1. Divorce and Child Custody in Japan
Ai Kuroda,
Attorney-at-Law, Admitted in Japan and NY
Kuboi & Partners, Law Office
Osaka, Japan

2. Divorce in Japan Divorce by Agreement between Parties
“kyogi-rikon” 協議離婚
87.3% of entire divorce
Divorce by Court Mediation
“chotei-rikon” 調停離婚
10% of entire divorce
Divorce by Court Order
“saiban-rikon”　裁判離婚
1.2% of entire divorce
Divorce by Court Settlement
“wakai-rikon”　和解離婚
1.5% of entire divorce

3. Reasons for Divorce in Japan
In 2013, family courts finalized 66,824 cases (mediation and litigation). 48,479 of them were petitioned by wives, in which 24.6 % of cases alleged physical violence as a single reason or one of reasons for the petition.

4. Divorce by Agreement
Sample of Divorce Paper Available at the Website of Suzuka City　

5. Divorce by Agreement Easy and Quick
Completed as an application is submitted to a local municipality
Any reason / without reason
Lack of review by a third party
No court procedure / registration is required
Only signature plus stamp by parties and two witnesses are required
Simple
One mandatory determination is which party will hold parental authority over child(ren). 　
Parenting schedule or child support is not required to be determined.
Other issues may be discussed and agreed on by separate agreement.

6. Divorce by Mediation
Family courts administer the mediation. It has 70-year history.
Mediation is prerequisite to file a divorce petition.
Mediation is conducted by a panel of three mediators in the mediation room at Family Court.
One judge and two lay mediators (Male and Female) consist a panel, but a judge rarely participates in the mediation session.
Most sessions are done by caucuses.

7. Divorce by Mediation Issues frequently discussed during mediation
Which party will be a holder of parental authority over minor child(ren)
Child support
Visitation
Division of estate
Compensation
Results
53% of cases reach some kind of agreement

8. Divorce by Court Order Legitimate Reasons for divorce by court order
spelled out in Art. 770 of Civil Law, but the last provision “a material issue which makes the marriage irreconcilable” is used as “catch-all.”
A divorce petition filed by a party who is responsible for the broken marriage would be denied when the couple have a minor child a and the divorce would make the other party’s life hard.
When is a divorce litigation filed?
Parties can’t agree on divorce or one of other issues, such as parental authority, visitation, separation of estate, etc.
Personal Jurisdiction of Japanese courts
No personal jurisdiction over a party residing outside of Japan
Exceptions: the respondent has abandoned the family or the respondent’s whereabouts is unknown.
New legislation on international jurisdiction over family matters is discussed.

9. Child Custody in Japan
Among divorce cases involving minor child(ren), which party will be a single parental authority holder?
84% of cases … a mother
13% of cases … a father in 2012
Available at the website of Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare

10. Child Custody- Visitation
Although custody rights is not legally established, Art. 766 of Civil Code provides that physical custody, a child support, visitation, etc. can be determined through discussion between parties.
The frequency and the quality of visitation is limited in family law practice.
The statistics on cases where parties agreed on visitation or a court renders an order on the visitation in 2009 shows that in 52% cases, a non-custodial parent is granted a visitation one or more times per month and in only 14% of cases, a non-custodial parent is granted an over-night visitation.
Reasons why parents are reluctant to agree on have more non-custodial parent’s visitation:
Child may be confused, become unstable, etc.,
Child may be placed in a middle of fights between parents, or
Child may hear something bad about one parent from the other parent, etc.