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Contemporary Japan maintains longstanding and well-documented traditions of same-sex eroticism and yet the terminology for describing these traditions as well as the contexts and identities through which they have been expressed have changed greatly since Japan's opening to the West at the end of the nineteenth century. These changes have been most striking in the post-war period, when new rights-centred discourses concerning issues of sexual identity and sexual citizenship began to develop alongside enduring Japanese notions situating sexual expression in the private realm of personal interest or play. Taking a broad historical view, this paper shows that it is only since the mid-1980s that a voluble discourse linking same-sex sexual activity and human rights has gained mainstream attention. The factors that led to this paradigm shift are outlined as are the current and future challenges facing a range of sexual minorities in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mass media decisively shape global perceptions about human rights, yet fail to reflect the realities of global violations. Situations of egregious abuse are often overshadowed by those which receive attention for reasons extraneous to any specific concern for human rights. Distortions in established media sources arise not necessarily from deliberate misrepresentation, but from the inevitable disparities that arise when human rights abuses are reported as by-products of military, economic, or other interests. This study examines day-by-day coverage of global human rights, during the three-month period from October to December 2006, in two American and two British broadsheets: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and The Financial Times. The aim is to understand the kinds of factors which, albeit tangential to violations of fundamental human rights, nevertheless influence both the quantity and the quality of reporting. While various editorial pressures, such as the need to focus on topical stories, are not denied, it is argued that the news media must make greater efforts to achieve proportionality between the gravity of human rights situations and the degree of coverage those situations receive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the adoption of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2007, the Government of Japan recognised the Ainu as an indigenous people in 2008, and it began developing the Ainu policy. However, the policy focuses on individual rights and cultural promotion, failing to implement UNDRIP. In this situation, private standards, notably forest certification, are increasingly paid attention to because the mechanism requires forest managers to respect the rights of indigenous peoples outlined in UNDRIP. With this in mind, the study will discuss the implications and challenges of forest certification in relation to the Ainu indigenous rights in Hokkaido, particularly the 2012 revision of Principles and Criteria of Forest Stewardship Council. It will take a close look at newly added requirements on UNDRIP, identification of indigenous peoples, and the right to free, prior and informed consent. Through this analysis, the study will clarify that the revised standard could improve the relationship between the Ainu and forest managers. However, by considering the current situation of the Ainu, the study will also point out the necessity of careful audit process, further effort in working on the Governmental policy and the increase in auditors' familiarities with indigenous rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]