https://legal.excellentwiki.com/japan/family-law/Recent content in Family Law on ExcellentWiki - Legal EncyclopediaHugoen-USTue, 07 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://legal.excellentwiki.com/japan/family-law/japan-family-law/Tue, 07 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://legal.excellentwiki.com/japan/family-law/japan-family-law/<h2 id="the-constitutional-and-statutory-framework">The Constitutional and Statutory Framework</h2> <p>Japanese family law is codified in <strong>Book IV (Family)</strong> of the <strong>Civil Code</strong> (Minpo, Articles 725–881). Post-World War II reforms (1947) dismantled the prewar <em>ie</em> (household) system — a patriarchal, primogeniture-based structure — and replaced it with a framework grounded in <strong>individual dignity</strong> and <strong>equality of the sexes</strong>, as mandated by Article 24 of the Constitution. Article 24 provides that &ldquo;marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes&rdquo; and that laws must be enacted &ldquo;from the standpoint of individual dignity and the essential equality of the sexes.&rdquo; The <strong>Family Court</strong> (Katei Saibansho), established in 1948, exercises jurisdiction over family matters, operating with a combination of judicial and quasi-therapeutic functions and employing family court probation officers (katei saibansho chosakan) to investigate and mediate.</p>