Three decades after Hiroaki Kushioka exposed a price-fixing cartel involving his employer in the trucking industry, the government is working on what would become Japan's first-ever law to protect whistle-blowers in private-sector firms and government organizations.
In 1974, Kushioka revealed the malpractice at Tonami Transportation Co. to the media and then to authorities, prompting the then Transport Ministry to urge the industry a year later to take corrective action.
Kushioka, 57, has since been almost completely ignored by his employer and colleagues, bypassed for promotions and given only menial tasks such as weeding and cleaning.