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Consumer Rights in Japan

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Japanese Consumer Dynamics

Abstract

The discourse and practice of consumer rights protection are well entrenched in contemporary Japanese society. Japanese consumers have long been known for their exacting standards regarding quality, but they also now increasingly expect diversity and price-competitiveness, with much more access to imported goods and foreign services providers. The consumer voice is expressed not only through what is and is not purchased, but also via claims for redress (for example, for unsafe or non-performing goods) or to terminate contracts (especially for burgeoning types and volumes of services transactions), and through demands for better substantive and procedural law frameworks to operate within. There has been a shift towards boosting private law protections, premised on individual consumers taking the initiative to terminate or withdraw from contracts and – increasingly – to sue for injunctions or damages. This is part of a broader ‘third wave’ of judicial sector reform underway since 2001, aimed at completing the transplantation of a modern Western legal system first begun following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, and boosted by Occupation-era reforms during 1945–51 (Foote [ed.], 2007).

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  1. Luke Nottage
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sophia University, England

    Parissa Haghirian (Associate Professor of International Management) (Associate Professor of International Management)

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© 2011 Luke Nottage

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Nottage, L. (2011). Consumer Rights in Japan. In: Haghirian, P. (eds) Japanese Consumer Dynamics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230302228_3

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