family law

Marriage in Japan, like many other parts of the world, acts not only as a social union but as an economic one as well.  In generally, husband and wife are expected to share property as one joint economic unit.  However, even after marriage there are certain objects that couples like to think of as solely their own and to some extent the law recognizes this. 

Under statutory law in Japan, a woman must wait six months after the end of her previous marriage before she can remarry. This applies whether it was the husband or the wife who petitioned for divorce.  This law was originally designed to allow for time to clearly establish the father of any children born to the newly divorced wife, however, as technology has advanced, this 6 month waiting period has become less and less relevant. Therefore, in a recent decision, the Japanese Supreme Court ordered that the 6 month waiting period was unconstitutional.  However, to many women’s dismay, the court did […]