JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Hiroki Wakabayashi, Kenichi Sadaka and Kei Akagawa, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
tion procedures is required prior to the initiation of a lawsuit. Generally, a potential plaintiff may or may not send an enquiry letter to a potential defendant prior to the initiation of a lawsuit. If the potential defendant receives the enquiry letter and if such letter is in a form prescribed in the CCP, such potential defendant is obliged to respond to that enquiry. However, no specific sanction of the potential defendant is pro- vided for in the statute. 3.2 Statutes of Limitations Under the current rule of the Civil Code (1886 Law No 89), the recent amendments to which came into force on 1 April 2020, in principle, the statute of limitations period (or prescriptive period) is five years from the time a potential plaintiff became aware that a certain right was exercisable, or ten years from the time when the right became exercisable, whichever comes ear- lier. There are exceptions depending on the nature of the claims. For example, as regards damages com- pensation claims arising from tortious acts, the period is three years (five years in the case of a claim for bodily injury) from the time a potential plaintiff became aware that the tort claim was exercisable, or 20 years from the time the tortious act took place, whichever comes earlier. 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant The CCP lists certain requirements for determining whether Japanese courts have jurisdiction over a par- ticular case, such as: • that the defendant is located in Japan; • that, in the case of a contract dispute, the obliga- tion is supposed to be performed in Japan; and • that, in the case of a tort, the tort took place in Japan. This rule is generally applicable to first instance cases to be filed with district courts and summary courts. However, cases to be filed with family courts are sub-
change the claim, and doing so will not substantially delay the litigation proceedings. However, the plaintiff cannot add defendants later in the same proceeding. So, if the plaintiff wants to extend his/her/its claims to other parties who are not named defendants in the complaint, the plaintiff has to file another lawsuit against those parties, and ask the court to consolidate those proceedings at its discretion. At present, a statement of claim must be filed by sub- mitting a hard copy complaint to the court. However, from a date to be designated by the Supreme Court – no later than 24 May 2026 – it will become possible to file a claim electronically. Moreover, where a plain- tiff is represented by a lawyer, electronic filing will, in principle, become mandatory. 3.5 Rules of Service Once a plaintiff has filed a complaint with a court, the court clerk is responsible for serving the summons and the complaint upon the defendant. In most cases, the court clerk will engage the Japanese postal ser- vice to serve the defendant. It is possible for a plaintiff to sue a defendant located outside of Japan, in which case the service will be made through diplomatic channels, including those provided for in the Hague Service Convention. At present, service of the summons and the complaint must be carried out by delivering hard copies to the defendant. However, from a date to be designated by the Supreme Court – no later than 24 May 2026 – it will become possible for a defendant to receive ser- vice electronically, provided the defendant wishes to do so and completes the necessary steps, such as registering with the court’s online system. Moreover, if the defendant appoints a lawyer for the proceed- ings, that lawyer will be required to take the necessary measures to enable electronic service of the summons and the complaint. 3.6 Failure to Respond If the defendant fails to appear at the court hear- ing and submit its answer to the court despite hav- ing been duly served, the court may deem that the defendant has admitted to all the allegations in the complaint, and therefore enter a default judgment in
ject to a modified rule. 3.4 Initial Complaint
A plaintiff has to submit a complaint to initiate a lawsuit. It is possible for the plaintiff to amend the complaint later as long as it does not fundamentally
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