JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Satoru Hasumoto, Takahiro Sato and Fuyuki Uchitsu, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto
6.20 Registration Requirements A fixed term land lease and a fixed term building lease must be made in writing (see 6.2 Types of Commercial Leases ). A leasehold interest in the land must be regis - tered pursuant to the real estate registration sys - tem in order for it to be perfected. However, if the lessee owns a building standing on the land, the lessee may perfect its leasehold interest in the land by registering its ownership of the building. A leasehold interest in a building could also be perfected by registering it pursuant to the real estate registration system or upon the delivery of the subject building by the landlord to the tenant. In this case the tenant can assert its leasehold interest against any person who acquires the building after delivery. Registration of a leasehold interest is subject to a registration and licence tax at a rate of 0.4% of the taxable base of the property. 6.21 Forced Eviction In order to force a tenant to leave, the lessor must obtain a court judgment ordering the ten - ant to vacate the leased property on the basis of the termination of the lease first. If the ten - ant does not comply with the judgment, the lessor will need to file a petition for compulsory enforcement against the tenant to compel them to surrender the leased property. The length of time necessary to obtain such a judgment and to complete a compulsory enforcement largely depends on the tenant’s response in court hearings and the tenant’s reaction to the requirement to surrender and varies from a few months to one year.
lease term between six months and one year prior to the expiry date in order to oblige the tenant to vacate the leased property by the end of the lease term. 6.18 Right to Assign a Leasehold Interest A tenant may assign its leasehold interest in the lease or sublease all, or a portion, of the leased premises if it is able to obtain the owner’s approval. 6.19 Right to Terminate a Lease Lease agreements typically provide that the fol - lowing events give the landlord a right to termi - nate the lease: • a breach of obligation by the tenant, such as a failure to pay rent; • the commencement of an insolvency proce - dure by the tenant; • the occurrence of events that constitute grounds for the commencement of an insol - vency procedure, such as being “unable to pay” (ie, unable to pay debts generally when they fall due); and • the issuance of an order for compulsory exe - cution, petition for auction sale or compulsory disposition for delinquent public charges. Having said this, the court takes the view that the lessor is only entitled to terminate the lease if the tenant’s breach amounts to a destruction of the relationship of trust between the lessor and the tenant, regardless of any provision in the lease agreement. A statutory right to terminate in the case of the tenant’s insolvency is discussed in 6.15 Effect of the Tenant’s Insolvency .
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