Commercial Transactions

June 15, 2022

Seller’s Warranty in Japanese Contracts

By default, there is usually a Seller’s warranty in Japanese contracts. This warranty covers a variety of situations that might arise, such as a third party claiming ownership or a latent defect in the goods.
June 13, 2022

What laws govern contracts in Japan?

Japan does not have a separate code of law for contracts to determine what laws govern contracts in Japan. Instead, contract law is governed by various laws contained in the Civil Code, the law of torts, the law of property, the law of succession and family law. While these codes contain the basic rules governing contract formation and execution in Japan, special rules relating to contracts between merchants are contained in the Commercial Code. Furthermore there are many other laws relating to protection of consumers and regulation of business operators.
June 3, 2022

Contract Payment Clauses In Japan

Contract payment clauses in Japan are similar to those in contracts of other jurisdictions. The payment clause in a contract determines how much one party will pay the other and under what conditions.  While this seems simple enough, it is all too easy to simply list the price of the contract and forget to include other important details that, if ignored, may result in disputes at a later date. For example, in international contracts the two parties often use different currencies, so picking the currency to be used for payment, or at least specifying the exchange rate, will ensure that […]
June 2, 2022

Mandatory Provisions for Contracts in Japan

For the most part, parties have freedom of contract in Japan and are allowed to include, or not include, whatever they want in their contract.  However, there are exceptions to this generally lenient rule and the mandatory provisions for contracts in Japan included in the Japan Civil Code are one exception. These are mandatory provisions for contracts in Japan that are automatically inserted into the contract by law.  One example is for contracts governing the lease of land for the purpose of owning a building.  The Land Lease and House Lease Act provides that these contracts shall have a minimum […]