Even though Chinese economy became the second largest economy in the world, Japanese corporations are still attractive business partners for their quality and technical advances. They are also good sales agents for expanding your business in Japanese market. We can help international SMEs to establish businesses in Japan, make investment by M&A in Japanese SMEs with competitive know-how or technical expertise, or employ Japanese engineers or sales persons, from the legal aspect with reasonable cost. We may also provide research service about specific Japanese SMEs, because such information is often difficult to obtain due to the language barriers and the lack of know-how. Regarding collection of account receivables, we first do a quick research and give you a prospective report on collection with an estimate of cost and time. Depending upon the case, we may charge the fees mainly based upon the actual collection as far as clients owe the first advancement covering the out of pocket cost and minimum fee.

We have been providing legal consultation in English to those whose mother tongue is not Japanese. Our clients include business entities in Japan from China, India, Pakistan, USA, Australia, and Philippines. We had other clients or cases from or related to England, France, Germany, Sweden, Greece, Russia, Nigeria, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Korea, Tonga, New Zealand, Canada, and Mexico. We may offer legal consultation over e-mails as far as we can confirm such requests are real, sincere and reliable.

In case foreign corporations or citizens need to file a lawsuit or answer to a lawsuit in Japan, our law firm can give you a brief report about Japanese legal procedure and the estimate cost of the case free of charge (not including the advice on the case itself). Major Japanese law firms are providing legal service to major corporations and tend to charge the same level of fees by a time charge system to smaller corporations especially in international cases. Because our law firm specializes in SMEs and located in Osaka where business expenses are relatively low, we can propose reasonable fees based upon our fee tables.

We have a close relationship with a major US law firm, Dickinson Wright LPC in Michigan, where Mr. Ikeda once worked as an associate. We have several other law firms or attorneys who can help our clients related to the US businesses or citizens.
ETR Law Firm in in Guangzhou, China is our business partner in China. Mr. Tsuda has been a member of Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association of Lawyers for 20 years and have a network in Vietnamese lawyers.

Divorce

We represent foreign nationals married to or divorced from Japanese spouses. We have handled many international divorce cases between Japanese and foreign nationals. Under Japanese law system, there are three kinds of divorce (Divorce by agreement, Divorce by arbitration, and Judicial divorce). Because we can communicate directly in English, we do not have to employ translator when we provide legal service to foreign clients. It means our clients can save translator cost except when you have to stand in the court and testify in English or you ask us to translate court documents or other documents.

Rights of the Child ( The Hague Convention )

The Hague Convention, which here refers to the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, was approved on May 22, 2013 in Japan, and the Act for Implementation of Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction was enacted on June 12, 2013. Consequently, the Hague Convention came into effect from April 1, 2014 in Japan. Although, there have not been so many cases related to the Hague Convention so far in Japan, it is still unclear how strong influence will be brought on Japanese society by the enactment of this Convention. We are sure there will be a positive change for the parents who have been deploring the lack of justice when their children were suddenly taken by their spouses.
For your information, the lawyer referral service, the system in which the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) introduces an attorney specialized in the cases regarding the Hague Convention, commenced onApril 1, 2014.

Visitation, and Child supports

Effective visitation after divorce is also a difficult issue here in Japan. We have seen many foreign fathers who sincerely tried to meet their loved children in vain because of the obstruction by their former wives and their parents. There is a consistent lobbying movement by parents demanding introduction of joint custody in Japanese family law. We believe the family law system will be dramatically changed sooner or later but before such change in Japanese legal system or law, the court practice will be also gradually changed. We can help such parents arrange effective meetings with their separated children.
If you are raising children in a foreign jurisdiction and the former Japanese spouse does not pay child support, we may ask the family court to order your former spouse to burden child support considering the income of the both parents.

Other family law cases

Consultation on inheritance or will in Japan can be also available for foreign citizens. Please note, however, that in family law cases, there are issues of jurisdiction (the issue whether you can file a mediation or lawsuit in Japan or not) and applicable law (the issue of which law is applicable to the case). The answer to these issues is not always clear and there may be a case when the court may reject to accept your case here in Japan.

In the past, we dealt with sudden termination of employment contracts of English teachers, language instructors, researchers, designers or engineers by their employers. Japanese labor law is protective to employees. Lack of legitimate reasons and fair procedure is often a critical issue disputed in the court.
We have also handled sexual harassment cases involving foreign residents in Japan. Foreign managers suspected of sexual or power harassment are vulnerable because of their lack of knowledge in Japanese law and cultural or language barriers. The same thing can be said about foreign victims who suffer from harassment in working environment but is not enough protected due to his/her weak contractual term. We also represent foreign citizens or employees injured by a traffic accident or an accident in a work place. The insurance system is complicated and the insurance companies have dual standards of compensation amount and use lower standard if you are naïve and ignorant of the system. We will give you legal advice if you feel uncertain and concerned about the settlement proposed by the insurance company with reasonable consultation fee.

When a person is arrested, how is he/she treated thereafter under Japanese judicial system? If you, your family or your friend is arrested, it is important to contact a lawyer immediately to obtain appropriate legal advice.
We occasionally represent foreign nationals who committed or allegedly have committed a crime here in Japan and have been prosecuted on a charge of drug use, drug sale, false marriage, or violation of immigration law. Our advantage is that we can communicate without arranging a translator if the language is English and such advantage makes cost lower.