Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

400 SESSION VI
Table 5: Organization of Activities of Japanese Civil Society—Businessmen / Shareholder Suit Mechanism.
Civil Society Activities Mechanism
Civic
Ombudsman
(Osaka-based)
Kabunushi
Ombudsman
Dec 1994: Filed a shareholder’s lawsuit against three companies, construction giant Obayashi
Corp., Kansai Electric Power Co., and Osaka Gas Co., in order to block political contributions.
(Japan Economic Newswire: December 19, 1994)
Jan 1996: Established at Osaka in order to exercise common shareholders’ legal rights, including
making proposals and filing shareholder suits. It also monitors corporate activities, using lawsuits
when necessary to force disclosure of information.
June 1996 (Sumitomo Corporation Case): Asked about the former president’s responsibility
for illegal trade, submitted the case to Osaka District Court to cancel “Shan Shan” meeting and
submitted derivative suit against Sumitomo’s directors for responsibility of losses.
Oct 2000: Filed a lawsuit to recover damages against former directors of Sumitomo
Corporation.
June 2001: Filed a lawsuit against the major companies’ executives to return monies illegally
donated to a political party during capital deficit, e.g. 87 million yen claim against Kumagai
Gumi’s executives. Such donations were prohibited by the Political Fund Control Law. In
Feb 2003, the Fukui District Court ordered the ex-president of Kumagai Gumi to reimburse
27 million yen for donations made from Apr 1998-Dec 1999, but dismissed demands to have
another ex-president return donations and to ban the current president from extending political
donations. (The Japan Times: 27 June 2001; www.japan-press.co.jp/2385/jbf2.html; Mainichi
Shimbun: 12 Feb 2003; The Japan Times: 13 Feb 2003).
Oct 2002: Set up a center to advicse and support, without identifying, whistle-blowers. (The Japan
Times, 13 July 2002).
July 2003: The Nagasaki District Court ruled that a portion of donations made to the LDP
prefectural chapter prior to February 2002 gubernatorial elections had violated the Public Offices
Election Law and convicted two former senior chapter officials. (The Japan Times: 15 Aug.
2003).
Aug 2003: Filed lawsuits against executives, who were related to these donations, Wakachiku
Construction in Fukuoka, Penta-Ocean Construction in Tokyo and Kumagai Gumi in Fukui. (The
Japan Times, 15 Aug 2003).
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows
Shareholder Suit
Shareholder Suit
ShareholderSuit
Shareholder Suit
Shareholder Suit
Whistleblower
Protection
Shareholder Suit
Note: Activities in table do not include all activities of each group. Only selected activities are mentioned.
In 1994, before the Shareholder Ombudsman was
established, the civic ombudsman in Osaka filed a
shareholder suit against three companies to deter
political donations.
The civil society group which plays a prime role in
shareholder suits is the “Shareholder Ombudsman” or
“Kabunushi Onbuzuman” (KO). It was founded on
8 January 1996 by a group of lawyers, accountants,
academics, individual shareholders and other citizens.
As mentioned in its website, the KO’s goal is to reform
or improve Japanese management practices by:
1) monitoring corporate activities and criticizing
antisocial acts by corporations;
2) exercising the legal rights of common
shareholders and using lawsuits as necessary to force
disclosure;
3) To introduce shareholder proposals,
recommendations or requests for corporate
transparency, democracy, equity, social justice and
environmental protection; and
4) To praise and publicize those corporations that
improve working conditions, practice philanthropy,
protect the environment, employ the handicapped,
promote gender-equality, and engage in full
disclosure of their activities.
In order to check or correct improper practices in
organization, the Shareholder Ombudsman requires
information from insiders. Therefore, whistle blowers
are an important source of information.
However, in the attitude of mainstream Japanese,
whistle blowers have been treated as traitors (The Japan
Times, 13 Nov. 2002), snitches (The Japan Times, 24