Tattoos, Privacy and Tōru Hashimoto: A Contemporary Attempt to use the Legal System to Protect Individual Rights in Japan

ABSTRACT This article analyses attempts by City of Osaka public servants to use the Japanese legal system to thwart the policies of controversial mayor, Tōru Hashimoto (2011 to 2015). The cases demonstrate a clash between conservative and progressive views about the line between state and public realms which is at the heart of debates about privacy. The cases’ other key theme, tattoos, and their historically ambiguous position in Japanese society, further exacerbated the tension between the two sides during Hashimoto’s term of office, with young lawyers taking up the fight on behalf of the public servants in court. The role of the courts and the use of the legal system to advance personal rights are another overarching theme of this article. The cases are analysed from a doctrinal perspective whilst their social and political contexts are also examined.