Ohara & Furukawa, Author at Ohara & Furukawa

April 14, 2017

Can a plaintiff withdraw a lawsuit in Japan?

Litigation can be a time consuming process. Sometimes, during the course of a lawsuit, the situation may change and the plaintiff may have reason to withdraw the lawsuit. This may be because the parties may have reached an agreement out of court or maybe the plaintiff no longer wants to invest time or money in continuing the litigation. In circumstances such as these, the plaintiff is entitled to withdraw the litigation at any time before the judgment becomes final.

April 12, 2017

Is there common law marriage in Japan?

These days the practice of couples living together and acting as if they were married, without filing a registration of marriage, has increased. This type of relationship is called a “common law marriage.” Common law marriages in Japan come with all of the same responsibilities that a “real” marriage does, including the duty to live together, help one another and remain faithful.

April 10, 2017

Does a change of name or address need to be reported in Japan?

When information on a foreign national’s residence card becomes out-of-date, it is the foreign national’s duty to report the change to the local ward office or immigration office. Most information should be reported to the relevant office within 14 days, although there are some exceptions. Changes to address should be reported to the ward office, while other changes, such as nationality, name or gender should be reported to the immigration office.

April 7, 2017

What is a Force Majeure clause?

The term “force majeure” comes from French and means “superior force.” As a legal term, it refers to an unpredictable and extraordinary event that prevents the competition of a contract. Due to the extreme and unpredictable nature of force majeure events, a force majeure clause is often used in business agreements to relieve both parties of liability for non-performance of the contract during a force majeure event. In many cases, performance of the contract must be resumed after the force majeure event has ended.