This course explains the law of Japan, not US law. Rules that look the same elsewhere may be different.
Course · Law by country · Japan
Japanese Law
The law of Japan for the people who deal with it: the legal system and its three influences, the Constitution and its institutions, the courts and the legal professions, rights and administrative law, entering and living in Japan, the Civil Code and family law, business, employment and tax, and criminal law and international disputes.
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Japan is a civil-law country with an unusual history: in the 1870s and 1880s it borrowed the codes of France and Germany to build a modern state, and after 1945 an American-drafted Constitution added judicial review and a bill of rights. The result is a codified system with common-law touches, applied by a professional judiciary, used by a society that often prefers conciliation to litigation, and open to foreigners who live, work, study and do business there on terms set by clear statutes. This course gives a complete first map, from the point of view of the people who deal with it. It starts with the history, the sources and the hierarchy of norms; then the Constitution and the institutions of the state; then the courts and the legal professions, including the specialists who do what attorneys do elsewhere; then rights and administrative law; then entering, living and working in Japan; then the Civil Code, property, family and inheritance; then business, employment, tax, intellectual property and data; and finally criminal law, the lay-judge system and international disputes. It uses invented people and businesses, and three working tools.
The Curriculum
Foundations of Japanese law: history, the German, French and American influences, sources, the hierarchy of norms, interpretation and legal culture→
History, the three influences, sources, the hierarchy of norms, interpretation and legal culture. Practice: Which Source, Which Norm Prevails and Spot the Mistake.
The Constitution and public institutions: popular sovereignty, the Emperor, the Diet, the Cabinet, the ministries, local government, elections and treaties→
Popular sovereignty, the Emperor, the Diet, the Cabinet, ministries, local government, elections and treaties. Practice: Which Institution, Which Step and Spot the Mistake.
Courts and the legal professions: judicial independence, the Supreme Court, the lower courts, the Intellectual Property High Court, judges, prosecutors, attorneys, scriveners, notaries and access to justice→
The courts, the judges, prosecutors, attorneys and other legal specialists, and access to justice. Practice: Which Court, Which Professional and Spot the Mistake.
Constitutional rights and administrative law: dignity, equality, freedom, property, foreign nationals, administrative procedure, administrative litigation and state redress→
Fundamental rights, foreign nationals, administrative procedure and remedies against public authorities. Practice: Which Right, Which Remedy and Spot the Mistake.
Entering, living, working and studying in Japan: statuses of residence, the residence card, permanent residence, naturalisation, health insurance, pensions and consumer protection→
Visas and statuses of residence, the residence card, work and study, permanent residence and naturalisation, health insurance, pensions and consumer protection. Practice: Which Status, Which Step and Spot the Mistake.
The Civil Code, property and family: contracts, remedies, torts, real estate, leases, marriage, divorce, children and inheritance→
The Civil Code, contracts, torts, property, leases, marriage, divorce, children and inheritance. Practice: Which Rule, Which Law Applies and Spot the Mistake.
Business, employment, tax and the digital economy: company forms, foreign investment, contracts, employment, dismissal, tax, finance, intellectual property and personal data→
Company forms, foreign investment, contracts, employment, dismissal, tax, finance, intellectual property and data protection. Practice: Which Form, Which Step and Spot the Mistake.
Criminal law, criminal procedure and international disputes: offences, police powers, detention, trial, the saiban-in system, arbitration, mediation and enforcement→
Offences, police powers, detention, trial, lay judges and international disputes. Practice: Which Stage, Which Route and Spot the Mistake.
Capstone: Capstone: Elena Rossi and the Kyoto ceramics studio→
A ceramics studio in Kyoto, a status, a company form, a deposit, a dismissal, a squatted brand and a divorce. Choose the status, the form, the forum and the remedy.
What It Covers
“You will be able to say, for any problem you may have in Japan, which rule applies, which court or authority decides it, which time limit runs and which professional you need.”
- Written for the foreigner: it follows the questions a visitor, resident, employee, family or business actually has (the status, the residence card, the company, the lease, the dismissal, the brand, the divorce) and says plainly which professional may do what.
- Teaches the structure behind the rules, so that a student who knows how the Constitution, the codes, the courts and the ministries fit together can read any new rule, and compare Japanese law with other civil-law systems.
- Three tools with invented facts: a Residence Status Finder, an Entity Chooser and a Court and Forum Finder, each showing how the answer changes when a fact does.
- Honest about limits: it teaches durable provisions, flags where rules change quickly (visa-free lists, work-hour limits, designated sectors, recent reforms such as joint parental authority) and does not state changing figures. It is general education, not advice.
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Want everything, programs and exam prep too? All-Access is $499 a year.
Or give this as a giftOther Scrolls in This Chamber
Across the Table$15 →Interests, walk-away numbers, offers, trades, pressure tactics and professional limits, with practice rooms and calculators.
Cooling the Room$15 →How conflict escalates, mapping a dispute, de-escalation, hard conversations, choosing a process, mediation, power, culture and ethics, with practice mediations.
The Client Conversation$15 →Trust, the first meeting, fees and scope, updates in plain words, advice and decisions, bad news, boundaries and ethics, with practice meetings.Module 1 is free to try. Sign in, pass each module quiz and the course average, and your Certificate of Completion is emailed to you automatically. This course teaches method and technique with invented people and figures; it is general education, not legal advice, and professional rules differ from country to country.
Common questions
- Is it for people who want to practise Japanese law?
- No. It is a first course for the people who deal with Japanese law: visitors, residents, students, employees, families, investors and their advisers. Only a Japanese-qualified bengoshi can advise on Japanese law and act in court, and the course says when you need one.
- Does it cover immigration and visas?
- Yes, in Module 5: the difference between the visa and the status of residence, the residence card, work and study, permanent residence and naturalisation. Visa-free lists, fees and processing times change, so check the current rule.
- Does it cover recent reforms?
- It flags them, for example the 2020 reform of the law of obligations, the lowering of the age of majority in 2022 and the 2024 reform allowing joint parental authority after divorce, and tells you to check the current text.
- Are the tools real data?
- No. The tools apply well-known rules in simplified form to invented facts. They show the structure of the answer and cannot decide a case.
- Does it cover Japanese law in Japanese?
- It teaches the structure and the key terms in English, with the Japanese words in italics so that you can recognise them on a form or in a conversation.
- How do I get the Certificate of Completion?
- Sign in, pass each module quiz and keep a course average of at least 75. The certificate is then issued and emailed to you automatically.
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