Man, and you thought dating in your country was rough. Try dating in Japan. The country in recent years has seen its divorce rate climb, and has also seen its marriage rates drop to Edo-era levels as young people opt out of marrying for various reasons, including a belief that marriages are economically taxing. This, combined with gender imbalances in remote areas as women move to cities to start careers, means your average Japanese who wants to get married practically has to make it a second full-time job.
As they say, desperate times call for desperate measures, and one Japanese man in Osaka decided to take what may rank as one of the most desperate – and morally questionable moves – ever. Longing to get back with his ex-girlfriend, who was already in another relationship, he paid a detective agency ๏ฟฅ1,200,00 (appr. USD $12,000) to destroy their romantic bliss. The agency had one of its female employees arrange an on-street encounter with the new boyfriend, who ended up inviting the employee out to dinner. Some time later, the employee barged in on a dinner between the couple, and announced that they’d eaten together “multiple times”. As you can imagine, this didn’t go over well with the girlfriend, who ended up tossing her new beau overboard.
Now, you’d think the ex would be thrilled. In less than a month, he’d gotten exactly what he wished for. However, this guy is apparently cheap as hell, and decided to stiff the agency out of the remaining ๏ฟฅ700,000 that he owed them. It’s becoming clear why this dude is still single; I can practically picture him getting an “urgent work call” from his best bud and leaving his ex-girlfriend with the dinner bill.
The agency took him to a magistrate court in Osaka. Faced with owing ๏ฟฅ700,000, the jilted lover suddenly decided he’d found a sense of moral decency: since what he’d done was a violation of public decency, he argued, he shouldn’t have to pay, and the contract he signed with the agency should be declared null and void.
“Wait,” you may be asking, “is that actually a valid legal argument?” Well, I am not a lawyer – much less a Japanese lawyer, or anyone who knows anything to a deep level about Japanese law, really. But I do have access to the Internet, and the answer appears to be: yes, it can be. Article 90 of the Japanese Civil Code is a rather vaguely worded clause that states that a legal action can be deemed invalid if it violates public order or morality. Concretely, this is interpreted to outlaw contracts regarding prostitution or sexual slavery, legal arrangements used to support a mistress, any agreement that would restrict one party’s legal rights, or a contract for blatantly illegal actions. But it can also be interpreted to refer loosely to any action that can be deemed “unjust” or “unfair” to one or more parties.
So, yes, under some circumstances, this clause can be used to invalidate a legal contract. But in this case, the Magistrate court wasn’t buying it. In January, they ruled:
ใไบค้ใ็ตไบใใใใๅฆใใฏใๆๅฎๅฅณๆง๏ผใใฉใใงใฏBๅญ๏ผใฎๆๅฟใซใใใใจใซใชใใใใใใใจใๅ ฌๅบ่ฏไฟใซๅใใใจใพใงใฏ่จใใชใใจใใในใใ
Regardless of whether you attempted to end their relationship, the woman you targeted broke up the relationship at her own discretion. Therefore, we cannot say that this is a violation of public morals.
Not satisfied with being ordered to cough up the remaining yen, the conniving cheapskate of an ex-boyfriend appealed this decision to Osaka District Court. His appeal pointed out that the Japan Research Association, the national body that serves as the joint association of Japan’s detective agencies, opposes the use of break-up schemes.
But, as in his personal life, this man also received no love from the appeals court. Judge Yamachi Osamu (ๅฑฑๅฐไฟฎ) reaffirmed the Magistrate Court’s ruling, saying that all the agency did was have an employee have dinner with the new boyfriend. What the girlfriend decided to do with the information she was presented with was her choice, and wasn’t unfairly constrained by the law.
The articles don’t say whether the man actually got back together with his ex-girlfriend. I think it’s a foregone conclusion that she would never reunite with someone who’s both conniving and cheap, but – hey, people surprise you.
Let this be a lesson to all Japanese single men: there is such a thing as a trying too hard.
