Issue 142, January 2025

Preface

• 99th birthday Interview, I have been responding to what I can do at the time and what I think is necessary
• Development of consumer law news, the support of Dr. Kai

Special Feature 1, Current status of Consumer Class Actions in Japan

• Simultaneous lawsuits filed against META
• CTS Case: Investment Damage Caused by “Shareholder Special Benefit Ticket Business” Promoting High Dividends
• Digital platform tyranny

Series 1, Consumer Legislation, Consumer Affairs Agency, Consumer Commission, National Consumer Affairs Centre and Legislative Proposals

• 8th Report from the Consumer Commission 23 Opinion of the Consumer Commission for the Formulation
• of the Next Basic Plan for Consumers (2nd) 25 Movement to Revise the Special Commercial Code
• Outline and Issues of the Consumer Affairs Agency’s “Study Group on Consumer Transactions in the Digital Society,”
• The first briefing of the secretariat is the focus of this report [Full text on the web]
• Consumer Affairs Agency, “Study Group on Consumer Transactions in the Digital Society”
• Small Special Features, Current Status and Issues of Local Consumer Administration Local Consumer Administration
• Consumer Affairs Agency, “Study Group on Consumer Transactions in the Digital Society”
• Report, Osaka Judicial Scrivener’s Association

Small Special Features, Current Status and Issues of Local Consumer Administration Local Consumer Administration

• Current Status and Issues of Local Consumer Administration Local Consumer Administration
• Digitization of consumer affairs consultation- Current status and issues of consumer affairs consultation
• Activities to secure financial resources for local consumer administration Report, Efforts in Kumamoto Prefecture
• Current status of local consumer administration and efforts to secure financial resources

Series 2, Loan Shark and Commercial Loans

• Lawsuit for injunction against advertisements against the “Sugiyama judicial Scrivener Office”
• Regarding inappropriate responses by lawyers who do not meet with clients
• Incompetent debt consolidation (formal long-term installment payments) by lawyers and judicial scriveners
• The Problem of Incompetent Lawyers, in 2025( Part 1)
• Illegal loan with payment in advance, court case status report (Osaka District Court, Case No. 6588 and No. 6590 of 2023)
• Sale of information products that solicit loans from loan sharks
• “The black ships (online gambling business)” are coming!
• The Gambling Industry’s Obligations to Consumers: Case Study in Europe (Full text published on the web)
• For Strengthening Japan’s Democratic Movement (41), Political Contributions and Politics

Series 3, Anti-Poverty and Rehabilitation

• Cancellation of repayment order based on Art. 78 of the Public Assistance Act due to an appeal for review
• Is there any confusion in the government’s decision to review the standards for public assistance? Price deception must be corrected
• Livelihood Assistance, the Role of the Media

Series 4, Special Commercial Law, Depository Receipt Law and Credit (installment sales)

• Serials, Multilevel Marketing (2), Proposed Law Reform

Series 5, Consumer Contract Law, Malicious Transactions

• IUnfair trade practices and trade processes, The need for regulation of the entire transaction process
• Lawsuit for Injunction against Oasis Inc.
• Petition to the Digital Agency
• Application to Google, continuing to display illegal “Rescue business advertisements”
• “ESTE Corporation,” which received a Cease and Desist order (misrepresentation of quality), asked for greater consumer awareness and refunds
• Petition for Continuation and Expansion of Financial Support (Grants) for Local Consumer Administrations passed by the Oita Prefectural Assembly
• NPO Saga Consumers Forum Activity Report Activity report of Consumer Citizen Net Tohoku, a qualified consumer organization (Request for financial support for qualified consumer organizations, etc.)
• Activities as a member of Kyoto Prefectural Consumer Affairs Council
• Yamanashi Consumer Support Net Activity Report
• Consumer troubles of cosmetic medicine increasing

Series 6, Civil code and other laws

• Serial, Lecture on Rental Housing (6), Lump-sum payment
• Status of Discussions at the Whistleblower Protection System Study Group

Series 7, PL

• Child’s death by hanging by the operating code Product Liability and Cooling Off for Renovation Contracts

Series 8, Defective Housing

• Serial, Basics of Defective Housing Disputes (68), T.1.2 Reduction of the No. 4 Special Exception

Series 9, Food Safety

• Health Hazards from Red Yeast Rice Supplements
• 2025 is the year for a major change in food administration, The red yeast rice supplement accident revealed the dangers of the functional food labeling system
• Serialization, Genome-edited foods that continue to increase in variety but are not accepted by consumers

Series 10, Religion

• Lawsuits Filed Against Counselors and Counseling Companies

Series 11, Animal Law

• Killing of pets in the dark under the collaboration of the Hyogo Prefectural Police and the Center

Series 12, International Consumer Affairs

• Relief from Discretionary Solicitation in Other Countries,　Civil and consumer law in Japan has been left behind by global trends
• The State of Consumer Law in China (37), Enforcement of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Law for the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests

Series 13, Peace, Human Rights and Freedom

• Monitoring of citizens by the Public Safety Police is illegal!, Report on the Ogaki Police Citizen Surveillance Case and Victory in Court

Scholars’ Eye.

• Money that did not have to be paid can be claimed back

Counselor’s eyes/activities

• The reality of consumer damage among young people and consumer education, A proposal for organic collaboration to foster consumer citizens
• Case and characteristics of cross-border consumer problems: From the case of a weekend telephone consultation

Q&A

• Task fraud (side job trouble)

Case law and settlement bulletins

• No. 2639-2649

Introduction of Important Precedents

Series 14, Activities and Reserch

• Coalition’s Consumer Policy Initiatives

National Consumer Affairs Center Information

• Was it a door-to-door purchase that triggered it? Beware of
• serious, criminal-like problems! There have been cases of
• people having their precious metals taken away from them

Government-Political Parties-National Diet Members Voices

• How should we respond to high prices?
• Causes of rising prices and ways to break through