Cross-Border Jurisdictional Protocol
Japan has been a Hague Service Convention signatory since 1970, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) designated as its Central Authority. For decades, direct postal service was commonly used, but on December 21, 2018, Japan formally objected to Article 10(a), closing that route. Since then, valid service into Japan requires a request through MOFA, which refers the matter to the competent Japanese court for service by a court marshal or Japan's own internal special postal service. Every document must be fully translated into Japanese; both MOFA's Consular Affairs Bureau and the Civil Affairs Bureau of the Supreme Court of Japan review the translation page by page, and any gap results in rejection.
We prepare and transmit the Hague request to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which refers it to the competent Japanese court for service by marshal or Japan's internal postal service — the only valid route since Japan's 2018 objection to Article 10(a).
Start a Japan Central Authority filing →MOFA and the Supreme Court's Civil Affairs Bureau check every page of a submitted translation before service proceeds. We prepare complete, verification-ready Japanese translations to avoid the rejections that incomplete filings routinely trigger.
Prepare a compliant translation →We track the request from MOFA referral through court-level execution to the final Article 6 certificate of service, keeping counsel informed at each stage of Japan's multi-agency review process.
Request case status tracking →Complete National Jurisdiction
Active network of local agents, court officers, and Central Authority specialists covering every administrative region.
All international document handoffs are executed pursuant to local sovereignty statutes and returned with court-certified evidentiary declarations.
Judicial Knowledge Base
No. On December 21, 2018, the Government of Japan formally objected to Article 10(a) of the Hague Service Convention, closing the direct postal service route. A defendant served this way can now successfully challenge the service.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). MOFA refers incoming requests to the competent Japanese court, which then effects service either through a court marshal or Japan's internal special postal service under the Mail Act.
Yes, and it is checked closely. All documents must be translated into Japanese, and MOFA's Consular Affairs Bureau together with the Supreme Court's Civil Affairs Bureau verify the translation page by page. Any deficiency results in the request being rejected and returned.
Most requests are processed within the Convention's general six-month benchmark, though complex cases or translation deficiencies can extend that timeline.
Yes, Japan has been a party to the Convention since 1970, one of the longer-standing signatories, though its 2018 objection to Article 10(a) meaningfully changed the valid service methods going forward.
Consult with our international legal support specialists about service of process in Japan.