Child Soldiers Ratification Campaign

Japan

Japan does not have armed forces, but maintains a large Self Defence Force. The minimum age for recruitment is 18, although youth cadets are accepted younger. The Japanese Government has taken an interest in the child soldiers issue in the G8 and other international bodies. Japan has not yet signed the Optional Protocol, one of the few leading industrialised countries not to do so.

Success! On May 10, 2002, Japan signed the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflicts. Please continue to write to the Japanese government urging them to ratify the treaty.

Contact details:

Royal Minister of Foreign Affairs
2-2-1 Kasumigaseki
Chiyoda Ku
Tokyo 100
Japan

cc Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Fax: 41 22 788 38 11 /
Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Fax: 212 751 1966

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