Leiden University Student Repository

Sprinkhuizen, Eva (2020)

Divorce Mediation and the Debate on Japanese Litigiousness

Master thesis | Asian Studies (120 EC) (MA)

In Japan there are three legal ways in which a spouse can get divorced: through negotiation or mutual consent (kyōgi rikon), mediation (chōtei rikon), and adjudication or litigation (saiban rikon). Those opting for litigation consist of a mere 1% of all cases. While it has been argued that Japanese are averse to formal litigation and have a cultural preference for informal ways of resolving disputes in order to maintain the social harmony, others have attributed the popularity of ADR to institutional and structural factors, being cheaper and quicker than formal litigation. This thesis attempts to find out what theory, if any, holds true with regards to (the lack of) Japanese litigiousness by looking at divorce mediation as its case study.

divorce

mediation

Japan

litigiousness

law

Author

Sprinkhuizen, Eva

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Japanese Studies

Supervisors

Visser 't Hooft, Willem

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en