[Answer]
Businesses will typically
repair their products at no cost to the consumer during their product warranty
period. The length of coverage varies depending on the type of business and
products purchased. The warranty deed spells out when and what is covered and
mostly limits its coverage to defects which arise as a result of normal use of
the product. Therefore in your case you
can expect to have your product repaired free of charge during its warranty
period. You may even ask for replacement with a new one for free if the product
has recently been purchased. If you are not satisfied with the explanation
given by business operators, you can check with your local Consumer Center for
advice. Please take along someone who can speak Japanese since no foreign
language assistance is provided. The Consumer Center is a public organization responsible for responding to
consumer inquiries and complains about products and services.
[Answer]
As a tenant, you are obliged to restore the property to its initial conditions,
except for normal wear and tear, before you leave the rental property.
A tenant is essentially responsible to and may be required to compensate
the landlord for any damage arising from his or her own negligence. The
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has released a
guideline to define and give general guidance to rental housing issues involving
tenancy’s obligation to restore the property to its original conditions
at the time of terminating the release contract.
The portion of the deposit tenants usually pay at the time of signing a
rental contract is deducted to cover the cost of repair when vacating the
property. If the deposit is not enough to cover the damages, additional
expenses may be requested by your landlord. If you feel the additional
expenses exorbitant, you may want to ask your landlord to produce an estimate
of the repair work to check on your own. If you are still not totally
convinced, you can get free legal consultation at your municipal office to get
a good idea about where you stand on this matter and accordingly take this case
to arbitration sessions at a Summary Court.
[Answer]
If you wish to reorganize your debts, you can
consult with the following agencies. Please bring along someone who speaks
Japanese for credit counseling and debt management.
Credit consultation by Osaka Prefectural Government 06-6941-0837
Osaka Bar Association 06-6364-1248 (9:15 a.m. to 8 p.m. )
If you are faced with mounting debt load, there are
several options available to reorganize your debts, but it is always a good
idea to talk with lawyers or legal scriveners when you need to take actual
proceedings.
You can negotiate with your creditors directly
(nin-i-seiri), instead of going through court procedure. Your lawyer can
negotiate with your creditors or collection agencies for agreed upon terms of
repayment plan – repayment amount, period, interest rate and method.
You can file for personal
rehabilitation (kojin saisei) with a court to be able to pay part of your
debts while the remaining debt is canceled. Typically, the part of the debts
must be repaid within three years after filing for rehabilitation procedures. This
system is only available to salary earners and self-employed, and not to unemployed
or full-time housewives, since you must have a reliable source of income to
ensure you can follow a repayment schedule.
Foreigners can also file for bankruptcy. You can
file for personal bankruptcy (jiko hasan) to eliminate your debts but at
the same time your property and assets that are not exempt under the bankruptcy
law will be liquidated to pay back some portion of your debts. If you have no
property, however, your debts will be discharged right after you file for
personal bankruptcy by obtaining a court ruling granting simultaneous abolition
of bankruptcy.
Summary Court-assisted debt restructuringarbitration(tokutei chotei) can help you and your creditors reach an agreement over
terms of repayment through arbitration sessions with mediators.
[Answer]
Collecting personal debts is usually
done through civil avenue. Even if you don’t have a written statement from you
friend, you can still force him to pay back as long as he promises you to
return the money. If he does not seem to be willing to pay back, you might want
to send a content-certified mail, expressing your intention of demanding repayment.
If that does not result in payment, however, you can explore various
court-assisted recourses depending on the situation, including “demand for
payment”(shiharai tokusoku), “small claim lawsuit”(shogaku sosho), ”arbitration”(chotei),
and “pre-lawsuit settlement”(uttae
teikimae no wakai). Even after you win a lawsuit, you still have to collect your judgment since
the court won’t collect the money you were awarded, on your behalf. If your
friend won’t pay you, you can ask for compulsory execution whereby a debtor’s
property is seized by a court enforcement officer. Since this process costs
money, it is imperative to make sure before your lawsuit that he is solvent and
you can collect your judgment. Summary Court
[Answer]
You can tap into the civil legal aid system if you seek judicial solution
in family affairs, such as divorce, and civil affairs. This system is designed
to ensure the right to access to the courts for those who have a good prospect
of winning the lawsuit but cannot do so due to financial difficulty. Under
this system, you get free legal consultation, referral to lawyers and legal
scriveners, temporal payment of legal fee for you, as well as representation
in court and preparation of documents. Since legal aid is for people
who have limited means, you need to produce evidence showing your income
is below a certain amount, to be qualified for the system. Foreigners staying
in Japan legally can take advantage of the system. For more information
on legal aid, please refer to Japan Legal Support Center.
[Answer]
Consultations on human rights abuse are provided in several languages at
the following sites in Osaka.
Osaka
Legal Affairs Bureau: First and third Wednesdays of the month from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
in English
Every Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Chinese
06-6942-9496
Osaka Bar
Association: Second and fourth Fridays
of the month from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. in English, Chinese and Korean.
[Answer]
The Homepage hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affair (MOFA) explains
the procedures as follows.
When you travel abroad
to study, marry or work, you may need to submit your diploma, certificate of
eligibility to contract marriage, copy of family registry or health examination
certificate to relevant overseas organizations. Some of those organizations
request such documents to be authenticated by their Consul stationed in
Japan. To have them authenticated by the
Consul of a foreign government, you have to have MOFA’s authentication first
for the documents you are requested to submit. As for documents issued by
governmental or semi-governmental bodies including incorporated administrative
agencies and special public corporations, the MOFA authenticate official seals
of such documents in a procedure called “Koin Kakunin.” When it comes to private documents, you need
to have your documents notarized by a notary public first and then obtain the
official seal of the Director of Legal Affairs Bureau that appoints the notary
public. The MOFA can attest that the seal of the Director is genuine. The
MOFA’s authentication is a prerequisite formality for consular authentication.
Be sure to have your document authenticated by a consul in Japan before you
submit documents to the relevant authorities abroad.
Certification Section, Consular Service
Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2-2-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8919 Tel:03-3580-3311
Osaka Liaison Office,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2-1-22 Otemae, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 540-0008 Tel: 06-6941-4700
Osaka Liaison Office
Application 9:15 to 12,
14:00 to 16:00
Receipt 9:00 to 12:15,
13:15 to 17:00 (the following day of your application or afterward)