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Certified Japanese Legal Separation Translation
Certified translation of the documents that record a legal separation in Japan, including the registry annotations and endorsements that carry the legal effect and that a reader unfamiliar with the system will otherwise skip.
$24.95/page
Flat rate per page, up to 250 words. No hidden fees.
100% USCIS acceptance
Every certified translation is guaranteed to be accepted by USCIS.
24-hour delivery
Most 1-3 page documents are delivered within 24 hours. Same-day available.
Japan has no legal separation at all
Japanese law provides no institution of legal separation. A couple either remains married or divorces, and there is no decree that suspends cohabitation while preserving the marriage.
So a Japanese client asked for separation papers has nothing to send, and an office treating the absence as a gap is misreading the system. What exists instead is a private arrangement that leaves no court record, or a divorce.
Divorce by agreement, filed at a counter
The overwhelming majority of Japanese divorces are kyōgi rikon — divorce by agreement — effected by both spouses signing a one-page form and filing it at a municipal office. No judge, no hearing, no decree.
A US reader expecting a judgment receives a koseki entry. That entry is the evidence, and we translate it with the filing date, which is the operative date.
The koseki records it, and the register that hides it
The divorce is recorded in the koseki, the family register, and a koseki tōhon shows it. Computerisation left older entries in the kaisei genkoseki, so an older divorce may be invisible on a current extract.
A spouse who left a register appears in a joseki. If the current register shows nothing, ask for the pre-computerisation original before concluding there was no divorce.
Enkiri-dera, and separation in fact
Couples who separate without divorcing in Japan are said to be in a state of bekkyo — living apart — which has legal consequences for maintenance and for the grounds of a later judicial divorce, but produces no certificate.
Evidence of the separation date is therefore a lease, a resident registration (jūminhyō) at a new address, or an agreement. We name each document for what it is. See our Japanese divorce decree page.
Ordering, and what the certification covers
Upload the document, choose certified translation at $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, and it comes back typically within 24 hours as a PDF formatted to mirror the original, with a signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead. Marginal annotations are translated in place, in the margin, and every seal, stamp and registry endorsement is translated with the text. See how we translate and certified versus standard.
Frequently asked questions
Where is my Japanese separation decree?
There is not one. Japan has no legal separation. A couple is married or divorced.
My divorce has no court judgment.
Most Japanese divorces are by agreement filed at a municipal office. The koseki entry is the evidence.
My koseki shows no divorce.
Computerisation left older entries behind. Ask for the kaisei genkoseki.
What proves we separated?
A lease, a resident registration at a new address, or an agreement. There is no certificate.
Ready to get started?
Upload the document and receive the certified translation, typically within 24 hours.