Towards a human rights policy for Japanese sports governance

Sports in Japanese public policy is often promoted as a catalyst: the power of sports as a vehicle for transmitting political messages. However, sport is a double-edged sword: on one hand, it can enable positive social outcomes, on the other, it can create a space where forms of abuse can inflict harm. This space is enabled, amongst other things, through the concept of the autonomy of sports ––i.e. the general principle that it is the right of sports organisations to self-regulate.

Given both the impact of sports governing bodies on Japanese sports, and the increased recognition of the importance and relevance of human rights in a broader sense, this paper examines how human rights policy can be effectively implemented into Japanese sports governance.  The authors draw on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, together with existing policies of international sports federations, and propose a framework for how those principles and policies can be best adapted into the Japanese sporting eco-system.

Article overview

• Background
• Human rights and sports policy in Japan
• Towards a human rights policy guideline
  • “Commit, Define and Democratise” Framework
  • Commit to human rights protection
  • Define the human rights framework
  • International framework
  • Democratise the accessibility to human rights education
• Remaining challenges and concluding remarks