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 not go as far as to rule that the whole law was invalid. Instead, the court suggested that a waiting period of 100 days might be acceptable. Given that current pregnancy detecting methods can work well before the 100 day mark, many divorced women still find this 100 day ruling archaic and outdated.
If you have questions about remarrying after a divorce, please contact our office for a legal consultation.