Photo/Illutration The Children and Families Agency (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The Children and Families Agency on Dec. 22 finalized a draft of guidelines for a child-protection system that allows employers to check sex crime records of prospective teachers and care workers.

The system, called the Japanese version of Britain’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), will take effect in December 2026.

The Diet in June 2024 passed a bill to set up Japan’s DBS, but several aspects remained ambiguous.

The guidelines clarify which types of businesses are obliged to use the system, which businesses can use the system, and whose criminal records can be checked.

The system is designed to keep sex offenders away from youngsters by allowing employers to retract job offers or to reassign workers to non-children tasks if they have sex crime histories.

Under the DBS, businesses are obligated to take measures to swiftly detect harm to children, to investigate the facts of such incidents, and to properly manage the information acquired.

The bill underwent repeated deliberations because of concerns the DBS could restrict job opportunities or invade people’s privacy.

Lawmakers agreed that businesses cannot check for sex crimes if 20 years have elapsed since the completion of the custodial sentence.

The bill also limited the types of crimes that can be checked to sexual offenses, such as “non-consensual sexual intercourse” and “child prostitution and child pornography.”

The guidelines specified which businesses are subject to the system.

Under the DBS, schools, certified child day care centers and kindergartens are obliged to check the sex crime histories of their staff members.

Unlicensed nursery facilities, cram schools and sports clubs may do so voluntarily. However, these facilities can gain DBS “certification” to show parents their commitment to “security.”

According to the guidelines, the boundaries of businesses in the voluntary category include: teaching something to children; having three or more instructors; and continuing activities multiple times with the same child for more than six months.

Children’s cafeterias that provide tutoring sessions could be included in the voluntary category. Individual babysitters and private tutors could be checked if they are dispatched by job-placement agencies.

School bus drivers can be checked if they work alone without any attendant staff.

The guidelines also clarified which actions can be considered inappropriate behavior that carry the risk of escalating to a sex crime.

They include unnecessary trips in a vehicle alone with a child or exchanging contact information for private conversations with children.

The guidelines also recommend the use of security cameras for the early detection of misconduct or as a deterrence. The agency urges operators and parents to discuss whether they should install such cameras.

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