An unfortunate update; from The Japan Times, 11/14/16.
The Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that said the Osaka city office’s 2012 probe into whether its workers had tattoos was legal, court officials said last week.
In a decision dated Wednesday, the court’s five-member Second Petty Bench rejected an appeal from the plaintiffs after the Osaka High Court last year overturned district court decisions in favor of the two employees. The workers had refused to comply with the city’s investigation.
At issue was the city’s move in May 2012, under the leadership of then-Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, to inquire if 33,000 employees had tattoos. The city required them to reply in writing whether they had any tattoos on visible parts of the body, including the hands and neck. They were also asked to answer on a voluntary basis whether they had tattoos elsewhere.
The move came after an incident in which a city worker showed a tattoo to children at a welfare facility.
The two employees who had refused to comply with the probe had no tattoos but refused to submit the required documents, arguing that the investigation was an infringement on their right to privacy. The two were reprimanded in August that year and later brought their cases to court, seeking to have the reprimands invalidated.
In December 2014, the Osaka District Court ruled that the city’s investigation was illegal on anti-discrimination and privacy grounds and ordered that the disciplinary measure against city worker Tadasu Yasuda be invalidated.
Yasuda, a bus driver, had sued the city office after being reprimanded. He was subsequently urged by his boss to drop the suit, and was transferred to a desk job when he refused.
“Whether people have a tattoo or not falls into the category of information carrying a risk of causing discrimination, the collection of which is prohibited under a city ordinance for the protection of personal information,” the district court said in its ruling.
Yasuda filed a separate lawsuit seeking to invalidate his transfer of assignment. He won the case at two lower courts, and the city is now appealing.
In February 2015, the same district court issued a similar ruling on a lawsuit filed by Atsuko Mori, a nurse at a city-run hospital.
But later that year, the Osaka High Court reversed the earlier lower court decisions, saying the city’s check does not “cause discrimination unlike in cases in which one’s criminal record or race (is revealed).”
The city government has, since fiscal 2013, been checking for the presence of visible tattoos on potential new recruits. In the 2012 investigation, 114 workers reported they had tattoos.
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/11/14/national/crime-legal/supreme-court-upholds-osaka-citys-tattoo-check-workers-legal/
Click here for previous VAOJ coverage.
Showing posts with label Hashimoto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hashimoto. Show all posts
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Thursday, December 18, 2014
"Osaka court rules tattoo check on city employees illegal"
Sometimes the courts do the right thing... Story from Japan Today, 12/18/14:
The Osaka District Court has ruled that Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto’s order to check whether municipal office workers had tattoos was illegal and constituted an invasion of privacy.
The court handed down the ruling on Wednesday in a damages suit filed by a 56-year-old city bus driver, Tadasu Yasuda, who was transferred to a desk job after he refused to answer questions on whether or not he had a tattoo, Sankei Shimbun reported Thursday. Presiding Judge Kenji Nakagaito invalidated the transfer and ordered the Osaka municipal government to pay Yasuda 1.1 million yen in damages.
The judge said ordering employees to reveal if they have tattoos or not encroached on individuals’ privacy and carried a risk of creating workplace discrimination. The court also ruled that the plaintiff should be reinstated to his previous position as a bus driver.
The tattoo check, which was requested by Hashimoto in May 2012, involved 35,000 city employees who were asked to reply in writing. Of those who answered, 114 said they did have tattoos on their arms or legs, while six refused to disclose whether they had any tattoos or not, Sankei reported. Those six, including Yasuda, were subjected to disciplinary action. Yasuda said later that he did not have a tattoo, but refused to cooperate with the investigation because he felt it was an invasion of his privacy.
When he launched his anti-tattoo campaign, Hashimoto said at the time that “citizens feel uneasy or intimidated if they see tattoos (on workers) in services and it undermines trust in the city.”
Although small tattoos are now a common means of self-expression in Japan and are no longer indicative of gang membership, Hashimoto threatened to dismiss any city worker who has tattoos. “We need to have possession of this information. Anyone who doesn’t respond to the survey should be reported to HR and passed over for future promotion. This all goes without saying,” Hashimoto said.
Japanese media reported that Hashimoto first brought up the issue after learning that a worker at a children’s home threatened kids by showing them his tattoos.
Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/osaka-court-rules-tattoo-check-on-city-employees-illegal
Click here for previous VAOJ coverage of this story.
The Osaka District Court has ruled that Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto’s order to check whether municipal office workers had tattoos was illegal and constituted an invasion of privacy.
The court handed down the ruling on Wednesday in a damages suit filed by a 56-year-old city bus driver, Tadasu Yasuda, who was transferred to a desk job after he refused to answer questions on whether or not he had a tattoo, Sankei Shimbun reported Thursday. Presiding Judge Kenji Nakagaito invalidated the transfer and ordered the Osaka municipal government to pay Yasuda 1.1 million yen in damages.
The judge said ordering employees to reveal if they have tattoos or not encroached on individuals’ privacy and carried a risk of creating workplace discrimination. The court also ruled that the plaintiff should be reinstated to his previous position as a bus driver.
The tattoo check, which was requested by Hashimoto in May 2012, involved 35,000 city employees who were asked to reply in writing. Of those who answered, 114 said they did have tattoos on their arms or legs, while six refused to disclose whether they had any tattoos or not, Sankei reported. Those six, including Yasuda, were subjected to disciplinary action. Yasuda said later that he did not have a tattoo, but refused to cooperate with the investigation because he felt it was an invasion of his privacy.
When he launched his anti-tattoo campaign, Hashimoto said at the time that “citizens feel uneasy or intimidated if they see tattoos (on workers) in services and it undermines trust in the city.”
Although small tattoos are now a common means of self-expression in Japan and are no longer indicative of gang membership, Hashimoto threatened to dismiss any city worker who has tattoos. “We need to have possession of this information. Anyone who doesn’t respond to the survey should be reported to HR and passed over for future promotion. This all goes without saying,” Hashimoto said.
Japanese media reported that Hashimoto first brought up the issue after learning that a worker at a children’s home threatened kids by showing them his tattoos.
Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/osaka-court-rules-tattoo-check-on-city-employees-illegal
Click here for previous VAOJ coverage of this story.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
More tattoo controversy in Osaka: "Female Osaka school clerk's pay docked over tattoos"
From Japan Today, 2/1/14:
A 23-year-old woman who works as a school clerk in Osaka has been disciplined for having tattoos.
The woman had her salary cut for one month for violating ethical rules, the Osaka board of education said, NTV reported Friday.
According to the board, the woman got three tattoos from 2012 to 2013: one on her left arm and two on her left ankle. There was an anonymous call to the school complaining about the tattoos, which prompted the board to investigate the case.
NTV reported that the woman has agreed to have her tattoos removed.
This is the first time an Osaka government employee has been punished for having tattoos since Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto announced an anti-tattoo policy in June, 2012.
Hashimoto conducted a compulsory survey in which all employees of the city government were pressured to provide information about visible and concealed tattoos. Hashimoto said the local government would block the promotion and advancement of any city employee who declined to respond to the survey asking them if they have tattoos.
The survey was criticized by lawmakers and teachers throughout the prefecture, where about 800 teachers and other school workers refused to respond, saying it infringed on their right to privacy.
Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/female-osaka-school-clerks-pay-docked-over-tattoos
VAOJ has long been covering this tattoo controversy. I have had students who have done research on tattoos in contemporary Japan. The difference between yakuza and other (dare I say western influenced) tattoos is quite obvious. Tattoos for visual kei and other popular culture fans are becoming more common as well. One might wonder why Osaka mayor Hashimoto is so concerned about tattoos when there are other more pressing issues to consider... Personally I would not mark my body with ink. But I know many people who have done so with their tattoo having an extremely personal and important meaning. Should they really be socially punished?
A 23-year-old woman who works as a school clerk in Osaka has been disciplined for having tattoos.
The woman had her salary cut for one month for violating ethical rules, the Osaka board of education said, NTV reported Friday.
According to the board, the woman got three tattoos from 2012 to 2013: one on her left arm and two on her left ankle. There was an anonymous call to the school complaining about the tattoos, which prompted the board to investigate the case.
NTV reported that the woman has agreed to have her tattoos removed.
This is the first time an Osaka government employee has been punished for having tattoos since Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto announced an anti-tattoo policy in June, 2012.
Hashimoto conducted a compulsory survey in which all employees of the city government were pressured to provide information about visible and concealed tattoos. Hashimoto said the local government would block the promotion and advancement of any city employee who declined to respond to the survey asking them if they have tattoos.
The survey was criticized by lawmakers and teachers throughout the prefecture, where about 800 teachers and other school workers refused to respond, saying it infringed on their right to privacy.
Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/female-osaka-school-clerks-pay-docked-over-tattoos
VAOJ has long been covering this tattoo controversy. I have had students who have done research on tattoos in contemporary Japan. The difference between yakuza and other (dare I say western influenced) tattoos is quite obvious. Tattoos for visual kei and other popular culture fans are becoming more common as well. One might wonder why Osaka mayor Hashimoto is so concerned about tattoos when there are other more pressing issues to consider... Personally I would not mark my body with ink. But I know many people who have done so with their tattoo having an extremely personal and important meaning. Should they really be socially punished?
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