Cost of a divorce in Japan?

I only know of a couple of cases personally of divorce- one of the foreign professors at my old university divorced his Japanese wife (messily) and it went through the courts for about half a dozen years- exacted a huge toll on his health but she kept the house and he got the kids.He also had to educate the judge and his lawyers about the western concept of a marriage partnership and the role of each partner in a relationship. “If you have seen ‘War of the Roses’ with Michael Douglas you will know what I mean.

Wifes sister (Japanese couple) divorced a few years ago- he came from a wealthy family in Nagoya. She simply wanted a clean break and took high school age kids with her. I think there was a cash settlement involved as well- maybe 5 million yen or more.

Alot depends of individual circumstances e.g. whether there are kids involved- much easier when there are no kids to think about, as in japan its usually the mother who gets them if they split up (unless you can convince the judge otherwise, as my professor friend did) and there is no real such thing as ‘access’ like in the West.

Divorce visa. thats a new one. No such thing.

If you have a spouse visa and get divorced in the meantime you can stay on the spouse visa until it comes up for renewal. Then after that you need a valid visa such as a work visa to stay in the country. Its as if you were never married and have to qualify for a visa to stay here. Having kids doesnt give you the right to stay and work here as their father or parent either. If you have no visa you have to leave, kids or no kids. There is no “father of Japanese national” visa here.

thats why I recommend getting PR as you can stay indefinitely in the event of a divorce and they cant chuck you out when the s–t hits the fan with the wife.

Other than PR, you could try for the long-term resident or teijusha category. As always, case-by-case approvals, but 8 months here would probably not qualify you; ancedotally and from experience, 3-5 years would be needed.

I am in touch with one other who has posted on these forums whose Japanese wife would not even process the papers to get his spouse visa so he could even look for a job here leaving him stuck in a legal limbo back in the US as they were married there. In such a situation the wife has you by the short and curlies, knows you dont speak the language, don’t know the culture and know your way around. You are at the mercy of the elements when all you have is a spouse visa and no other skills. You are looking for a job at a dead time of year and your wife is cheating on you already. Not a good sign (I would also be wary of the fact if you got married in the US, with the vows in English, they dont mean as much to her as if she had spoken them in Japanese in a church ceremony in front of her relatives. Something to think about.

Just now, TommyB said:

Interesting stuff here, never had much interest in getting married but after reading this post, I definitely will not get married to a Japanese woman. Though I think they are hot, I dont want to deal with the cultural baggage that is looks like most people face. I will stick with looking for random evenings with language exchange hoes.

you miss the point totally. There is a world of difference between having a job, working in Japan and enjoying multiple short-term relationships with local ladies, and moving to a country of which you know next to nothing, being totally dependent on one person and seeking work with no experience or relevant qualifications.



There are many similar posts on this forum from “young men in love”, who followed their hormones and came to Japan, unprepared, and incapable of any job other than English conversation school, and found themselves out on a limb after a few years. /profile/188-gregxj/?do=hovercard” data-mentionid=”188″ href=”<___base_url___>/profile/188-gregxj/” rel=””>>@GregXJ is relatively lucky that is has happened so soon, he can still extricate and find himself again. He also has a sympathetic ear from many here.



As a final thought, I wonder what precipitates the woman to behave like this? Do they become rapidly disappointed with their man sitting around the house, unable to utter more than a few coherent sentences. Do they lose patience, when they hear all complaining about their country, but the much dreamed of or assumed easy job never appears and they are contributing little to the household.



Whilst there is no excuse for cheating, the dynamics of the situation are not so simple, and maybe both parties should look closely at their expectations and behaviour, and the reality.



And remember, karma is not just about the past, present and future, it is also about the moment.

In a nutshell, once you divorce you dont have any rights to access or custody and in 99% of the cases custody goes to the mother, unless you can prove that she is an unfit mother.

I would not got making any accusations of adultery unless you have proof. that would mean hiring a private investigator I imagine, who would trail her and record her movements, where she goes. Either that you follow her and catch her in the act.

The guy I mentioned was British, Japanese wife, spent 3 years in the courts trying to get a divorce (if she doesn’t want one you have to petition a judge or go through mediation). A judge here will base his judgement on his definition of a marriage between Japanese. The Brit had to educate the judge about what marriage means to a western person.

You might have to see a lawyer and as the page above points out, Japan is not a signatory to the hague convention on child kidnapping, so if your wife takes off with the kids you have no way of getting them back in Japan, as she is the mother. Thats why i would be careful about divorce in japan until you have the kids locked in. In Japan you basically have no legal rights as a parent and as a father. in 99% of cases kids never see the foreign parent again.