someone else's moral standards is far from enough". Actually the U.S.-educated young lady is running the Japan office of Polaris Project, an
NGO based in Washington, D.C.
Since her first e-mail already indicated that we have a lot in common with respect to our areas of concern, which is rarely the case with my interactions with fellow countrymen, I asked her for a sit-together or two to exchange views in person. Although the intelligent and self-driven person seemed fully tied up with her own job almost around the clock, Ms. Fujiwara could somehow manage to comply with my request.
At the top of the questionnaire I sent her beforehand was a query about
the scope of her activities. I wasn't just curious about it. I thought it would give me an important clue to her undertaking and mindset to find out how she defines the scope of her anti-slavery activities, and how far she has broaden her perspective along the way. The width of perspective is always the key to deepening one's thought.
More specifically
I asked her what types of modern-day slavery listed below fall on her scope of activities and range of perspective.
| Type of Human Rights Violation | Victim | Perpetrator | Site of Crime | Examples | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sex Slavery | Japanese | Japanese | Japan | Ubiquitous |
| 2 | Sex Slavery | Non-Japanese | Japanese | Japan | Ubiquitous |
| 3 | Sex Slavery | Non-Japanese | Non-Japanese | Japan | Korean brothel operators who "deliver" Korean call girls to Japanese customers |
| 4 | Sex Slavery | Non-Japanese | Japanese | Overseas | 1) Japanese pedophiles buying local kids in Southeast Asian countries, 2) Company-paid hotel orgy of 2003 in Zhuhai, China |
| 5 | Sex Slavery | Japanese | Non-Japanese | Overseas | Japanese prostitutes being exploited by gigolos in Paris |
| 6 | Sex Slavery | Non-Japanese | Non-Japanese | Overseas | Vary from country to country |
| 7 | Domestic Violence/Abuse | Japanese | Japanese | Japan | 1) Girls who fell victim to their violently possessive "boyfriends", 2) Kids who fell victim to their abusive fathers, 3) Girls who had to undergo a back-alley abortion all by themselves |
| 8 | Abduction | Japanese | Non-Japanese | Japan | Japanese who were kidnapped by North Korean agents in late-1970s through early-1980s |
| 9 | "Reverse Prostitution" | Japanese | Japanese | Japan | "Host clubs" where young women are exploited both sexually and financially by male prostitutes |
| 10 | Other Human Rights Violation | Japanese | Japanese | Japan | Pervasive practice of sexist/ageist discrimination |
| 11 | Other Human Rights Violation | Non-Japanese | Japanese | Japan | 1) Any form of racial discrimination, 2) Cheap labor imported from Japan's backyard countries |
| 12 | Other Human Rights Violation | Japanese | Non-Japanese | Overseas | Japanese consulate official in Shanghai who had to kill himself in May 2004 after being blackmailed by Chinese authorities |
| 13 | Other Human Rights Violation | Non-Japanese | Non-Japanese | Overseas | Hundreds of millions of Chinese victims of servitude who have to work 80 hours per week at an hourly wage of 20-30 cents. (Japanese are not perpetrators but they are among the main beneficiaries) |
| 14 | Unsettled Atrocities in Distant Past | Non-Japanese | Japanese | Asia | 1) Wartime "comfort women", 2) Forced laborers "recruited" from Korean Peninsula |
Triggered by the recently released ILO report titled "Human Trafficking
for Sexual Exploitation in Japan", the government and the media have
belatedly started to tackle the trafficking issue in earnest. At least
that's what they are saying. Prior to the International Labor Organization's
report, the U.S. State Department released its 4th annual