How to Get a Foreign Divorce Recognized in Japan

This section will describe how to get a foreign divorce recognized in Japan.

According to the Japanese Embassy in the United States website, all divorces that are finalized in a country outside Japan must be reported to the Embassy or appropriate consulate within three months of the date of the final decree. (cached copy)  Buried deeper in the site, on a page that lists the specific points to be aware of when filling out the appropriate Japanese forms, way down the page in section (5) (cached copy)  it says that the name of the minor child with Japanese citizenship should be written into the column headed with the name of the parent awarded custody in the court decision, or in the case of joint custody the child's (or children's) name should be listed in both parents' columns.  There is no indication that this will actually legally give you joint custody in Japan, since joint custody outside of marriage is illegal in Japan.  So likewise, there is no indication that registering joint custody would have any significance in a Japanese court, but in a case where a couple is divorcing outside of Japan it seems like the Japanese government does say the foreign court decision should be registered with them to make the divorce legal in Japan.

PLEASE HELP: If anyone can provide a full translation of the above pages, please send us a copy!!

In order for a foreign court order to be recognized in Japan, it must meet the requirements of Article 118 of the Civil Procedure Code of Japan.

Article 118 of the Civil Procedure Code of Japan:

A foreign judgment which has become final and conclusive shall be valid only upon the fulfillment of the following conditions:

(1) The jurisdiction of the foreign court is not prohibited either by law or a treaty;

(2) The defeated defendant was served with a summons or an order necessary for the commencement of the procedure other than by service by publication, or has voluntarily appeared without being so served;

(3) The judgment of the foreign court is not contrary to the public order or good morals of Japan in its contents or proceedings upon which it was based; and

(4) Comity (reciprocity) exists in the issuing country.

For information on how to serve process in Japan and the associated issues, see How to Serve Process on a Japanese Citizen in Japan for Foreign Court Proceedings.

The "not contrary to the public order or good morals" requirement is one part of this law to be careful of.  For example, although punitive damages are common in US courts, they may be deemed a kind of penal provision, outside the scope of actual civil damages, which could be contrary to Japanese policy.  It is not clear whether only such punitive damages would be unenforceable, or whether the entire judgment could be ruled unenforceable.  This may also come into play in family law, for example in a Tokyo High Court judgment of November 15, 1993, the court refused to enforce a foreign award of custody to a father who lived outside Japan because the child had lived for several years in Japan with the mother and spoke only Japanese, which was not the native language of the father.

One must also be careful about how evidence in Japan was gathered for the foreign judgment.  If the judgment was based on evidence gathered in Japan which violates the treaties or agreements.  Although Japan is a party to the Hague Convention on Civil Procedure of 1954, it is not a party to the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence.  Various ways that evidence can be taken are described in a paper title "International Commercial Litigation in Japan" although it appear that much of this might work in civil trials also.  A MUST READ if you are going the do it yourself route in Japan.

The importance of serving process properly is seen by following decision by  the Japanese Supreme Court regarding a foreign divorce case that occurred before the initiation of the Japanese "counter divorce case.

Judgment upon case where jurisdiction of the Japanese court was acknowledged in an action claiming divorce from a Japanese resident in Japan against a German resident in Germany.

Additional Information

• How to Serve Process on a Japanese Citizen in Japan for Foreign Court Proceedings
• Issue: Japan may use the Hague Service Convention to prevent foreign legal documents from being served on Japanese parental abductors

Press Articles

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