Japanese Laws on Child Labor

• Performing is one of the few jobs a Japanese child under the age of 12 is allowed to do.child's hands on piano image by pixelcarpenter from Fotolia.com
  
  Japan's constitution contains several laws protecting children's rights, such as the Labor Standards Law, which governs the age at which children can work and under which conditions they can work. The Japanese constitution also states as one of its main principles that minors shall not be exploited, including through work. In Japan, anyone under the age of 20 is considered a minor.
  
  

Employment and School

• All children are required by law to complete nine years of full-time primary and secondary education, and they cannot be available for full-time work until they have completed this education, usually at the age of 15. Japanese law also prohibits employers from hiring children until March 31 immediately following the child's 15 birthday--March 31 is the last day of the Japanese school year.
  
  

Children Under Age 15

• The Japanese constitution allows children who have passed their 12th birthday to work part-time after school hours in certain occupations. These occupations include agricultural work, animal husbandry, education, hotel, service trade and recreation center work and jobs involving sales of commodities, such as groceries. The work must be light and must not be likely to harm the health or welfare of the child. The employer must obtain permission to hire minors from their local Labor Standards Administration office. Children under age 12 may work only in the motion picture, television or other entertainment industry.
  
  

Employment Conditions

• The Japanese constitution prevents employers from hiring anyone under age 18 for work at night or for work involving more than 48 hours a week or eight hours a day, except under certain conditions. Night work is defined as between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Males over age 16 are allowed to work at night if they are working a shift system. Minors are also not allowed to be assigned any work which is dangerous or hazardous to health--for example, mining work, repairing machines that are in operation at the time of repair, or handling poison or explosives.
  
  

Labor Contracts

• The Japanese constitution prohibits parents from making labor contracts for anyone under age 20 and from forcing a minor to work. Parents are also prohibited from receiving wages earned by minors, unless the child agrees. Parents can, however, cancel a labor contract made by a minor if they feel it is not in the minor's interest.