Prompted by a recent spate of corporate misdeeds, moves are afoot, albeit slowly, to provide legal protection for whistle-blowers.
Current laws do not offer a protective shield for those who have the courage to reveal suspected misdeeds perpetrated by an employer, except for one law covering the nuclear power industry.
The country, however, has witnessed endless corporate scandals triggered by revelations from insiders, including the coverup of vehicle defects by Mitsubishi Motors Corp., beef-mislabeling fraud committed by Snow Brand Foods Co. and Nippon Meat Packers Inc., and the concealment of nuclear reactor faults by Tokyo Electric Power Co. and other utilities.