Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday urged Japan to stop retaliating against a UN committee for women’s rights . The development follows the committee’s recommendation that Japan revise its domestic law to allow female heirs to inherit the throne.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) recommended that Japan revise its Imperial House Law, which stipulates under Article 1 that only male heirs can inherit the throne. In response, the foreign ministry spokesperson Kitamura Toshihiro said that limiting the right to succeed the throne to men is not discriminatory to women because the right is not a basic human right and male-preference primogeniture is foundational to the country.

As a retaliatory measure, Japan asked the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights not to allocate Japan’s voluntary contributions to CEDAW on January 27. Japan’s voluntary contribution to the UN human rights office reached $490,035 as of 28 February 2025, ranked 21st among all states and organizations. In addition, Japan cancelled the visit to the country by members of the CEDAW Committee.

HRW urges Japan to cease its hostilities given the growing resistance to adhere to UN recommendations. Their actions may be symbolic but embolden other governments to lash out against the UN human rights system, particularly in the context of Trump’s administration halting foreign aid and withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council.

Apart from legal reform to the Imperial House Law, the CEDAW Committee also recommends a system allowing married couples to have separate surnames, reducing deposit for women running for parliamentary office from 3 million yen, providing adequate access to emergency contraception and removing spousal consent requirements for abortion. They also urged Japan to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women for nearly 40 years. The committee also stressed the need for gender parity in politics.