News & Blog

March 7, 2016

Is there a waiting period for women to remarry after a divorce?

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 […]
February 24, 2016

What are Japan’s laws on internet piracy?

Starting in October 2012, Japan introduced criminal penalties for downloading pirated files off the internet. This new law is different from most of the other anti-piracy laws in other developed countries around the world because it criminalizes the act of downloading, rather than focusing on the party who uploaded the illegal file (although Japan has a criminal law regarding uploading as well). Violation of this new law can be punished with a 2,000,000 yen fine or up to two years in prison.
February 24, 2016

Do the Japanese police keep a lost and found collection?

Lost property is returned at a surprising high rate in Japan. This includes misplaced money as well as objects. In fact, in 2003, over 2 billion yen (around $25 million) worth of cash was lost in Tokyo alone and, according to police statistics, over 90 percent was returned to its proper owner. The reason for this high rate of return lies not only in the fact that wallets have easily identifiable owners, but also in the legal framework Japan has established regarding lost and found objects.
February 24, 2016

How is property distributed when a Japanese person dies without a will?

While it is always best to have a will prepared just in case, Japanese law provides a system by which the deceased’s assets will be transferred to his or her living relatives.