The present article analyzes the impact of the recent judicial reform on the rural community of Japan. It is based on the multi-methodological study project on rural justice in contemporary Japan. The project has been financially supported by JSPS no. 15330004 and the 21st Century COE program for Kobe University.
Firstly, the article reviews the major reforms in national law level. Though Japan has long been suffered from shortage of formal legal resources, the situation is rapidly changing because of the national judicial reform movement in last 10 years. The number of lawyer (bengoshi) in 2005 has increased by 50% compared with that of 1990: The Japan Federation of Practicing Attorneys (Nichibenren) has established the legal advice centers in all jurisdiction of local courts. The regulatory restrictions have been removed in such areas of advertisement and fees: The government enacted the "the comprehensive legal support act" in June 2004. However, the availability of legal services is still severely limited in small towns and cities in non-metropolitan areas.
Secondly it examines the nation-wide distribution pattern and its changes, for 1998 to 2002 period, of attorneys (bengoshi) and judicial scribners (shihoshoshi) in local court jurisdictions, and it finds that the attorneys are more concentrated in largest metropolitan areas than the judicial scribners; however, the number of judicial scribners is increasing in more of the urban areas and decreasing in more of the rural areas than the attorneys.
Lastly it qualitatively describes how the legal problems are resolved almost without resorting to attorneys in rural areas by reporting 4 case studies of small cities in rural areas. People in those areas usually rely on judicial scribners for legal remedies for such troubles as consumer problems, domestic violence, and debts. They also ask advices of the local police, local government's, especially the consumer protection agencies and their branches. In each of those areas, one or two active attorneys recently opened the publicly funded office of law in the community. It is also noticeable that not a small number of people hesitates to ask advice to the "foreign" attorney even in serious legal troubles.
