Litigaion

Litigation is the standard method of resolving legal disputes in Japan. Japan has a well-established judicial system, which provides a reasonable basis for assessing the likely outcomes in many cases. This enables the parties to negotiate a settlement, either before or during the court proceedings, by working backwards from the likely outcome. Litigation in Japanese courts is also significantly less expensive than international arbitration.

When it comes to cross-border litigation, however, matters can become complex, often involving technical legal issues such as jurisdiction, choice of law, and the application of international treaties. The defendant’s counsel may exploit this complexity to make the proceedings unnecessarily complex or to delay them strategically. Therefore, you should consider instructing a lawyer with experience in international litigation, like us.

Miyake Law represents international clients in Japanese courts, focusing particularly on commercial disputes between companies. Our expertise includes international sales of goods, letters of credit, bills of lading, commodities, energy, automotive, shipping, M&A, shareholder and IP disputes. We also represent individual clients in significant and complex disputes, including executives, expatriates and professional athletes, where our bespoke approach allows us to provide.

• A US energy supply company in its successful defence against an objection to enforcement of a US$2.7 million arbitral award brought by the Japanese award debtor (Tokyo District Court, 18 December 2025; affirmed on appeal by the Tokyo High Court, 26 August 2026).
• A Cypriot trading company in its contractual claim arising from the trade of hundreds of used cars, including cross-examining witnesses through a Greek interpreter in the Yokohama District Court and obtaining a ¥70 million judgment in its favour (Yokohama District Court, 29 April 2023).
• A Singaporean trading company in its damages claim arising from intermediary trading in metals, including provisionally attaching funds in the defendant’s bank accounts and settling the dispute in proceedings before the Tokyo District Court.
• The surviving spouse of a vice president of a Japanese subsidiary of a UK global company in her £550,000 death benefit claim against the company, including serving the complaint in the UK under the Hague Service Convention. After the defendant brought a countersuit in the English High Court, the dispute was successfully settled in proceedings before the Tokyo District Court.
• A Japan Rugby League One player who has appeared in the Rugby World Cup in his defence of an employment-related claim brought by his employer, a Japanese listed company, and successfully settling the dispute in proceedings before the Fukuoka District Court.