Politics, Security and Human Rights

Finding solutions together
© Chris Stowers, Panos

Establishing the preconditions for inclusive, open societies and multilateral cooperation are among the cornerstones of Dutch foreign policies. To this end, we work together with national governments, international multilateral platforms, non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) and local public and private initiatives in Japan.

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Indo Pacific Cooperation

The Netherlands has major economic and geopolitical interests in the Indo Pacific region. Challenges in the fields of climate change, international security, human rights, free trade and the international legal order can only be effectively tackled in conjunction with this region. Against the background of the increasing geopolitical importance of this part of the world, the Netherlands issued its own Indo-Pacific Guidelines. In order to realize the goals of these guidelines the Dutch embassy is actively engaging and cooperating with the Government of Japan.

NL/Minato and Shibaura House

The Dutch embassy partners with Shibaura House to form NL/Minato, an educational platform in Tokyo to organise events for and with the local community. Shibaura House, a private initiative, aims to offer a safe space where people can openly share their thoughts and creativity about topics such as creating an inclusive society, LGBTI, gender and media. 

Pride House Tokyo Legacy

The Dutch embassy is a special supporter of “Pride House Tokyo Legacy”, the first permanent LGBT center in Japan, which has also been recognized by the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee. In cooperation with its partners, Pride House Tokyo aims to create a permanent safe space for the next generation of LGBTI youth.

Shared history and commemoration of World War II

The Netherlands and Japan work together to commemorate and facilitate reconciliation regarding the World War II-history. Dutch prisoners of war endured great hardship or lost their lives while interned in Japanese camps. In order to stimulate of reconciliation, the government of Japan annually invites a group of former POWs to visit Japan. The Embassy of the Netherlands supports that initiative.

In addition, the Embassy works with local partners to highlight the story of Jan Zwartendijk and Chiune Sugihara. During World War II, a Dutch and Japanese diplomat played a vital, yet often overlooked, role in saving thousands of Jews from persecution in Lithuania. At great personal risk and sometimes having to ignore diplomatic instructions and rules Jan Zwartendijk and Chiune Sugihara provided these refugees with visas that allowed them to escape Nazi-persecution.