There are 3 types of divorce in Japan.
- Divorce by agreement
- Divorce by mediation
- Divorce by lawsuit
We also have “divorce by adjudication” but this is very rare.
Divorce by agreement
Among them, divorce by agreement does not involve a court. You just fill out the necessary information (like your name and address) in the form, sign it and submit it with the local municipal office. You don’t have to bring it with your spouse.
This type of divorce is allowed for married couples:
- who have common country of nationality and the country allows this type of divorce (For example, if you and your spouse are of Country A nationality);
- who do not have common country of nationality but have common country of habitual residence which allows this type of divorce (For example, if you are of Country A nationality and your spouse is of Country B nationality and you both have habitual residence in Japan); or
- who neither have common country of nationality nor common country of residence but one spouse is Japanese who has habitual residence in Japan.
The important thing to note is that even if divorce by agreement is accepted with the local municipal office in Japan, it does not mean that the divorce will be valid in your country if you are not a Japanese citizen. It would be wise to confirm with the consulate of your country before getting divorced.
Be advised that you should not get a divorce by agreement if you do not fully agree with your spouse on such matters as child support, visitation or property division since submitting divorce form only determines that your couple will be divorced and the child custody will be held by one parent. The rest will be left for you two to agree or to file a proceeding to be determined by a court.
If you are in full agreement on the conditions of divorce, it is strongly recommended that you make an agreement in writing and make it a notarized deed at a local notary public office. With certain clause, such deed will be enforceable against the other spouse if he/she does not pay child support or other monies provided in the agreement. Note that non-monetary obligations such as child visitation will not be enforceable even with such deed. (You should get a record of a court mediation, of a court settlement or a court decision to lawfully force other party to comply with what is provided in the agreement.)
Also, if you live in Japan with the status due to “a Spouse or child of a Japanese national,” you must be careful about signing a divorce form, otherwise you will be subject to deportation.
Divorce by mediation
If divorce by agreement does not work for you, you should file a mediation proceeding before filing a lawsuit. In the proceeding, you will meet two mediators (one male and one female) and one judge who will not appear until the end of the proceeding. Mediation is like a settlement proceeding run by a court. If your couple do not come to an agreement in the proceeding, it will be an unsuccessful mediation and you must file a lawsuit to get a divorce.
It should be noted that even if it is usually said that mediation proceedings are easy for laymen to handle, you should hire a lawyer if you do not fully understand how divorce and related matters are decided in Japan. If you only know them vaguely, you might be pushed or pressured to enter into an agreement you do not wish since mediators are sometimes laymen* who wishes to settle the case for their sake. (* In the Tokyo Family Court, one of the mediators are lawyers, but for other family courts, I am not sure.) And you should speak Japanese in the proceedings or bring your interpreter.
Regarding divorce by lawsuit, see this article.