Japan's calorie-based food self-sufficiency rate, which was over 70% in the 1960s, has dropped to 37% by 2020. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has set a goal of increasing the calorie-based food self-sufficiency rate to 45% by the fiscal year 2030.

Many of the food additives that are currently approved for use in Japan have been banned or restricted in other countries due to their reported risks.

In response to the declining demand for rice as staple food, our government has been promoting the conversion of rice paddies into fields for soybeans and crops for animal feed by providing the Direct Payments for Rice Paddy Utilization. The eligibility of these direct payment recipients has become more restricted from the fiscal year 2022.

Japan’s public spending on education is at the lowest level among the OECD countries.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) promotes "Life’s Safety Education (Inochi no anzenkyoiku)" that teaches about consent and boundaries to protect children from sexual violence. However, this guideline has gatekeeping guideline called Hadome Kitei that restricts schools from teaching about actual sexual intercourse or the process of pregnancy. Due to this restriction, Life’s Safety Education doesn’t provide students with sufficient knowledge and understanding of sexuality.

In Japan, children of foreign nationality are excluded from compulsory education and cannot receive education unless they request it. There is concern some of such children may not be enrolled in elementary and junior high school, which are mandatory for Japanese citizens. In addition, Korean schools are excluded from the tuition support system for high school students, even though they meet the requirements for certification.

Japan’s government expenditures on culture and the arts account for only 0.11% of the national budget, excluding the Covid-19 response budget. This is about one-tenth of that of South Korea and far less than that of Germany, France, and other countries.

The importance of public hospitals has been reaffirmed during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, plans are underway to reorganize and consolidate municipal and public hospitals.

The government has raised the income of caregivers and childcare workers by about 3%, which is an average of 9,000 yen per month, in 2022. On the other hand, the average salary of caregivers and childcare workers is still said to be about 80,000 to 90,000 yen lower than the average of all industries.

Currently, Japan's standards for the placement ratio of childcare workers are 1 adult for every 3 children aged 0, 1 adult for every 6 children aged 1 to 2, 1 adult for every 20 children aged 3, and 1 adult for every 30 children aged 4 to 5.

The Maternal Protection Act stipulates that consent from the spouse must be obtained when undergoing an abortion, except in cases of pregnancy resulting from assault or threat.

There is concern that if the global temperature rises 1.5°C above, climate disasters, water shortages, and food problems will become even more serious and critical. However, if the current situation remains unchanged, the global temperature is expected to reach 2.7°C above by 2100, and efforts are required from each country to achieve the "Paris Agreement 1.5°C goal" to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. The Japanese government's greenhouse gas emission reduction target is a "46-50% reduction compared to 2013 levels by 2030," but this is considered to be an inadequate level that does not align with the 1.5°C goal.

At the COP26 meeting held in Glasgow last year, all participating countries agreed to reduce coal-fired power generation, which is the largest source of CO2 emissions. In order to achieve the "Paris Agreement 1.5°C limit", developed countries must reduce coal-fired power generation to zero by 2030, but the Japanese government has set the target number of coal-fired power generation to 19% by 2030.

As each prefecture’s minimum wage varies, there is a gap of 221 YEN between the highest and the lowest minimum wages. Estimates also suggest that about 1,500 yen per hour is actually needed as a living wage.

The introduction of the selective dual surname system for married couples is being discussed in order to eliminate unwanted surname changes and unwilling De Facto marriages.

The Act on Promotion of Gender Equality in the Political Field requires each party to make efforts to have equal numbers of candidates of men and women, but actual efforts are left solely to the discretion of each party.

The amount of Livelihood Assistance, which is used for the living cost such as clothes or utility bills out of Livelihood protection benefits, has been gradually reduced since 2013.

The Gender Identity Disorder Special Cases Act allows transgender individuals to change their sex legally. However, WHO's ICD-11, released in 2019, no longer lists "gender identity disorder" and introduces a new term called "Gender Incongruence" in the category of conditions related to sexual health. In addition, the Gender Identity Disorder Special Cases Act stipulates that one does not have a minor child, is not married, and will undergo sex-reassignment surgery. This sets extremely high barriers and some of the requirements are considered human rights violations internationally.

There is concern that the implementation of the Invoice System will increase the financial and administrative burden on many businesses, including freelancers and small and medium-sized businesses, and that it will prevent young talent from emerging.

The effective corporate tax rate has been reduced every year since 1984. Especially since 2015, expecting to see an increase in salaries and business investment, the effective corporate tax rate was further decreased, but such redistribution did not happen. Some argue that the effective corporate tax rate should be raised.

The government guideline says that it will encourage people to obtain their “Maina Insurance Card”, which integrates the Individual Number (My Number) card and the health insurance card, and in the future aims to abolish the current health insurance card. There are various concerns such as leakage of personally identifiable information and confusion in the medical field.

In recent years, discrimination agitation groups and online hate speech (discrimination incitement) have become more serious problems, and the Anti-Hate Speech Act was passed in 2016. However, discriminatory demonstrations and propaganda activities by xenophobic groups continue to this day, and discrimination against foreign residents and discrimination in employment have not disappeared.

In Japan’s Control Immigration Centers, foreign nationals, whose residency permit has been revoked but who have family in Japan or who cannot return home due to war or civil unrest in their country of nationality, are detained, sometimes for long periods of time, according to unclear criteria. Serious incidents and accidents are constantly occurring at these facilities, including deaths of detainees left without proper medical care.

The current Technical Intern Training Program for foreign nationals is barely protecting basic human rights. 70% of the participating workplaces violate the Labor Standard Law, and so many cases of prohibiting pregnancy or marriage are reported.

The age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered capable of consenting to sexual intercourse. The age of consent in Japan has never been revised since it was established in the Penal Code during the Meiji era, and is lower compared to other countries.

Under the current Penal Code, forced intercourse cannot be considered a crime unless assault, intimidation, or the victim’s inability to resist is proven, but in many cases, it is difficult to prove that the victim "desperately resisted," so the damage is not recognized as damage.

The statute of limitations for the crime of forcible sexual intercourse is 10 years and for the crime of forcible indecency 7 years. In many cases, the statute of limitation expires before the victims become aware that they have been victimized, resulting in unrecognized cases.

With Japan's defense expenditures at a record high for eight consecutive years, there is a debate about further doubling the defense budget. At the same time, however, there is no clear funding source, and there is concern that taxes will be raised to pay and social security spending will be cut for the increased defense spending.

For the first time since the end of World War II, the government is mulling the "enemy base attack capability," which would allow Japan to broadly attack missile bases and other military bases in the territory of other countries. This capability would enable Japan to attack other countries without a direct attack on Japan.

Regarding the relief for those who were exposed to the "black rain" containing radioactive materials that fell immediately after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the government recognized those who were outside the relief area as Hibakusha and made them eligible for the issuance of the Hibakusha Health Certificate.

Under the current Act on Support for Reconstructing Livelihoods of Disaster Victims, 3 million yen will be provided at maximum, depending on the extent of damage and how the house is reconstructed. However, it has been pointed out that this amount is insufficient to rebuild livelihoods if one loses their house and their job.