Featured

lawsuit

Man sues Tokyo wine tasting event for not allowing him to drink while operating a wheelchair

Valid safety concern or unjust discrimination?

Read More

Tokyo’s “real-life Mario Kart” go-kart rental company loses lawsuit against Nintendo

Court orders halt to cosplay rentals, payment of fine for copyright infringement.

Read More

9 million yen awarded to convenience store from man for over 11,000 hours of unauthorized parking

But will a man who ignored years of warnings bother heeding a court order?

Read More

Naturally brown-haired Osaka student sues government for forcing her to dye her hair black

Teachers felt student was disruptive to education with her wild brown hair.

Read More

U.S. military personnel launch US$5 billion lawsuit against Tokyo Electrical Power Company

Lawsuit claims Tepco misled scale of 2011 Fukushima disaster, causing relief workers to be exposed to radiation.

Read More

Japanese concertgoer sues idol group because dancing otaku ruined the show for him

High Court hands down ruling in three-year legal dispute stemming from different attitudes between hard-core idol singer fans.

Read More

Tattooed Japanese woman suing nursing school after being suspended because of her ink

Attorney for single mother says she can’t afford to pay to have her tattoos removed.

Read More

Tokyo man awarded 40 million yen for winter jacket “defect”

Court victory gives new meaning to the phrase “embarrassment of riches.”

Read More

Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno’s production company is suing Gainax, the studio he co-founded

Latest Evangelion-related desire is less “Get in the damn robot!” and more “Pay the damn royalties!”

Read More

Nationwide Pokémon GO ban sought by Indian lawsuit that claims title is religiously offensive

Pokémon GO’s eggs apparently contain not only baby Pokémon, but seeds of controversy too.

Read More

High school student expelled for having sex, sues school for 6 million yen

Someone’s getting excessively punished here and its up to the courts to decide who.

Read More

Japanese judge dismisses lawsuit against idol singer who violated contract’s no-dating clause

Suit tossed out of Tokyo district court in rare win for idols’ romantic freedom.

Read More

Chinese woman, 25, demands workers’ compensation, says “Overtime made me an old lady”

On November 18 a young woman was spotted on the streets of Shenzhen City in Guangdong, China carrying a sign which read: “Overnight and overtime work has made me into an old lady. Both my love and work lives are miserable. I request approval for workers’ compensation.”

It was an unusual yet straightforward demand that triggered debate and reflection on the state of working conditions in the country.

Read More

Anti-plastic surgery ad debunked as fake, “mom” model suing ad firm for ruining her life

A few years back we saw an image that would quickly became a symbol of our time, highlighting one of the major flaws in humankind’s obsession with achieving physical perfection. The image was a family portrait, the mother and father of which had both undergone plastic surgery and looked startlingly different from their three kids, all of whom had similar, very distinct physical features. As it was later discovered, however, the portrait was completely staged, and none of the people in it are related in any way.

Nevertheless, the negative impact of the photo was so great that the life of the young “mother” took a drastic turn for the worse after the image went viral. The woman is now suing the Taiwanese plastic surgery clinic and advertising firm behind the image for using it unfairly and for not explaining the nature of advertisement the photo would be used for.

Read More

The Pokémon Company sues organizers of Pokémon-themed party for copyright infringement

The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) filed a lawsuit against two Seattle residents on Wednesday, claiming that the Pokémon-themed party they were organizing allegedly infringed upon TPCi’s copyright.

Read More

Ritzy Japanese cop breaks Rolex wristwatch during arrest, sends suspect US$6,000 repair bill

With famously low crime rates and an honest society that returns wallets full of cash, Japanese cops usually have it a bit easier than their overseas counterparts. But while they may have some extra time on their hands, Japanese police officers still are put in the line of danger catching the bad guys and keeping Japan safe.

One cop in Saitama Prefecture was reminded of this reality when he was got banged up pretty badly and broke his expensive Rolex watch a couple of years ago while pursuing a man suspected of exposing himself to a young girl. This cop shocked his colleagues and the public last week when Japanese media reported that, after arresting the suspect, the police officer took the man to court and sued for him for damages including more than 700,000 yen (US$5,949) to repair the watch!

Read More

Tokyo court rules that hotels must pay NHK fees according to the number of rooms with TVs

Last year, we brought you news of a court ruling in Yokohama which stipulated that anyone who owns a device capable of receiving a TV signal, regardless of whether they’ve entered into a contract with NHK (Japan’s public broadcasting station) or not, is legally obligated to pay the NHK licensing fee. An important point to note is that the fees are only paid once per household, and not according to the number of TV sets or devices capable of receiving a signal in the house.

However, a recent court decision seems to be taking the issue of NHK licensing fees in a whole new direction. On October 9, Tokyo District Court ruled in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit that the management company behind three Tokyo hotels must first enter into a contract with the public broadcaster. Furthermore, the hotels, all three of which had refused to enter into contracts despite repeated requests from NHK, must also pay their overdue licensing fees in proportion to the number of hotel rooms with TVs.

Just wait til you read how much money that all comes out to be…

Read More

Hot Coffee Part II? McDonald’s China Attempts to Sidestep Litigation from Woman Who Walked into Their Glass Door

Everyone has heard the one about the lady in the US who spilt McDonald’s coffee on her lap and won a cool US$2.7M.  The figure was later reduced to $600,000 but surely the fear of litigation had sunk deep in McDonald’s psyche all over the world.

This is why the cold reception a Mickey D’s in China gave to a woman who walked into one of their glass doors might seem understandable.  However, when brought to the public they were ultimately judged as “being pretty douchey.”

Read More