A book titled Japan in the Age of Geopolitics: New Trends in Foreign and Security Policy, which has a chapter on “Japan’s Human Rights Diplomacy in UN Policy: The Role of Human Rights Norms and the Changing Modes of Multilateralism” written by Professor Maiko Ichihara of the Graduate School of Law, was published from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. In this chapter, Professor Ichihara analyzes the evolution of Japan’s human rights diplomacy, focusing on the changing role of human rights norms and discussing Japan’s human rights diplomacy as it unfolds within the United Nations. Professor Ichihara states that a weak stance in its positioning has long characterized Japan’s human rights advocacy in UN policy as a universalist principle and in the substantive support provided. However, she argues that since the 2010s, human rights diplomacy has become more active. Amid China and Russia forming counter-narratives on human rights norms, the stage for human rights diplomacy has shifted from the United Nations to more minilateral multilateral frameworks.

Finally, Professor Ichihara emphasizes the necessity for Japan to actively engage in shaping narratives that uphold liberal values and to intensify the promotion of civil liberties both domestically and internationally.

https://www.kas.de/ja/web/japan/einzeltitel/-/content/japan-in-an-era-of-geopolitics-2