I know this topic comes up from time to time, and someone was looking for information through our search engine, so I thought to make a topic for it.  I dont know much about divorce, but know a few friends that went through it with Japanese women.

Been there and done it.  Ask away.  I'll tell you all I know.

Been there and done it. Ask away. I'll tell you all I know.

Nice.. Well there you go guys. anyone need help?

If there's no property or finances to settle then you can probably do it yourself. There's a number of places online where you can carry out a divorce. Legal Zoom's 3-Step Divorce Process can provide quick and easy online divorces.

If you do not have kids or property and your soon to be x is Japanese then just go to city hall and ask for "RIKON TODOKE" paperwork fill it out and both parties have to sign it.
Once thats complete you take it back to city hall and it takes about 30 days and then it is final and you can go back and pick up the official paperwork and take it to PSD so they can update your pg 2.
At least this was the proces about 12 years ago when I did mine.
Good luck!

I have divorced a local once here in Japan and here is what I know and have heard. First, if it is a Japanese couple, both of them have to agree to the divorce or no divorce proceedings can take place. If it is a foreigner married to a local national, then only the local national needs to decide upon the divorce. If you have children in this instance and the local national wants custody, the kids are going with them. You can try to fight it, but you will lose. If the local national takes you to court, it is similar to American type divorce except for one facet which I will explain later. If you are poor and do not make a lot of money, she may elect not to take you to court as she could stand to receive more money from the government then she will get from you if she does not take support from you. If she does not take you to court, then it is a simple act of signing documents provided by the city office. Now, back to the explanation. In either type of divorce, one advantage over an American type divorce in Japan is that when the papers are signed, it is finished...period. There is no going back later for more money because one is making more money now or trying to get money out of the others retirement because it wasn't addressed in the divorce. It is over...there is no going back to the table for more scraps, which is exactly the way it should be in the States as well.

If you are pursuing a divorce, and you want to go back to the states. Do you need to have a regular passport made, or could you use the no fee passport??