What happens next
The family-court process in Japan, stage by stage, with what to do at each point.
1. Before any court
Close to nine in ten divorces in Japan are by mutual agreement (kyogi rikon): both spouses sign a form and file it at the city office. No court is involved and nobody checks the terms. The form must say who holds parental authority, and it asks whether visitation and child support have been agreed, but a divorce is accepted even if they have not.
- Do not sign until the arrangements for the children are agreed and written down.
- A notarised agreement (kosei shosho) makes child-support terms much easier to enforce.
- If you fear a divorce form being filed without your consent, you can lodge a non-acceptance request (rikon todoke fujuri moshide) at the city office.
2. Separation
Whoever the child lives with when the parents separate usually keeps day-to-day care. Courts value continuity, so the arrangement in place when the case first comes to court tends to become the baseline.
- Get legal advice before anyone moves out, if you still can.
- Start a dated record of your part in your child's care. Photos with timestamps help.
- Keep every message to your spouse short, polite and about practical matters.
3. Filing for mediation
If you cannot agree, divorce must normally go through family-court mediation (chotei) before any lawsuit. There are often three separate cases: divorce, marital expenses (kon'in hiyo, support while still married) and visitation (menkai koryu, now often called oyako koryu). Either parent can file any of them.
- If you are not seeing your child, file for visitation early. Time without contact becomes the new normal.
- Marital expenses usually run from the month the claim is filed, not from the date of separation.
4. Mediation sessions
Each session lasts about two hours. The parents wait in separate rooms and take turns speaking with two mediators (chotei iin). A judge supervises the case but you may rarely or never meet them. Written statements and evidence are normally filed a week or two before each session.
- The mediators know only what they have read and heard. Tell them plainly how things are actually going.
- Answering every accusation rarely helps. Showing that contact with your child works does.
- Give ground on procedure where you can. It keeps the other parent at the table.
5. Marital expenses and child support
Courts use a standard table based on both parents' incomes and the number and ages of the children. During the marriage this is marital expenses; after divorce it becomes child support (yoikuhi), worked out the same way. If you are self-employed or run a company, expect questions about your real income.
- Have clear documents for your current income, and an explanation for any recent change.
- Pay the interim amount on time, every month. Missed payments count against you in everything else.
6. Visitation
The conventional outcome for the parent living apart is roughly once a month for a few hours. More than that, including overnight stays, generally comes from agreement in mediation, not from a ruling. Where contact has stopped or there is conflict, the court may arrange a trial visit at the courthouse (shiko-teki menkai koryu), and parents sometimes use a support organisation to handle handovers or supervise visits.
- Ask for a written plan: how often, handover place and time, holidays, calls, and what happens when the child is ill.
- Ask for a clause to review the plan at a fixed point, such as when the child starts elementary school.
- Every visit that goes smoothly is your best argument for the next one.
7. If mediation fails
Visitation and marital-expense cases move automatically to adjudication (shinpan), where the judge decides. Divorce itself needs a separate lawsuit. A judge's visitation order is usually simple: how often, and how the child is handed over, close to the conventional standard. Appeals seldom change it.
- Treat adjudication as a floor, not an opportunity.
- A court investigator (chosakan) may interview the parents and the child and visit homes. Their report carries weight.
8. After an agreement
A mediated agreement has the force of a judgment. If visits are blocked, you can ask the court to remind the other parent (riko kankoku) or to order a payment for each breach (kansetsu kyosei). The second needs the plan to be specific about dates, times and handover.
- Keep your record going. Keep handovers on time.
- Vague wording cannot be enforced. Get dates, times and places into the document.
Joint parental authority
Since April 2026 parents can agree to share parental authority after divorce, or a court can order it. Where the parents are in serious conflict, courts remain cautious. It is safer to plan around a visitation agreement you can sign than around a custody ruling.