Doing Depositions in Japan

[Dean Harrington]

Recently, I responded to a call for an independent court reporter on CSRNation who may reside in Japan or be in Japan on a visit to engage in a deposition in Tokyo.  I sent a note to Kelli Combs clarifying the situation in Japan for depositions.  I thought I would share this with others on this site.

Japan has a set of specific laws regarding Depositions that everyone must be aware of before deciding to have one in the country.  Additionally, to the best of my knowledge, there are no independent court reporters in Japan.

Those who do not follow the procedures required and proceed with an illegal deposition can be subject to arrest and deportation from Japan. 

First and foremost, depositions can only take place in the U.S. embassy in Tokyo or the U.S. Consulate in Osaka.  All law firms that regularly hold depositions in Japan are fully aware of the conditions required by treaty between the U.S. Government and Japan. 

This activity entails making a reservation for one or more of the 3 deposition rooms available in the country (2 in Osaka and 1 in Tokyo) in advance.  Law firms often reserve rooms and often cancel at the last moment if they do not need to come to Japan.  This situation leaves reserving a room difficult to acquire in a timely manner.  All participants in a deposition must be listed on the court order and that order is provided to the Embassy or Consulate in advance. All participants must acquire a deposition visa (visas are not required for citizens or residents of Japan) so that the embassy or consulate staff can check out participants for security reasons.  These visas and resident identity cards are checked before any deposition takes place.

All communication equipment (phones, etc.) will be left with the facility guards at the entrance. While computers are permitted for participants in the deposition, Internet transmission is not permitted from the facilities ... that is transmissions not under the direct control of government personnel.  

Court reporters may not use wireless equipment and must hard wire their equipment and realtime output when multiple computers are present which is usually the case.  All equipment brought into the facilities must be listed beforehand with serial numbers provided.  If these numbers don't match, you will have difficulty bringing the equipment into the facilities. The proceedings can only occur during normal/daytime hours when the facilities are open. 

If you need further information on this or any other question regarding legal activities in Asia please feel free to contact us.

all the best

Dean Harrington

Legal Video Asia (Osaka Head Office)

Asia-Pacific deposition services & logistics / www.legalvideoasia.com   
P 81.72.722.6663
M 81.90.1036.4681 

E-mail: [e-mail]

Legal Video Asia (Tokyo Office)

Asia-Pacific deposition services & logistics / www.legalvideoasia.com   
P 81.3.3487.3011

M 81.90.6475.0453

E-mail: [e-mail]

  Legal Video for the Asia Pacific region

Member of The American Guild of Court Videographers & The American Chamber of Commerce Japan

 

[Janiece Young]

Wow, great information.  Thank you for posting.

[Martha R]

That is amazing!   One or two rooms for the whole country?!!   I have always heard there are far less lawyers per capita in Japan than the U.S.