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Tag - civil-code

 
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July 25, 2026
 

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CIVIL CODE

Under a revised Civil Code, joint parental custody of children and a statutory child support system after divorce will be introduced.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Society / FOCUS
Dec 25, 2025
Japan to start joint parental custody after divorce in April
The new framework represents a major shift in the post-World War II legislative system governing families.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Explainer
Mar 21, 2022
Japan is set to lower the legal age of adulthood. How will young people be affected?
From April, those age 18 and 19 in Japan will be legal adults and will be given more freedom in making life choices without parental consent ¡ª but not without criminal responsibilities.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Mar 25, 2019
Cybozu chief Yoshihisa Aono loses lawsuit at Tokyo court over right to use premarital name
A Tokyo court on Monday upheld a national law that forces couples to use the same surname upon marriage, rejecting claims over its unconstitutionality.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 29, 2018
Stop worrying about the age of adulthood
Media apprehension about lowering the legal age of majority has been wildly overblown.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Jun 13, 2018
Japan¡¯s Diet OKs law lowering age of adulthood to 18
The Diet passes a package of amendments that ¡ª for the first time in 140 years ¡ª includes a measure lowering adulthood to 18 years old from the current 20.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Dec 29, 2017
Japan aims to lower age of adulthood to 18 by 2022
The government has decided to introduce legislation toward lowering the legal age of adulthood from 20 to 18 when the Diet opens in January. It is also slated to remove a clause in the Imperial House Law that sets the emperor¡¯s age of majority at 18, and submit 24 bills also related to revising the Civil...
Japan Times
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 9, 2017
Without an official father, kids can be stateless
On Nov. 29, the Kobe District Court dismissed a suit against the state filed by a woman in her 60s who claimed that the law that allows only men to deny paternity of a child is unconstitutional, since it discriminates against women. She said the law meant she was unable to register her daughter as the...
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Sep 3, 2017
How Japan got new contract law it neither wants nor needs
One possible explanation for the inexplicable change in contract law: It is a giant experiment driven by academic hubris and bureaucratic ambition.
EDITORIALS
Nov 19, 2016
Lowering legal age of adulthood
Legal protections for young people will need to be very robust if the age of adulthood is lowered to 18.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
Sep 1, 2016
Age of adulthood targeted for revision next year
The government is considering revising the Civil Code to lower the age of majority from 20 to 18, government sources said Thursday.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Dec 28, 2015
Let¡¯s discuss the law on surnames
Plaintiffs contesting family laws that require spouses to choose a single surname expressed shock and anger at Wednesday¡¯s Supreme Court ruling, saying it will force more women to suffer the misery of having to change their name upon marriage.
Japan Times
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Dec 16, 2015
Plaintiffs express shock at bad precedent set by court¡¯s decision on shared surnames
Plaintiffs contesting family laws that require spouses to choose a single surname expressed shock and anger at Wednesday¡¯s Supreme Court ruling, saying it sets a bad precedent and will force more women to suffer the misery of having to change their name upon marriage.
Japan Times
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Dec 16, 2015
Japan¡¯s top court upholds same-name rule for married couples, overturns remarriage moratorium for women
The Supreme Court confirms the constitutionality of a controversial law requiring married couples to use the same surname in official matters.
Japan Times
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Society
Dec 15, 2015
Spouses await court ruling on retaining maiden name in marriage
Tears welled up in Kaori Oguni¡¯s eyes as she recalled the heartache she felt at what was supposed to be one of the happiest moments of her life ¡ª that is, when she and her husband registered their marriage at a Tokyo ward office in 2006.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
Nov 9, 2015
Attorney group to offer free advice to ID-less ¡®mukoseki¡¯ citizens
Japan¡¯s attorneys are planning a wide-scale effort to advise people trapped in mukoseki status who are deprived of basic government services because they do not appear on family registries and thus lack legal identity.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Society
Oct 15, 2015
Couple sue over Japan¡¯s six-month ban on remarriage for divorced women
The Shizuoka couple in their 20s filed a lawsuit Thursday over the rule for newly divorced women, calling it unconstitutional. They are seeking ¥3 million damages.
EDITORIALS
Aug 20, 2015
Time is ripe for inheritance reform
Some Civil Code provisions regarding inheritance date all the way back the Meiji Era. It¡¯s time to bring them into the 21st century.
EDITORIALS
Mar 4, 2015
Update discriminatory Civil Code
The Supreme Court should not hesitate to rule that Civil Code provisions related to marriage surnames and remarriage after divorce are discriminatory and thus unconstitutional.
EDITORIALS
Sep 7, 2014
Updating the Civil Code
The brevity of Japan¡¯s Civil Code, compared with those in Western countries, has enabled flexible interpretations that the Justice Ministry is trying to standardize with proposed revisions that it has been working on for the past five years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Apr 16, 2014
Hague jars with Japan¡¯s family law, a zero-sum game with only one outcome
A Japanese lawyer told me: ¡®To Westerners, marriage means 1+1=2. But in Japan it equals 1.¡¯ This made perfect sense to me, but perhaps I should explain.
Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania
A Pokemon event is held in Jakarta on July 11
Japan to set up expert working group on accepting foreign nationals
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara (second from left) addresses a meeting of ministers responsible for policies concerning foreign residents, held at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
Head of Swiss euthanasia firm dies after collapsing while ascending Mount Fuji
Around 200,000 people typically scale the 3,776 meter Mount Fuji each year.
Indian brothers make manga debut in Japan
Two Indian brothers made their manga debut in Japan with "Kung Fu Kung Fool" ¡ª an action-comedy series that follows the adventures of a notorious thief and a young boy.
Japan scientists identify clusters of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer¡¯s disease
A team of researchers said they found a ¡°seed¡± that accelerates the amyloid beta accumulation process in the brain, naming it ¡°Peak 1 amyloid beta,¡± as seen in a mouse's brain.
Japan to set up expert working group on accepting foreign nationals
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara (second from left) addresses a meeting of ministers responsible for policies concerning foreign residents, held at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
Inside Toho Archive¡¯s mission to save Japan¡¯s cinematic memory
The goal of restoration is not to artificially upscale but to return the film to the condition it was in ¡°the very first day it appeared in the world,¡± says Nobushige Toshima, president and sales division manager of Toho Archive.
The sci-fi sensibilities of electronic trio Black Boboi
Black Boboi was formed in 2018 when solo artists Julia Shortreed, Utena Kobayashi and Ermhoi came together under Kobayashi¡¯s newly founded label, Bindividual.
A perfect storm: Kaze Fujii fans flock to Fuji Rock
Okayama-born singer-songwriter Kaze Fujii has carved out a distinctive place in Japanese pop since his major-label debut in 2019.
Can Japanese comedy get laughs in English? Yoshimoto Kogyo lets the jokes rip
Wes-P has millions of followers and his viral clips made him recognizable out of Japan.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

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