Experience Japan is a family-friendly community festival that seeks to celebrate and promote Japanese language and culture in Ireland. Each year, Experience Japan brings a variety of cultural activities, performances, and vendors to Dublin in a celebration of multiculturalism. To uphold this, Experience Japan seeks to foster a safe and welcoming environment for all participants and attendees at the festival.
- General EDR and inclusion
- Experience Japan aims to foster awareness about diversity, equality and inclusion.
- It is important to respect the personal space of all participants and attendees at the Experience Japan festival. Participants and attendees have the right to dignity and respect, and any intentional infringement on personal space, or effort to make someone uncomfortable, will not be dealt with in a serious manner.
- Experience Japan is committed to protecting the dignity and respect of all those who work together on the festival. In particular, Experience Japan is committed to ensuring that the festival is free from any form of bullying or harassment, and that our work environment is conducive to providing a high-quality service in an atmosphere of respect, safety and equality.
- Complaints by attendees or participants of bullying or harassment will be treated with fairness, sensitivity, respect and (as far as possible) confidentiality for all parties concerned. Any person accused of bullying and/or harassment will be afforded natural justice and treated with fairness and sensitivity.
- Policy on Harassment
- Experience Japan has a zero-tolerance policy for any form of assault or harassment, whether verbal or non-verbal. Any kind of harassment is strictly prohibited, and appropriate and immediate action will be taken in response to complaints or knowledge of violations of this policy.
- Verbal harassment includes comments that are offensive or unwelcome regarding a person’s nationality, origin, race, colour, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, body, disability or appearance, including epithets, slurs and negative stereotyping.
- Nonverbal harassment includes distribution, display or discussion of any written or graphic material that ridicules, denigrates, insults, belittles or shows hostility, aversion or disrespect toward an individual or group because of national origin, race, colour, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, appearance, ability, sexual identity, marital or other protected status. This can include looks, gestures, whistling, suggestive symbols, pictures, written materials, emails or text messages.
- Sexual harassment is any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the person.
- Experience Japan takes reports of assault and harassment very seriously. If you experience or witness this kind of behaviour, you should report it and feel confident that you will be believed and supported.
- Cosplay
- It is important to respect the dignity of cosplayers.
- A common phrase in cosplay communities is “cosplay is not consent”. This succinctly demonstrates the need to ask the explicit consent of cosplayers for any photographs you may wish to take of them.
- It is inappropriate to touch cosplayers or their costumes, or to intrude on their personal space. Any report made by cosplayers or observers of this behaviour will be taken very seriously, and may lead to offenders’ removal from the festival.
- Any aggressive behaviour towards cosplayers, attendees, volunteers, or any other participants at the festival should be immediately reported to the designated Experience Japan EDR officer.
- Any inappropriate gestures, poses, or comments will not be tolerated at the event.
- Cosplayers will also be expected to abide by Experience Japan’s Cosplay Code of Conduct for the duration of the festival.
- Photography
- It is important to be aware of photography at the festival. Many families with young children attend Experience Japan each year. It is important for photographers and members of the public to reasonably respect the boundaries of all participants and attendees when taking photographs at the festival.
- Reporting and Complaints Process
- Experience Japan takes all reports of sexual assault and harassment extremely seriously.
- If you experience, witness, or are made aware of any incidents of harassment or assault during the festival, please communicate with the committee as soon as possible.
- Each Experience Japan festival will have a designated EDR officer, who will be the first point of contact for any cases of harassment or discrimination on the day of the festival.
- Any complaints arising in advance of or after the festival should be reported to the EDR officer via Experience Japan’s EDR form.