At the 2016 Forum on Business and Human Rights, held in Geneva from 14 - 16 November 2016, the Japanese government announced for the first time that it planned to formulate a National Action Plan (NAP) on Business and Human Rights. The government stated that "Japan strongly supports [and]  are committed to the implementation of the Guiding Principles. In this regard, we plan to formulate our National Action Plan in the coming years, and we have started preliminary discussion among relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. In formulating our National Action Plan, we consider it important to listen to the voices of business and civil society. We aim to reflect those opinions in a well-balanced manner to promote responsible business activities."

Japan is one of two G7 countries that has not yet started the process of formulating a NAP. Civil society groups have been urging the government to do this as a matter of priority, and issued statements on the occasion of the Ise-shima G7 Summit in May 2016.