Japan: Two Sides of Being the Harmonious and Non-Litigious Society

Abstract

This short article aims to present the Japanese’s attitude towards legal dispute settlement as a part of the judicial process. The article is based on acknowledged sociology of law articles that have been a source of reference in the academic circle. The studies demonstrate that Japanese society accentuates harmony among its people and tries to avoid filing lawsuits against each other. This characteristic has shaped the country into a well-known non-litigious society. Litigation will be the last resort for a dispute settlement when there is no other way to deal with the case peacefully. Such an attitude of the majority of the Japanese results in one of the lowest litigation statistics and the low crime rate countries in the world. Accordingly, Japan has always reflected an image of being a harmonious and non-litigious society. However, a coin has two sides. On the other side of the coin, the negative one, under the characteristic of a peaceful country, lays its citizens’ stressful and derepressed mentality. Japanese society possesses strict social norms and cruel folkways. The negative facets have positioned Japan as one of the top 20 countries in the world with the highest suicide rate for so long. Also, the writer shares direct and first-hand experiences in encountering some of those negatively untold stories.