Small claims court in Japan?

[Emoni]

For small damages, or incidents that need to be handled, does a sort of small claims court exist in Japan?

I ask because a person in Japan who had destroyed my camera and previously promised to pay for the damages has decided simply to cut off contact after waiting a year. I was very patient and waited for over a year even. I thought about just forgetting about it, but it wasn't that cheap of a camera and if there is such a system, I would like to know what is involved in utilizing it.

Thanks for the help.

 

[nice gaijin]

Not sure about the system, but if you have anything in written form that proves an agreement that they've violated, it would be much easier to resolve the issue.

 

[Emoni]

Numerous emails from the person, and another person as well. She had stated she would reimburse me repeatedly in each email. Of course that all depends if those are usable in Japanese courts.

I do plan to contact her one last time after arriving in Japan prior to going to any court thing if I find I can follow through with this.

I was "trying" to be patient and as compassionate as possible since she was a student as well and let her have time to pay me back for her breaking it but...

 

[caster51]

 

[nice gaijin]

Did you have an actual comment to make, or are YOU the one that broke emoni's camera?

 

[Emoni]

lol

Actually, I have to say this is the most curious I have ever been as to what Caster is thinking right now.

 

[Haruspex]

lol

Actually, I have to say this is the most curious I have ever been as to what Caster is thinking right now.

"Agh, persistent c*nt!" perhaps?

 

[Emoni]

*sniff* everyone always thinks I'm a girl on here

 

[FrustratedDave]

lol
Actually, I have to say this is the most curious I have ever been as to what Caster is thinking right now.

I assume he is trying to say "why would you want to even pursue something like this in a court of law?". Well there is not much of a small claims court here in Japan due to the costs and pain in the a$$ factor involved and most importantly the ramifications in the court of public opinion (namely your neighbors ,if they find out). Taking legal action is not the way used in most cases to resolve a dispute, usually common sense prevails or you take a hit to the back pocket. In some cases if you were able to call the police over damaged property things can go a little smoother. In most cases there are usually two ways things are settled, "ﾅｽﾂｦ窶冖" and "ﾋ彗窶ｰﾃｰ" mainly b/c no one wants the hassle or the attention.


If you really do want to pursue this I suggest you look at this "窶｢s窶邸ﾂ行ﾋ?冷?堙嫁?ﾃｮ窶堙??堋ｭ窶伉ｹﾅ?Q窶昶?ｦﾂ焦ｾ" , because this is what your case falls under.ﾂ B/c you have said you have already talked to the person you should be able to get what is called a "窶督ｯﾅｽ窶凪?卍ｲ窶凖｢" this is needed before you can make a claim and can be obtained from a court house. Once you have that you can make a claim and b/c it is below 窶啅窶唹窶毒凪?ｰ~ you should be able make a "ﾂ渉ｭﾅ?z窶亙ﾂ湘? or a small claim. I hope that helps.

 

[Emoni]

It helps a great deal, it is a starting point. The main point of this thread is not only to find out if such a system exists, but also to judge if it is worth pursuing.

 

[undrentide]

http://www.e-legal-office.net/syougaku/
「少額訴訟の手続、少額訴訟の流れなどについて解説」

I've read that it is also important to be able to submit an evidence.
内容証明 makes a valid evidence. (Sending a letter or bill to the person with 内容証明, for instance.)
http://www.post.japanpost.jp/service/fuka_service/syomei/index.html
内容証明 by 日本郵便
(If you are outside of Japan, you need someone in Japan to send it with 内容証明, though...)

 

[FrustratedDave]

BTW, I forgot to mention that there are a set amount of small claims cases that can be heard each year and they don't go over that. So you may have to wait a while if there are a backlog of cases.