Employers Rapidly Implement Japan's Guidelines On Business & Human Rights

• Japan is one of the first non-Western countries to adopt a legal framework on business and human rights, which will likely influence other countries in the APAC region, as well as the overall Western focus of BHR developments.
• Japan's Guidelines on Respecting Human Rights in Responsible Supply Chains apply to all companies conducting business in Japan, as well as those companies' group companies, service providers, suppliers, and other entities in which they invest.
• Many Japanese companies have rapidly taken steps that comply with these Guidelines.

Over the last decade, a patchwork of national and supranational "business and human rights laws" has emerged requiring employers to conduct due diligence of their global operations to address human rights risks such as forced labor and child labor. The vast majority of these laws were passed in Western jurisdictions like European Union countries, the United States, and the United Kingdom.¹ On September 13, 2022,