Legal System, Practitioner Types, and Consultation Practices

Japan has a mixed legal system: fundamentally civil law, but with elements of common law, such as reliance on precedent in courts and constitutional review. A "lawyer" in the gyoseishoshi (行政書士) sense is not the same as a bengoshi (弁護士, attorney): a gyoseishoshi passes a relatively simple exam and can file documents without a power of attorney, often doing little more than filling out basic paperwork for significant fees. For complex matters, finding an actual bengoshi is recommended. A co-founder can sue the company itself more easily than suing "just a lawyer," since lawyers typically operate as firms and work under contract. Handling employee social insurance requires a separate specialist — a sharoushi (社会保険労務士); a gyoseishoshi only handles administrative matters, and accountants only handle taxes. On pricing and practice: a komon bengoshi (顧問弁護士, a retainer or in-house attorney) was discussed as an option for personal, not just corporate, legal consultations, with participants seeking English-speaking specialists. An immigration lawyer consultation at 5,000 yen for 30 minutes was considered a normal price (many lawyers offer a free first consultation). When receiving verbal advice from lawyers or government bodies (Shibuya Startup, Invest Tokyo, and similar), it is recommended to get answers in writing where possible, to have evidence on record. Legal consultation on business licenses — for example, trading used goods or cars — is a separate service not always included in a law firm's "company formation plus bank account" package; the license itself typically costs around 100,000 yen through a lawyer, takes a couple of months, and can only be pursued after the company is already established. In one case, a tax consultant's services led to an extra $20,000 in tax being charged to a client by mistake; when shown the actual materials, the consultant acknowledged the error. The takeaway from the chat is that a business owner should understand basic accounting and taxes rather than relying entirely on a contractor. JETRO provides free consulting lawyers (including English- and Chinese-speaking ones) for foreign companies exploring the Japanese market — a good starting point for import/licensing questions. A lawyer advising on cross-border import/export matters between two countries (for example, Japan and Kazakhstan) should ideally hold a license recognized in both jurisdictions; lawyers from common-law jurisdictions (the UK, the US) are often more broadly recognized.