Turning principles into practice: advancing responsible business conduct in Japan

TOKYO (ILO news) — Global supply chains are under growing scrutiny. As labour rights violations surface from electronics factories to fishing vessels, companies and governments face increasing pressure to know, and show, what is happening in their supply chains -and to prevent and mitigate negative human rights impacts that may arise therein.

Japan has moved faster than most of its Asian peers. Since 2020, it has produced a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (updated in 2025) and introduced voluntary guidelines on responsible supply chains. But policy frameworks mean little unless people and businesses understand how to use them.

That gap is where the International Labour Organization (ILO) has focused its work.

Since 2022, the Japan-funded RISSC project ("Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Supply Chains in Asia") has been working across automotive supply chains in Thailand, aquaculture in the Philippines, and electronics in Indonesia, analysing labour rights risks and building the capacity of governments, unions and businesses to act on them.

In Japan itself, since 2024, it has targeted the same three stakeholder groups with a specific aim: translating responsible business conduct (RBC) from principle into practice.

For companies, this has meant going beyond awareness-raising. Enterprises received hands-on support to introduce grievance mechanisms, giving practical channels for workers to raise concerns before problems escalate. Through this process, firms reviewed their own systems and identified gaps, arriving at a shared recognition that good intentions need institutional backing.

For trade unions, the project partnered with UA ZENSEN, which represents around 2 million workers across 2,100 affiliated unions, to launch the RBC Expert Development Programme. Participants from RENGO, UA ZENSEN, FOOD-RENGO and JCM, along with enterprise-level unions, worked through four sessions to develop concrete skills: how to use human rights due diligence as a tool, how to address labour violations in supply chains through real case studies, and how to raise workplace concerns with employers constructively. Each participant left with an action plan.

For government, the project has worked closely with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Training reached officials from national headquarters down to local labour inspection offices, people whose daily work already shapes enterprise behaviour, even if the connection to international labour standards has not always been explicit.

"Adopting such a perspective is essential not only for specific officials, but for all staff members in their daily work," said Akiro Yoshida, Deputy Assistant Minister for International Policy Planning at MHLW.

The logic running through all of this is straightforward: governments set the conditions, companies and unions do the work together. "By strengthening the capacities of all stakeholders, the ILO aims to leverage the power of social dialogue to drive a more responsible business environment, added Mr Hironori Honsho, RISSC’s national coordinator in Japan.

What happens in Japan does not stay in Japan. The practices, expectations and standards that Japanese enterprises adopt at home tend to travel, to their suppliers and production sites across Asia. With joint coordinated joint efforts, decent work standards can be raised across the supply chain.

© AutoAlliance (Thailand) Co., Ltd

© AutoAlliance (Thailand) Co., Ltd

“International labour standards established by the ILO provide a common foundation for shaping both policy and business conduct. Adopting such a perspective is essential not only for specific officials, but for all staff members in their daily work,” Mr Yoshida added.

Governments play a key role in developing and implementing policies to create an enabling environment for social dialogue and the promotion of RBC. Similarly, through constructive social dialogue, worker and employers play a central role in advancing RBC and improving working conditions in supply chains.

Against this backdrop, the RISSC project has promoted its activities, strengthening practical capacity across stakeholders in Japan while establishing a foundation to address supply chain challenges in a more effective and practical manner.

As ensuring labour rights in global supply chains becomes increasingly important, these efforts in Japan are expected to have implications beyond its borders, influencing overseas production sites of Japanese enterprises across Asia. Through its continued work, the ILO Office for Japan is expected to further promote RBC in Japan.

The ILO RISSC project is implemented with funding from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), Government of Japan.